As Prime Video gears up for Mike Flanagan’s Carrie in the fall, another Stephen King series has just been announced by the streamer. This one has quite the geographical twist: it’ll take place thousands of miles from the author’s familiar Maine turf. And not only is Crouch End the author’s only London-set tale, but the show will also be made in the UK, a first for any King adaptation.
This news comes from Variety, which fills us in on the production team: writer Paul Tomalin (Bodies, Torchwood), director Tom Shankland (House of Guinness, The Leopard), and producers Mammoth Screen (Hercule) and Fifth Season (Severance). The trade writes that “casting is already underway with lots of interest.”
King’s short story “Crouch End” is inspired by the slithery lore of H.P. Lovecraft; it originally appeared in the 1980 anthology New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos and was later included in King’s 1993 Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection. It follows two cops working the night shift in London’s evocatively named Crouch End neighborhood who become drawn into a bizarre missing person case. One that involves being transported to other realities and dreadful, hulking ancient deities.
Going by the series synopsis provided by Variety, it sounds like Prime Video’s Crouch End will fine-tune some of the aspects of King’s story: “London never sleeps deeply, and its dreams are uneasy. When global movie star Doris Freeman bursts into a London police station claiming that strange phenomena are behind the disappearance of her husband, police inspector Ted Vetter must investigate whether she’s telling the truth, whether she could be a murderer, or whether there’s something even more chilling at play.”
In a statement to the trade, director Shankland said, “I’ve been a Stephen King super-fan forever. The chance to work with this great team and bring his utterly brilliant London mystery to life is beyond exciting—Crouch End will be cinematic, original, and thought-provoking in equal measure.”
It will also be, presumably, full of tentacles. Don’t forget the tentacles! We’ll bring you more on Crouch End as details are revealed. Are you excited for this one?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
