Shudder has announced that an all-new anthology series, “Hell Motel,” from “Slashers” series creators Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter, will debut with a two-episode premiere on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, on Shudder and AMC+. New episodes will be released weekly on Tuesdays.
The eight-episode limited series stars Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) and sees a group of 10 true crime obsessives invited to the opening weekend of the newly renovated Cold River Motel, the site of a 30-year-old unsolved Satanic Mass Murder. History repeats itself when the guests get stranded and start getting knocked off one by one during a murder spree that grows exponentially more gruesome than the original with each kill.
“With ‘Hell Motel’ we take a good look in the mirror as both horror fans and horror creators, delving into the allure of a genre of storytelling as old as drama itself. But as any horror fan who’s ever uttered “Bloody Mary” three times into a mirror knows, you’ve got to be careful what you wish for…,” said series creators Martin and Carpenter.
McCormack takes on the role of Hemmingway, a chef with a wickedly sinister flair, and is joined by fellow motel’s guests Paige (Paula Brancati; “Slasher”), a former scream queen actress looking to revive a career that has seemingly left her behind; Crow (Shaun Benson; “The Boys”), a new-age medium with an apparent connection to the massacre’s victims; Blake (Atticus Mitchell; “The Hardy Boys”), a true crime writer and himself a survivor of a mass killing; Kawayan (Emmanuel Kabongo; “Sway”), a talented artist with a dark focus on murder; Andy (Jim Watson; “Trasnplant”), a bookish academic at the forefront of contemporary true crime studies; and Adriana (Genevieve DeGraves; “Slasher”), a hybristophilic flight attendant with several notorious serial killer notches on her bedpost. Canadian drag queen Icesis Couture (“Canada’s Drag Race”) also makes a guest appearance as Magenta, a stylish real estate agent who sells the Coldwater Motel to its new owners, Ruby (Brynn Godenir; “Rich Kid”) and Portia (Michelle Nolden; “Heartland”).
“Hell Motel” is a Shudder Original Series developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with Hollywood Suite and with the financial participation of the Bell Fund. AMC Networks holds distribution rights. Martin and showrunner Carpenter created and executive produced the series. Additional executive producers include Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Thomas P. Vitale, and director Adam MacDonald.
