Beyond the Dark is an upcoming anthology series that is set to tell horror and genre-bending stories throughout its run. The thirteen episodes from Season 1 (dubbed “Volume I”) are coming in early April, and from the looks of it, they may be a treat for horror fans everywhere. To get horror enthusiasts hyped up, The Horror Collective unveiled the poster and some first-look images of the series.

The poster of the series suggests a full-blown horror story: the title looks as if someone desperately carved it into wood or concrete, and the T resembles an upside-down cross. Besides that, a dark (and putrefied?) hand with long nails holds on to an entire body – but it could also represent a voodoo doll. You know, just the usual light stuff from horror stories.

On the other hand, the first-look images from Beyond the Dark showcase the versatility of its episodes – in order to accentuate its “anthology” nature, each episode is written and directed by different people, which may suggest each team of writers and directors had creative freedom to do what they felt was right without having to concern themselves with a season-long arc.

One of the images, as seen above, looks as if it’s pulled directly from a sci-fi movie, with a character wearing futuristic attire and bracing himself, maybe to enter a portal that’s right in front of him. Even though sci-fi and horror don’t always cross paths, it’s important to remember that famous franchises like Alien and Predator were explicitly created to mix these two genres. So it’ll be interesting to check out exactly what kind of horrific problems might be generated in this story.

Another one of the first-look images could be from a romantic comedy: a girl enjoys the sunlight as she lies down while sunbathing. Of course, long-time horror fans are not fooled by the daylight – a moment of calm is how most horror stories begin. So we hope she enjoys getting tanned while she can.

The last two images deal with more real horrors, with a traveler examining the body of a person that may have died while wandering the middle of nowhere and someone trying to escape a fire. However, that someone looks way too hairy to be human, and we all know what to do about still corpses in horror stories – never touch them. Once again, the images showcase how different one episode of Beyond the Dark will be from another.

Beyond the Dark is distributed by Entertainment Squad, a distribution, and aggregation company representing several labels, including The Horror Collective, Mr. Puppy Presents, and Gefilte Films. Recent films include Paper Spiders starring Lili Taylor (The Conjuring), Stefanie LaVie Owens, and Peyton List, and the critically acclaimed killer-pants horror-comedy, Slaxx (Shudder).

The expansive cast of Beyond the Dark includes Kimmy Robertson (Twin Peaks), Zoë Bell (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Tracie Thoms (Gone), and WWE fighter John Hennigan. Episodes are directed by Kelli Breslin (Netflix‘s You), William J. Stribling (Bear with Us), Mia Kate Russell (Liz Drives), Joe Russo (The Au Pair), Lucas Amann (Fun Size Horror’s Shocktale Party), Max Isaacson (Future Girl), Oskar Lehema (Vanamehe Film), Chris Levitus (The Penthouse), and Alexandria Perez (Aftermath). Bears Rebecca Fonté, Annick Blanc, and Charles A. Pieper make their TV episode directing debut.

The Horror Collective launches Beyond the Dark on VOD and digital on April 1.

You can check out the poster and the rest of the first-look images below:

Check out the official synopsis here:

Post-apocalyptic nightmares, monstrous physical transformations, agonizing accidents, and ghastly murders are just a few of the stories told in Volume 1 which focuses on the end of everything – marriage, life, civilization, Earth, and the universe as we know it. Say goodbye to everything you know and love and hello to madness and the outrageous, unexpected horrors lying beyond the dark. The series stars Kimmy Robertson (Twin Peaks), Zoë Bell (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), John Hennigan (WWE), and Tracie Thoms (Gone).

 

via Collider