TNT officially revisits Tales From the Crypt

US cable channel TNT has officially greenlit a reworking of the classic television horror anthology Tales From the Crypt.

The M. Night Shyamalan-developed ten-parter will comprise part of a new horror block for the Turner Broadcasting System network, which is slated to launch in 2017.

A reversioned Crypt Keeper will present the show, which is based on original an EC Comics property.

TNT is building out the block, and has commissioned a pilot for a seasonal anthology series, Time of Death (WT), which IM Global Television will produce. Development has also begun on Creatures, a show from former HBO programming chief Sue Naegle.

The Tales of the Crypt reboot comes 20 years after the first incarnation ended on premium cable channel HBO after seven seasons. The new one comes from Blinding Edge Pictures, Ashwin Rajan; Endgame’s James Stern; and Aloris Entertainment’s John Santilli and Dan McKinnon, and will anchor the new horror block.

Time of Death will see serialised horror stories play out in real time to create a season-long ‘night of hell’. The first run is planned to follow a murderous psychopath who returns to his hometown to exact revenge on the community he believes ruined his life.

Guy Busick (Watch Over Me) and R. Christopher Murphy are writing, with Shyamalan and IM Global TV’s Mark Stern and IMG founder Stuart Ford executive producing.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be in business with Night and TNT,” said Stern, the former president of NBCUniversal-owned cable channel Syfy. “Their enthusiasm for the pilot script has been obvious from the outset, and their Tales from the Crypt block is the perfect home.”

Creatures, meanwhile, represents one of the first projects from Naegle Ink, Sue Naegle’s indie. It follows two young women recently released back into society after being incarcerated as children for attempting to cut a classmate’s heart out while under the influence of an internet bogeyman they created.

Dominic Mitchell (In the Flesh) is writing, with Naegle Ink producing. Tom Shankland (House of Cards) will direct and executive produce.