'Once Upon a Time' News This Freeform Show Will Tide You Over Until Season 6 Premiere [VIDEO]
Once Upon a Time fans looking for something to tide them over until fall might have something with this new summer show.
The new horror series Dead of Summer premiered Tuesday night on Freeform. The series, which centers on a camp with darkness lurking within, comes from the same showrunners as Once Upon a Time, a.k.a. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, along with co-producers Ian Goldberg.
Kitsis and Horowitz recently spoke about how Dead of Summer should appeal to fans of Once Upon a Time.
"I think for 'Once' fans, 'Dead of Summer' is, obviously, its own show and a different thing," Horowitz noted in an Entertainment Tonight interview. "But I think where the DNA is the same is its characters are at a crossroads in their lives. They're facing major life-changing moments against super-heightened situations. In 'Once', it could be the magic of the fairy tale world, and in 'Dead', it's the horror of the supernatural lake."
Kitsis used two characters from Once Upon a Time as examples of what Dead of Summer is like.
"I would say that if you like watching Regina's arc, and if you like watching Emma's arc, then you should watch this show," he said. "It will appeal to your sense of watching characters having to confront their demons, but on 'Dead of Summer', it's literal demons."
Dead of Summer also stars a few actors from Once Upon a Time. Elizabeth Mitchell, who guest starred as Ingrid in Once, is the camp's owner in Dead of Summer, while Elizabeth Lail, who played Anna, plays Amy in the Freeform series, a first-timer to the camp.
"Each episode is going to focus on one character. We'll flashback to who they were before they got to camp, whatever their secrets were, and whatever they're currently dealing with," Kitsis explained. "Then at camp, they're going to be haunted by whatever their demons are and it will all tie together mythological."
Dead of Summer airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform while Once Upon a Time will return Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
