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The cast of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil

Is there or is there not a giant monster penis in the flagship show of the SPACE network’s fall season?

"We can’t confirm or deny its existence," agree Craig David Wallace, Charles Picco and Anthony Leo, creators of the new horror-comedy series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, premiering Sept. 29.

They’re all grinning as they obfuscate, however.

What Wallace can confirm is, the show is filled with that vein of dark humour. Crowding around the playback monitor, Picco and Leo insist on zipping to an earlier take from that day – when series hero Todd informs his nemesis, a football jock and rival band frontman, that he’s going to make him bleed from his ass.

There’s certainly (fake) blood spattered everywhere within the abandoned Silver Heights Collegiate, which the production transformed into an integrated set and production office. And there’s a palpable sense of jolly fun among the milling talent and crew.

"This show is basically The Evil Dead meets The Breakfast Club," Leo and Picco effuse. On the one hand, there’s that absurd horror factor, a la Sam Raimi. On the other, Wallace says, it’s "almost a homage to John Hughes."

One thing’s for certain, Picco says: "It was always going to be a comedy."

The series is based on a 2003 short film of the same title by Wallace, which debuted at that year’s Toronto International Film Festival. A series concept began being thrown around the following year, says Leo, who is also executive producer.

After Picco was lured on board as a creator/writer, a pilot was written through the National Screen Institute’s Totally Television programme. The idea was then successfully pitched to SPACE. Wallace, Leo and Picco developed the series with Winnipeg’s own Frantic Films; the entire 13-epsiode season was shot in the city.

"What we had to do was think of ways to hook viewers from one episode to another," Leo says. "What we came up with was, the book falls into the hands of different students each week."

And that was another major considerations: what issues each student would face from episode to episode. In episode four, for instance, a homosexual student gets his wish to be "normal" – only to discover the book’s magic has simultaneously turned the rest of the school gay. Hence acceptance remains elusive.

"It’s precisely because we’ve also been able to flesh out the concept that we can better explore the teenage experience, and teenage problems," says Wallace, who also doubles as an executive producer – not to mention a writer and director for some episodes.

Perhaps the greatest challenge, Leo says, was making situations "buyable" – which is to say, play as more than mere send-up or parody. Sure, Wallace adds, the show is "just this side of camp," but the proceedings nonetheless had to possess a certain authenticity.

"The tone is the key," Picco says. "It really had to be perfected. Luckily, we had six years to find it.

"There’s a lot of heart to the show. On top of the blood n’ guts."

And monster penises? There is, after all, a rather suspicious-looking prosthetic to be seen in the make-up department’s workshop.

"I think we’ve already said all we’re going to say on that," the trio says, still grinning.