Here we go again, Slasher fam! But this time around, we’re checking into a brand new anthology from Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter. Hell Motel (previewed here) follows a gathering of true crime buffs and influencers for an experience they won’t forget — if they live. #SorryNotSorry
We can all use a little (or a lot) of escapism right now, and Hell Motel will definitely scratch that issue with Martin and Carpenter’s signature blend of horror and comedy and OMGWTFery. I caught up with them earlier today to chat about the show.
Martin says the idea for the motel setting was seeded long ago but makes perfect sense. “I think it’s kind of an iconic setting for a slasher series or a movie. In the eighties there was a movie called Motel Hell, which is a completely different thing. I remember seeing the trailer for it, and I was feeling nauseated by the thought of what it was. And so I think it always stuck in my brain as a thing,” he shares.
The first season also leans into the true crime world and Martin explains that the world of Slasher was ripe of a little introspection. “One of the things that sort of fed [true crime as a focus] was recognizing that we were five seasons in on a show, and I can’t remember how we got to this, but there was just a sense of it was time to look in the mirror. I think for us as creators and as fans ourselves, and then also the fans of the show,” he says.
“If you make a show like this, both of us have heard, endlessly, from someone who’s not into it, ”How do you guys make this show where these terrible things happen? How can you guys who seem nice…?’
“So I think there is something interesting, especially when you get to know the horror community and how sweet and accepting and sensitive it is… I personally, I think it’s part of why you’re there,” adds Carpenter. “We are all drawn to those kinds of stories. I think it was just time to look into that. And I think the true crime crowd is where at times it feels most on the edge, so that thinking led us to, ‘How do you build that in a way that we can face it and talk about it?'”
“We’re not actually a true crime show. We’re making this all up. And the murders are, in many cases, fantastical. It’s more of a murder mystery than it ever was a true crime. And that goes for Hell Motel as well,” Martin point out. “But we obviously know that it’s a huge market and that we’re tangentially connected to it.
“And it’s interesting to explore our own culpability when it comes to making that into entertainment and where the responsibility lies.”
Friday night, Toronto fans will get a chance to see the show in the wild at the Revue Cinema, and Martin and Carpenter are excited to unveil it. “It’s a wonderful repertory theater. It’s a really fun place — a really nice, intimate, small, cool rep theater and free popcorn, and crew and other fans,” Martin says.
“We sit in the crowd and it’s fun for me because I don’t watch the show through it’s mixes so I’ve only seen the cuts that don’t have the right music and stuff. So for me it’s always, ‘Oh look at this now.’ Ian, however, has seen it a gazillion times.”
For Carpenter, it’s a chance to see the fruits of their labor among fans who are there to be entertained, first and foremost, and know going in what they signed u for. “It’s amazing, though. That’s what I miss from my theater days. I loved doing shows and sitting in the audience and with strangers that didn’t know I’d written and directed it or things like that. And having them talk to me about it,” he recalls.
“But I think where it really stand stands out on those screenings, is it makes it clear how funny the show is.”
During the screening last season, we showed two episodes and because I’m an obsessive counter, I counted over 90 laughs. And also, too, there’s just the fun and humor of horror. All you need is for someone to say, ‘Well let’s go in there, what could really happen?’ And you know, everyone [gets it]. Or even just the shared humor of something scaring people and a whole pile of people gasping out loud or yelling or whatever and then everyone laughing. It’s a ball.”
Hell Motel airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on Hollywood Suite in Canada beginning June 17, and will be available to stream on Hollywood Suite On Demand. In the US, the two-episode premiere will drop on Tuesday, June 17, on Shudder and AMC+, with new episodes releasing weekly on Tuesdays.
As a reminder, you can catch Slasher: Ripper and Slasher:Flesh and Blood on Hollywood Suite and Shudder. The first three seasons of Slasher are still on Netflix. And all our coverage of previous seasons is here.
Photos courtesy of Shaftesbury TV/Shudder and Aaron Martin.
