Saturday morning at WonderCon AMC introduced their newest horror series “NOS4A2” to a crowd of eager fans. Executive producer and writer Jami O’Brien along with Joe Hill joined some of the cast for a lively panel that included a sneak peak of the pilot episode.
NOS4A2, based Joe Hill’s best selling novel, takes us on a twisted journey through supernatural powers and suspense as we follow Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) coming into adulthood. She grapples with the realization that her father Chris (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) is not all he’s cracked up to be. But just when we thought that early adulthood is already so jumbled and confusing, she also discovers her physic ability to find lost things. During her journey, she crosses paths with the nearly demonic Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto). Manx steals children’s souls and then drops these lost kids off at Christmasland; where everything is Christmas Carols, candy canes and where unhappiness is illegal. Something tells me that Christmasland isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Along the way we meet other characters like Maggie, played by newcomer Jahkara Smith, a spunky young woman with abilities of her own, and Bing (Olafur Darri Olafsson) a school janitor with an affinity for comics.
Charlie Manx, played by Zachary Quinto, takes us on a frightening ride in his Rolls Royce Wraith. Quinto as Manx is ready to “springboard back into television” and this character begins with some extraordinarily creepy makeup. Special FX makeup designer Joel Harlow’s expertise transforms Manx from creepy to eery. Quinto, no stranger to FX makeup, was grateful for the opportunity to undergo this process except for the “gnarly teeth.” His portrayal of this evil character was chilling yet captivating and I am eager to see more.
The pilot introduced the characters in a way that even viewers who are not familiar with Joe Hill’s book could easily follow. For those hardcore Hill fans, Jami O’Brien tried to stay as true to the book as possible while still molding it into the series. The first season covers about 1/3 of the book so the possibility of a second season and beyond sounds promising. O’Brien looks forward to introducing new characters and new twists as NOS4A2 makes its journey on the small screen.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”233″]The intrigue is there, especially for horror fans. The pilot alone had some sinister tones coupled with plenty of suspense. While I wouldn’t dare classify it as straight-up horror, it most definitely is a thriller.
As Joe Hill said, “Christmas music is creepy in August” I would have to assume that Mr. Hill knows creepy on a level that most of us could not comprehend, you might have heard of his dad Stephen King.
