Castle Rock/Season 1

Season One of the television series Castle Rock aired on Hulu from July 25th, 2018 to September 12th, 2018, spanning a total of ten episodes. The season introduces original characters that are inspired by or based on concepts developed by famed horror author Stephen King, by bringing different elements from King's exhaustive oeuvre of work into a single shared continuity.

The premise of season one centers around the character of Henry Deaver, who is a 39-year-old black man raised by white foster parents in Castle Rock. Having experienced a bizarre incident as a child, he grew up to become a capitol punishment lawyer working out of Texas. Years later, he finds himself returning to his home town when he receives a request to help out a mysterious man-child who has been found caged up in a closed off wing of Shawshank Prison. Henry discovers that his mother, who is now suffering from a mild form of dementia, is in the care of the town's retired sheriff, Alan Pangborn.

Molly Strand - a childhood friend of Henry, is an empath who experiences the emotional states of those around her and has a close psychic connection with Deaver, and undergoes great mental hardship when he returns home.

At Shawshank, the new warden has to deal with the presence of The Kid, whom the previous warden, the now deceased Dale Lacy, had kept secretly locked up for many years. Nobody knows anything about this individual, but according to some of Lacy's notes, The Kid might very well be the Devil himself.

Cast members for season one of Castle Rock include Andr Holland as Henry Deaver, Melanie Lynskey as Molly Strand, Bill Skarsgård as The Kid, Jane Levy as Jackie Torrance, Ann Cusack as Warden Poole, and Sissy Spacek as Ruth Deaver.

Production

 * Dustin Thomason - Creator; Developer
 * Sam Shaw - Creator; Developer
 * Stephen King - Executive producer
 * J.J. Abrams - Executive producer
 * Liz Glotzer - Executive producer
 * Mark Lafferty - Executive producer
 * Ben Stephenson - Executive producer
 * Michael Uppendahl - Executive producer


 * Colin Walsh - Producer
 * Scott Brown - Producer
 * Lila Byock - Producer
 * Robin Sweet - Producer
 * Tamara Isaac - Producer
 * Vinnie Wilhelm - Producer
 * Gina Welch - Consulting producer
 * Tom Spezialy - Consulting producer

Directors

 * Ana Lily Amirpour
 * Andrew Bernstein
 * Dan Attias
 * Greg Yaitanes


 * Julie Anne Robinson
 * Kevin Hooks
 * Michael Uppendahl
 * Nicole Kassell

Writers

 * Dustin Thomason
 * Gina Welch
 * Lila Byock
 * Marc Bernardin


 * Mark Lafferty
 * Sam Shaw
 * Scott Brown
 * Vinnie Wilhelm

Notes & Trivia

 * Castle Rock is based on characters and settings developed by author Stephen King. Series developed for television by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason.


 * Each season of Castle Rock is a self-contained story, though they all take place within the same continuity.


 * Actor Scott Glenn is given a "Special Guest Star" credit in this season.


 * In the horror genre, actress Sissy Spacek is best known for playing troubled telekinetic teen Carrie White in the 1976 feature film Carrie, based on the novel by Stephen King.


 * Actor Bill Skarsgård is also known for playing the role of Pennywise - the evil clown featured in the 2017 film  Chapter One, and its sequel,  Chapter Two. Both films are based on the novel It by Stephen King.


 * The character of Alan Pangborn was previously featured in the films The Dark Half and Needful Things''.


 * Reference is made to Cujo in this season, which was the rabid Saint Bernard featured in the book and movie of the same name.


 * The character of Jackie Torrance, who was created specifically for this series, is the niece of Jack Torrance, the alcoholic writer who is consumed by the evil of the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining.


 * One of the principal settings for season one is Shawshank State Prison, which was the provincial setting for the Stephen King story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, as well as the 1994 feature film The Shawshank Redemption by director Frank Darabont. The star of the film, Tim Robbins, will go on to have a major role in season two of Castle Rock.