Creepshow/Gray Matter

Gray Matter
Season 1, Episode 1A
Release date	September 26, 2019
Written by	Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi
Based on	the short story "Gray Matter" by Stephen King
Directed by	Greg Nicotero
Produced by	Alex Orr
— N/A	1x01B → The House of the Head
Creepshow — Season One

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Gray Matter is part of the first episode of the first season of Creepshow.

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau (Dixie), Giancarlo Esposito (Doc), Tobin Bell (Chief), Christopher Nathan (Timmy)

Guest Starring: Jesse C. Boyd (Richie)

Additional Cast: Andy Rusk (Gray Matter Creature), Philip Dido (Chief Stunt Double)

Plot Overview

A young man goes to buy beer for his father during a storm. However, he's afraid to return home for fear of what his father has turned into since he started drinking.

Trivia

The Show

• In the cold opening, the crate the Creep opens is the titular crate from the story from the first Creepshow film.

• The marble ashtray from the original Creepshow story "Father's Day" can be seen on an end table behind Richie's chair, and again on the coffee table when Doc and Chief investigate the house, covered in mold.

Behind the Scenes

• Adrienne Barbeau also starred in the first Creepshow film.

Allusions and References

• This segment has several allusions to other Stephen King works:

• The signs at the beginning list a dog named Cujo, a cat named Church, and another dog named Kojak as being among the missing pets. Cujo, Church, and Kojak were the pets in King's novels Cujo, Pet Semetary, and The Stand respectively.

• A shot of a newspaper mentions the missing Grady twins. These are the twins from Stanley Kubrick adaptation of King's The Shining (there are no twins in the novel).

• Timmy spends much of the segment wearing a yellow raincoat, much like George Denborough from IT. Doc and the Chief also discuss the rumor of a local man who saw "something in the sewers", a subtle reference to Pennywise, the novel's villain, who often would lurk in the sewers.

• The bucket being used for tips on the store counter is the same bucket that was used to dump pig's blood on Carrie White in the novel of the same name.

• The counter also has an empty box of Marsh Wheeling cigars on it, which is the same brand of cigars from The Green Mile.

• A small replica of Christine, the evil car from the novel of the same name, can be seen on the Grenadine's kitchen table.

• Chief's jacket has a patch on it that reads "King County Georgia", a reference to the same county as The Walking Dead.