Why It Would Work as a TV Series: A metaphor for the impacts of social media as bloodsucking vampires? Count this writer interested. Its commentary on a growing disregard for human existence, while balancing a rather wholesome animation style, makes it engrossing. It’s crafted as an everyday story with vampires being a tool, not a focus, which makes for a concept in animation. Its use of reds, purples, greens, blues—colors connected to the supernatural—is more relaxing than scary or intense.
The Risk: Regrettably, My Boyfriend is a Vampire is an interesting concept that would do well as a weekday cartoon, but it needs to avoid dragging out the relationship between Mandy and Josh. Relationship plots and the process of grieving tend to be drawn out in serial dramas, often without any real character development toward either party. If the show can balance both the emotional and narrative plots of the story, it will do well.
The Rake Brings Appalachian Horror too Close for Comfort
The Rake, first introduced in 2013, is one of the most popular ever creepypasta stories and takes place, initially, in the summer of 2003, somewhere in the Appalachian region of the Northeastern U.S. Sightings of a bald, pale humanoid-like creature populate social media in the region — only to be scrubbed from the internet. Witnesses, primarily in rural New York State, publish their accounts of the creature, while others begin looking for older historical accounts of it. In journal entries from 1691 to 2006, the Rake has haunted the forests of the U.S. for centuries — claiming the land as its own.
Why It Would Work as a TV Series: Similar to the Changelings in 2024’s The Watchers, the Rake’s presence in its territory predates the settlers of the country it resides in. Its inhuman appearance, yet being human-adjacent enough to learn to communicate with humans, makes the legend terrifying. Terrifying the internet through audio dramas, the Rake is atmospheric. The frightening aspects come from the ability to build a simple scenario and create a figure that haunts the narrative.
The Risk: The challenge with adapting a story like that is losing that radio-show-like narration. Adapting words into visuals always has a bleeding effect — losing the impact that the literary source had in creating a visual atmosphere. The Rake needs carefully crafted dialogue in order to convey the true impact of the story.
Jeff the Killer Takes the Slasher Title to Malevolent Lows
While this one is apparently in development with creator-led studio Tongal and filmmaker Savannah Moss, Jeff the Killer’s internet infamy rivals that of Slenderman himself. Jeff the Killer is identified by his bleach-white skin, noseless face, dark black hair, and permanent grin. Jeffrey Alan Woods, or Jeff C. Hodek, depending on the storyteller, moves to a new town with his parents and brother, Lui. Three bullies target the brothers with knives, resulting in them being brutally beaten by Jeff. Lui takes the fall for his brother, which leaves Jeff guilt-ridden, rapidly declining mentally, and vulnerable to a second attack from the bullies that leaves him permanently scarred. Jeff goes on to mutilate himself, kill his family, and continue on to a larger killing spree.
