Historias Para No Dormir: classic horror series being resurrected by Amazon

February 16th 2021, 3:15pm

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Variety reports that Amazon Prime – alongside ViacomCBS International Studios and RTVE – are developing a reboot of the classic Spanish horror series Historias Para No Dormir (or Stories to Stay Awake in English), which debuted in 1966.

Here's the official description of the upcoming series, via the article:

Set as a four-part anthology miniseries, “Historias Para No Dormir” boasts a superstar cast and crew on either side of the camera, with episodes to be directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“Mother”), Spanish Academy Goya-winner Rodrigo Cortés (“Buried”), “[Rec]” writer-director Paco Plaza, and Paula Ortiz, director of “The Bride.” Local outfit Prointel e Isla Audiovisual has been tasked with producing the reboot.

50 years ago, Chicho Ibáñez Serrador became a household name for Spanish horror thanks to his creation, “Historias Para No Dormir,” a Spanish series which aired from 1966 to 1968 and again in 1982. In 2005, the IP was reformatted for the big screen as a group of shorts in “Peliculas Para No Dormir” (Movies to Stay Awake), with Ibáñez’s contribution “La Culpa” being the filmmaker’s last directorial work. He was joined then by several other Spanish genre masters on the project in Álex de la Iglesia (“30 Coins”), Jaume Balagueró (“[REC]”), Mateo Gil (“Open Your Eyes”), Enrique Urbizu (“The Ninth Gate”) and, back for the series reboot, Paco Plaza.

Ibañez’s work in film and TV anticipated Spain’s surge in upscale genre auteurs from Filmax and Balaguero’s “The Nameless” and helped evolve the medium from low-budget hack-and-slash fare often intended to make a quick buck at the box office to films with aesthetics, psychology and humanistic narratives that stood and stand out in international cinema.

Meanwhile, no official release date as of yet, but filming has apparently already commenced in Madrid. We'll keep you updated on when dates become more concrete.

So what do you guys think? Fans of the original show? If so, looking forward to such a robust reboot? Either way, sound off below!