Exclusive: Behind Shudder's BEHIND THE MONSTERS

Last year… or was it the year before? In any case, at some point in the recent past — I had the opportunity to spend a few days as a set photographer. My subjects? Horror icons discussing horror icons. The project, Shudder’s Behind The Monsters, a documentary series entirely dedicated to legendary horror characters and examining how these horror giants have managed to transcend the films that birthed them and infiltrate widespread pop culture. You know the type — Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers…

Actually, Michael Myers is first up in the premiere episode, tackling Halloween, which the program synopsis describes as such: “A cheap film shot in 21 days changed the landscape of horror, made several careers, and gave one actress an iconic role that she’s tweaking 42 years later.” It’s going to be hard to beat the original Shape, Nick Castle, sitting on a couch with the latest incarnation of The Shape, James Jude Courtney and Chris Nelson, the FX artist bringing Myers to life for Blumhouse. The rapport between the trio was akin to the sort you find between lifelong friends, with lots of good-natured teasing and a whole lot of laughter. Which makes it all the more incredible these guys can absolutely terrorize the hell out of an audience.

There’s just something about watching some of the people responsible for originally bringing Michael Myers to life, the team keeping him alive, and the horror icons who love this “great white shark” (as Ryan Turek so aptly describes him ), speaking on the power of The Shape. The episode itself features many heavy hitters from across the genre (our very own EIC Phil Nobile Jr. served as an Executive Producer on the project), but we’ll leave the full roster for you to unwrap as pleasant little surprises throughout the episode. For now, enjoy a few behind-the-scenes shots, Michael Myers history, set upon a sofa.