The acclaimed first season of The Terror first aired all the way back in March 2018, with Season 2 dropping in August 2019. Now, nearly seven years later, horror fans can finally enjoy the AMC anthology’s highly anticipated third season, and it’s indeed a tense treat for the senses. But why did it take so long to finally happen?
Ahead of the upcoming horror TV show’s arrival on the 2026 TV schedule, I spoke with The Terror: Devil in Silver’s co-showrunners Christopher Cantwell and Victor LaValle (the author of the season’s source material) about crafting the spooky story set at New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital. But I was as curious as anyone about the project’s path to production, and I asked the writer/producers how it was brought into the Terror-verse as opposed to being a standalone series. Which provided some insights into the big gap between seasons. Cantwell began the explanation, saying:
So from what I understand, Victor, it started as a possible candidate for a third season of The Terror when you began developing this with AMC. This is before my involvement. I came on in the fall of 2022; I think we, you and I, connected for the first time then. But by that point, it was really just in its own incubation period of 'It's just this story. Let's focus on this story and making this story great.' That was how AMC was approaching it. And then there was some flirtation and talk about it.
Christopher Cantwell
Reports floated in early 2020 that AMC was aiming to get a third season off the ground, but COVID brought a lot of TV plans to a halt over the next year. At some point during that period, network execs reached out to LaValle about his novel, which was published in 2013 as the follow-up to his Shirley Jackson Award-winning cult novel Big Machine. LaValle also wrote 2017's multi-award winner The Changeling, which was adapted into the Apple TV series of the same name.
More back-and-forth decision-making was had before any final decisions were made, with another unfortunate industry-stopping obstacle putting a damper on progress. Cantwell continued:
We went through the strike. It reactivated after the strike. Victor and I continued to develop the project. Then, right before we announced it, they kind of came to us and said, 'What about making this the third season of The Terror?' And we said, ‘That would be amazing.’ It's such a pedigreed and incredible horror anthology franchise. I mean, it's extremely recognizable, and it was exciting to us.
Christopher Cantwell
Surprisingly enough, it sounds like the world was close to hearing about The Devil in Silver getting a standalone adaptation when AMC made the call to bring this story into the franchise, despite it not aligning with the historical settings of the first two seasons.
Cantwell, who's written some of my favorite comics in recent years — the consumerism existential horror Everything and the fairy tale-twisting Briar — thinks that a resurgence in viewership helped sway that decision. In his words:
I think it's because also they had begun to appreciate - well, they cherished those first two seasons - but then they got a nice metric feedback in that they put the first two seasons of The Terror on AMC+ after their distribution, or whatever deals matriculated into that next step. And people rediscovered it, and they were like, 'Oh, we loved the show when it aired the first time.' Or, 'Oh, how did I miss this?' And they just loved it.
Christopher Cantwell
The timing was pretty ideal for all parties involved, and the co-showrunners felt a welcoming rush from the fanbase as the production kicked into gear, which was a sign that it was the right move. Cantwell went on, poking fun at a previous acclaimed-but-underviewed series he wrote for at AMC.
So they took that audience adulation that was kind of a second act for them, and they said, 'Well, we've got something that's going to be great that we're already very proud of. Let's make it The Terror Season 3.' I think it was a really smart decision, because when we announced before we started shooting, people went crazy. Victor brought his fans. The one guy that watched Halt and Catch Fire when it aired live was excited. Then the Terror folks just stormed the room. They broke the doors down. So it was a good kind of up and down roller coaster process. But we're happy where we ended up.
Having watched the entire season, I can say without a doubt that it's a fantastic entry to The Terror's ranks, and at just six episodes, definitely doesn't overstay its welcome at New Hyde. The series centers on Dan Stevens' Pepper, a scattershot drummer who gets illegally admitted to the psych hospital after a violent outburst. Only the cops who put him there don't realize that the underfunded facility is housing more than just the mentally disturbed. There's something far more monstrous lurking down the halls and walls and bathroom stalls.
It's quite infuriating to witness Pepper's inability to free himself from the hospital, whose caretakers are invested in keeping the mysterious being behind the silver door sated, though not everyone is aware of what's at stake. Said staff boasts performances from reliably excellent stars such as CCH Pounder, Steven Root, John Benjamin Hickey and Aasif Mandvi, while Judith Light and Chinaza Uche are among Pepper's closest confidantes among the patient group.
Victor LaValle and Christopher Cantwell were both happy and relieved to hear how much I enjoyed the season. The author jokingly-but-still-realistically noted the double-edged sword element to being welcomed into an esteemed group. As he put it:
The other part of taking on that title is now you say, 'Well, now that's your family. You better not make your family look bad.' [And AMC saying] ‘Oh no, we don't claim that season.’ [Laughs.]
Victor LaValle
Everyone's mileage will always vary, of course, but I don't think anyone has to worry about The Terror's fanbase rebelling against The Devil in Silver as the newest entry. There are quite a few really creepy moments, and some that reminded me of the Clayface teaser, but that's all I'll say.
Cantwell shared a unique moment during the transition from standalone to anthology-tethered that stood out to him, and this does seem like a really cool feeling to have.
I still remember when we changed the episodes. I mean, I got anxious just changing the episode numbers from 101, 102 to 301, 302. I was like, 'Aaahhh,' you know, because you're following in the footsteps of some good stuff.
Christopher Cantwell
Fans, be sure stream The Terror: Devil in Silver as soon as humanly possible to make sure we aren't waiting another 7 years for Season 4. Agreed? Agreed.
Stream the first episode via AMC+ subscription and Shudder now!
