Fans of creepypasta stories and "Stranger Things" alike are in for a double treat, as "Channel Zero," a show from SyFy channel, combines the best of both worlds.
Website Wired has even claimed that "Channel Zero" is smarter than the Netflix show, especially with its upcoming second season. The SyFy show is essentially a screen adaptation of six different creepypasta stories each season, where creepypasta is an online urban legend website where users can submit their own horror stories, fictional or otherwise.
The source material for season 2 of "Channel Zero" was reportedly weak according to Zach Chapman. "I was like, wow, people should just go buy a curated anthology like 'The Year's Best,' because it was some of the worst writing I've ever read. It made me think that I wouldn't want to read any creepypasta after that."
The same, however, cannot be said for the television adaptation of these stories, as Wired has praised how they transcended their creepypasta source stories.
Creepypastas are usually from amateur users, so their execution of their horror stories is unsurprisingly feeble, but this did not stop the online community from praising the user-content and its ideas. So much so, that a lot of critics ended up praising "No-End House," the overall theme of the episodes of season 2 of "Channel Zero."
The episode was commended for being a slow-burn and implied horror, in stark contrast to the usual in-your-face jump scares which people expect from horror movies today. Also, the way it went beyond its source creepypasta was complicated and even strangely alluring.
Fantasy author Erin Lindsey has even commented that that one episode's execution of its source material is a welcome change from the usual monsters and loud noises, a seeming jab at "Stranger Things."
Right now, a lot of people seem to be hoping that their horror story on creepypasta gets featured on SyFy's "Channel Zero," and the constant flow of stories in the horror online community ensures that the show will not run out of new source materials anytime soon.
