Legendary horror director John Carpenter will come out of semi-retirement to helm the pilot episode of anthology series Tales for a Halloween Night. Carpenter is the filmmaker behind such classics as The Thing, HalloweenBig Trouble In Little China, They Live and many others. In addition to writing and directing, he’s also known for composing the music for much of his own work, and his scores have proven influential on everything from Stranger Things to Dredd.

Carpenter has largely stepped away from filmmaking in the last decade or so, with his most recent feature being 2010’s The Ward. He’s instead turned his attention to writing and performing his own music, with his Lost Themes albums proving popular with fans of his synth-based scores. He’s also dipped his toes into graphic novels, with the likes of John Carpenter’s Asylum and anthology series Tales For A Halloween Night.

Related: John Carpenter Created The Halloween Theme In One Hour

In a new Rue Morgue interview, Carpenter’s producing partner and wife Sandy King confirmed that he will take the reins on the Tales For A Halloween Night pilot. The series is being produced for SyFy, and according to King, the plan is to bring other big name horror directors onto the show:

John Carpenter

“He would direct the pilot, at least. And then we’ll hopefully bring on some great horror directors—and just great directors—so that it’ll be a high-end show. We want anything that has our brand associated with it to be a satisfying experience for readers, watchers, whatever we’re doing.”

This won’t be Carpenter’s first time working in television. In addition to the 1978 TV thriller Someone’s Watching Me, he directed his regular leading man Kurt Russell as Elvis in a TV movie of the same name. Carpenter also helmed two of the best-received episodes of anthology series Masters Of Horror; "Cigarette Burns" and "Pro-Life".

Carpenter is also making a return to the Halloween series as executive producer and composer on the latest movie. The new entry – which is being directed by David Gordon Green – reunites Carpenter with Jamie Lee Curtis, and it's been confirmed the film will ignore every Halloween sequel past the original movie. The filmmaker has been absent from the series since the third movie Season of the Witch: an unsuccessful attempt to steer the movies away from Michael Myers, and into an anthology series based around the holiday itself. Based on the concept of Tales For A Halloween Night, it sounds like Carpenter has finally gotten his wish for a spooky Halloween anthology.

Next: Why Jamie Lee Curtis Had To Return To Halloween

Source: Rue Morgue