Interview: Showrunner Nick Antosca on CHANNEL ZERO: THE DREAM DOOR, the Future of the Series, and the Desire to Bring Back the Tooth Child

First there was the Tooth Child in Candle Cove, then there was the masked man in No-End House, and after that we were introduced to the Meat Servant in Butcher's Block. In its fourth season, titled The Dream Door, Channel Zero shows no signs of slowing down, as it will introduce us to a new set of psychological horrors led by the "not so imaginary friend" character known as Pretzel Jack (played by contortionist Troy James). With The Dream Door airing tonight on SYFY (and airing a new episode each following night leading up to the finale on Halloween), Daily Dead had the great pleasure of catching up once again with showrunner Nick Antosca, who discussed the love story that's explored in The Dream Door, the artistic collaboration to make Pretzel Jack as creepy as possible, the future and shared universe of the creepypasta-based series, and his desire to bring back the Tooth Child.

Congratulations on The Dream Door, it's messed up in the best possible way. Did you have any inspirations for creating the look of the imaginary friend [also known as Pretzel Jack]? Is that from the creepypasta or is it a little bit of both?

Nick Antosca: It’s not really from the creepypasta. Honestly, the original inspiration is the actor who plays him, Troy James, his movements. He played one of Alice’s hallucinations in Butcher’s Block, and when we saw what he could do, I was like, “Are you available next year?” And then when we got in the writers’ room, we specifically wrote the character as a contortionist clown intending to cast Troy in the part, because we knew what he’d be able to do. None of it is assisted by VFX or anything like that. He is just an incredibly nimble contortionist. So we wrote the character knowing exactly what we could do with him.

In terms of the creature designs, we had concept sketches from Sam Wolfe Connelly. We described that we wanted a playful clown who looks like an old toy that’s kind of broken and he’s very happy to see you in a deranged way. And then Francois Dagenais, who built the Tooth Child and the Meat Servant in previous seasons, did the prosthetics and the makeup for Troy, and Sarah Sitkin, the sculptor and artist who designed a bunch of the stuff in season 2, she also did some concept work on his face and the design. All three of those artists collaborated at different stages on the character design.

That’s what I love about this show, is that everything is so real. Everything is primarily practical and in front of the camera, which makes it that much more creepy.

Nick Antosca: Yeah, it’s been a goal since the beginning of the series. The dedication to practical effects is both practical and aesthetic. It feels like the actors are in the room with the demons and monsters that menace them. If something doesn’t have weight, then I’m not scared of it.

You have thousands of creepypastas to choose from. What was it about this creepypasta [Charlotte Bywater's "Hidden Door"] that made you want to explore it this season after Butcher’s Block?

Nick Antosca: The story in particular was attractive because it’s so nakedly psychological. It’s just the perfect metaphor. You have your house, it’s your home, it’s you, and then there’s a locked door that shows up in the basement. What’s behind your door? What do you have locked in the basement? Everybody has something. In the story, there’s only a mention of the character’s wife, but the idea that there was a married couple in this house and the house is both of them, it’s their marriage, and something shows up in the basement, and something comes out to menace them, what is that? Who brought that to the marriage and why? How does the other person deal with it? That was something that we’d never explored in Channel Zero before: a relationship story, a love story. We were really excited to dig into the psychological currents in a relationship and how they shift and change, and how you have to navigate them together. That was exciting to us to do that in a horror context.

You have a familiar face coming back with Brandon Scott, who I thought was one of the greatest parts of Butcher’s Block. How did you decide to bring Brandon back, especially in back-to-back seasons?

Nick Antosca: He did a great job in Butcher’s Block, and I loved working with him. We didn’t write the character [Tom] specifically for him. He just came in and auditioned, and he was the best. I thought it was cool to have him back, especially to see him play a very different character than in Butcher’s Block. I’d bring anybody back. We’ve had a great cast every season. I’d love to work with Brandon again on something else.

You also have horror royalty this season with Barbara Crampton in the cast. Did you write that role with her in mind, or was that something that just worked out?

Nick Antosca: It just worked out. I had crossed paths with her in the horror community here and there, and I always wanted to work with her, and we had this role, which is a small but important role. We really needed somebody who makes an impression immediately, which Barbara of course does. She’s such an interesting, charismatic actress, and I had been wanting to work with her for a long time. She was a fan of the show, and we just hopefully reached out to her, and she was into it.

This season, SYFY is airing episodes on consecutive nights leading up to Halloween, which is kind of fun because it gives viewers a chance to binge it in bite-sized pieces. What are your thoughts on how the season is being presented to viewers this time around?

Nick Antosca: I think it’s the Wild West in terms of distributing TV, and as far as I’m concerned, the sooner people can watch it, the better. The show is best consumed with the episodes in pretty quick succession. I love the idea that as soon as the show starts to air, people will be able to get it On Demand, they’ll be able to get it on SYFY, I think it will go on Shudder early next year. I think it’s cool.

You mentioned Shudder, and I think an entire new wave of viewers now know about Channel Zero because it’s on Shudder. It seems like the floodgates have opened and people are really getting behind it.

Nick Antosca: Yeah, I’ve been thrilled. With Shudder, I have an addiction [laughs]. It’s nice that they’ve really gotten behind the show and brought more of an audience to it. It’s just really cool to have new viewers digging into it.

Regarding the future of Channel Zero, I know there was an agreement for a third and fourth season on SYFY. Is there anything you can talk about concerning the future of Channel Zero beyond The Dream Door?

Nick Antosca: I have no idea. I would love to do more seasons. I think we’ll probably know later this year, but I hope we get to do more.

At one point there had been talk about a holiday special. Is that still on the table at all?

Nick Antosca: The idea has been floated, it hasn’t been ordered, but I would love to do that, too. There are millions of creepypastas, so we could make this show for a while. I’ve got a bunch of other ones that I would love to do, but I’m also thrilled and kind of amazed that we’ve gotten to do four seasons. Basically, I’ve gotten to make four six-hour movies in the past two and a half years, which is insane. It’s just a really cool job to do.

With that holiday special, is there a creepypasta you have in mind, or is there anything you can say about what it would be?

Nick Antosca: I can’t reveal [laughs].

I just imagine Tooth Child with all the villains of Channel Zero at a house for Christmas.

Nick Antosca: Well, holiday special aside, I would love to bring the Tooth Child back. If we got more seasons, that is very likely something that we would do.

Do you still see all of these seasons as taking place in the same universe, their own shared universe?

Nick Antosca: Yeah, I think that they do take place in a loosely shared universe.

In addition to Channel Zero, you have another anthology series called The Act that Hulu has picked up. Is that a true crime anthology?

Nick Antosca: It is. I’m on location now shooting it as we speak. That’s going to come out next year, and I’m really excited about it. It’s not a horror show, but it explores some of the psychological avenues that have interested me and excited me on Channel Zero, and really on all of the projects that I love.

Does it have reenactments of true crimes?

Nick Antosca: It’s in the spirit of something like Heavenly Creatures or Boys Don’t Cry. It’s a real crime and we’re digging into the characters and relationships that led to it.

And then you have the new movie Antlers [directed by Scott Cooper] as well. Is that currently filming? You have an amazing cast for that.

Nick Antosca: That’s filming. That is shooting right now as well. The Act is shooting here, Antlers is shooting there, we’re in post on Channel Zero, a lot of stuff is going on.