How SyFy Farmed ‘Creepypasta’ for New Horror Series ‘Channel Zero’

SyFy just released a promo for Channel Zero, and if you’ve ever fallen down a “deep web” rabbit hole, the show might sound familiar.

This first episode in SyFy’s new horror anthology series is “Candle Cove,” the story of a bizarre local kid’s show that may be connected to a string of disappearances in the 1980s. Ring a bell? It’s based on the creepypasta story from Kris Straub that has been circulating the internet for years. And what is creepypasta? All right, fellow internet adventurers, it’s time to go… DEEP WEB.

Creepypasta is an online phenomenon of weird, disturbing, and strange stories that have been copied and pasted — “pasta” — in numerous forums, such as Reddit’s r/nosleep, until the sources have been lost and people can’t tell if the tales are fact or fiction, akin to an internet urban legend.

Slender Man is probably the most notable creepypasta, with several movie adaptations and a few in the works. The tales warn of a tall, faceless man in a black suit who torments and abducts children. Readers of this fiction caused a moral panic in 2014, when fans of the Slender Man stories stabbed a 12-year-old girl, nearly killing her.

But back to “Candle Cove,” which has inspired a multitude of spin-off fanfiction and YouTube videos that claim the original kid’s show actually existed, going so far as to make their own versions.

Subsequent episodes of Channel Zero will tackle more creepypasta, like The NoEnd House, in which a woman ventures into nine increasingly sinister rooms in hopes of winning a $500 prize, but the experience completely destroys her life.

Channel Zero premieres October 11 at 9 p.m. on SyFy.

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Do you have any favorite creepypasta tales? What should Channel Zero adapt next? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter.