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Living Nightmares title card

The Guide beneath the cemetery

Living Nightmares was my directing debut. I directed and produced the six-episode horror anthology, which aired on Channel 20 Detroit in 2017. Each episode tells a separate story. The Guide gives them a shared world.

The Guide is a Grim Reaper figure who introduces the stories from his home beneath a mausoleum. His collection gives the show a way into each tale. A watch, a piece of jewelry, or another object can be an ordinary thing in one scene and the reason we’re hearing a story in the next. That frame gave the anthology a place viewers could return to, even as the people, locations, and threats changed from episode to episode.

Six different stories

  1. Confession. A reporter visits a dying woman and hears a secret she’s kept for decades.
  2. Lanna. A caregiver wakes to find that his wife has vanished.
  3. I Watch Candice. A woman trying to rebuild her life has someone watching her from behind a vanity mirror.
  4. The Thing in the Hall. A creature at a bedroom door sets the story in motion.
  5. Bloodthirsty. A party turns into chaos when a captive fighter escapes the basement.
  6. The Mayan Stone. Taking an artifact from a temple sets off consequences that follow it home.

What the production photos show

The archive has slates for individual episodes, shots of the crew setting up cameras, and photographs from rehearsals and effects work. In one, someone is preparing a practical blood effect beside the camera. Another shows makeup being applied to a hooded performer. Those are parts of the production I want people to see, because they make it easier to understand what the crew was doing to put a moment on screen.

Making an anthology means starting over in some ways with every story. One episode asks the audience to watch a conversation for clues. Another needs a performer, a physical effect, and a camera to hit the same moment. The cast, crew, and production team were the people who made those different stories work together. See the cast · See the production credits · Explore the behind-the-scenes gallery.