The first season of Channel Zero takes its name from and is based on what I consider to be the best Creepypasta: "Candle Cove" by Kris Straub. This, in combination with the casting of real, serious actors Fiona Shaw and Paul Schneider, is what piqued my interest.
Laid out as a series of forum posts, the fictional poster asks if anyone born in the '60s or '70s remembers a creepy nautical puppet show: Candle Cove. The forum users discuss unsettling imagery they remember, until one poster announces he asked his mother if she remembers Candle Cove. The mother reveals she thought the show was imaginary and that she'd often find her child staring at the snow on a blank TV screen. No backstory, no BS, that's where it ends. It's a clever little piece of storytelling.
Channel Zero's Candle Cove takes the basic concept and weaves it into a disturbing story of twisted childhood nostalgia. It takes clear inspiration from Stephen King's It, in a town with a history of gruesome child murders where fear seems to hang like an oppressive force. Protagonist Mike Painter returns to his hometown as an adult and to face his estranged mother, who sent him away as a boy after the disappearance of his twin, Eddie.
Unlike It, Candle Cove doesn't try to explain the supernatural force that haunts the town and relaxes into its surreal and frightening imagery. The show confidently leaves its viewers with an emotional resolution but no clear explanation. And it's perfect. Schneider and Shaw carry the series with very competent, nuanced performances, but the standout performance comes from child actor Luca Villacis, who plays both Mike and Eddie Painter in flashbacks.
