Amazon Picks Up ‘Lore’ Horror Podcast As Series

EXCLUSIVE: The truth that is sometimes more frightening than fiction is coming to Amazon with the streaming service announcing at New York Comic-Con today that it has picked up acclaimed podcast Lore as a series. The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment and Propagate Content developed the Aaron Mahnke podcast into an unscripted horror anthology series.

‘I’m obsessed with horror and mythology,” Hurd told the crowd at NYCC in obvious understatement. “In bringing Lore to Amazon,” she added of her unscripted debut, “we are going to examine the truth behind the horror genre – something we love.”

Hurd along with Propagate’s Ben Silverman and Howard Owens will EP the 10-episode first season of Lore. With Mahnke and Brett-Patrick Jenkins also serving as EPs and X-Files alum Glen Morgan as showrunner, the TV show version of the podcast is set to debut mid-2017, I hear. News of Lore being turned into a TV show in conjunction with Valhalla and Propagate was first made public this spring but no network or streamer was attached.

Launched in March last year, Lore’s look at true-life scary stories, the paranormal and the origins of vampires, zombies and the horror genre in general now has over 3.2 million monthly listens. Named a Best of 2015 by iTunes, Lore’s Mahnke teased the Amazon deal yesterday and today online:

I’m beginning a very exciting 48-hour trip. I’ll tell you more about it later, but it’s just making me more & more thankful for all of you.

— Lore Podcast (@lorepodcast) October 5, 2016

Who’s going to New York Comic Con tomorrow or Friday?

— Lore Podcast (@lorepodcast) October 5, 2016

Huge day today. I think you’re all going to love it.

— Aaron Mahnke (@amahnke) October 6, 2016

“Lore is a thrilling podcast with a rabid following, and we jumped at the opportunity to work with Gale Anne Hurd, Ben Silverman and Howard Owens to develop it into a series for Amazon Prime members,” said Amazon Originals Unscripted boss Conrad Riggs today in a statement. “The series will be a truly unnerving and exciting experience that Prime members will not forget.”

In laying it out at today’s multi-show panel before NYCC, Amazon dropped Hurd’s name to the mix with no explanation. Thursday’s Jamie Hector hosted panel at the Big Apple’s Javits Center included Sneaky Pete’s Giovanni Ribisi and Graham Yost plus The Tick’s EP Ben Edlund and Barry Josephson too. Both show’s played clips from future episodes, with the former con artist series being very heavy on co-star and EP Bryan Cranston. There was also a video greeting from Michael Dorman and Michael Chernus of the upcoming Patriot, with an action packed clip from series. Joining the House of Bezos gang onstage Thursday, Hurd also has a TWD panel on Saturday, along with a panel on her USA Network series Falling Water.

NYCC runs today through October 9.