In 2015, Michael Ballif approached fellow filmmakers James Morris, Allen Bradford, and Parker Marcroft about developing a horror anthology centered around the Halloween season. The series intro was released online and garnered attention from sites like CraveOnline. Production began early that year on the pilot episode, with Ballif writing and directing. After the pilot's release, Morris took over as writer and director on the next two episodes while Ballif began developing what would become the longest episode of the series. After its completion, Morris returned to helm the final installment. The entire anthology was filmed in Northern Utah with a small crew running all aspects of the production. The series was scored by composer Randin Graves, with David Monastiere composing the intro, and co-composing Episode #4: "They Live Inside Us". Ballif and Morris decided to end the anthology after the fifth episode in order to focus on the production of their first feature film, however, an official second season is said to be in early-stage development.
Cast
Release
The Witching Season was originally released as a YouTube web-series starting in 2015 and continuing through 2017. The series later received a video-on-demand release through Amazon Prime as well as a physical Blu-ray/DVD release through Scream Team Releasing in September 2018.
Reception
The Witching Season received generally positive reviews, particularly among fans of the horror genre. Loron Hays, writing for Reel Reviews, said "complete with a moody opening sequence that resembles Haddonfield, Illinois from John Carpenter’s Halloween, works due to its service of familiar horror tropes. Horror fans will enjoy the tip of the hat." and gave the series a 4 out of 5 rating. Bryan Fitzgerald, writing for Fitz of Horror said "These inspired Halloween tales are perfect for late nights with friends and well worth adding to our collection." Ken Artuz of Decay Mag, said "The Witching Season offers the nostalgic approach to the Horror anthology concept." Mike Sprague, writing for Dread Central, said "I took to Ballif’s indie-series immediately. And I think you will too." Ray Marek of The Horror Syndicate called the series "very good" and gave it a 7 out of 10 rating. Matt Artz of Halloween Dailey said the series was "a wickedly atmospheric celebration of everything we love about Halloween."
Future episodes
Directors Michael Ballif and James Morris have both stated they want to continue The Witching Season, and it is rumored that an official second season could go into production sometime in 2020.
In October 2017, it was announced that the fourth episode of the series, They Live Inside Us would be adapted into a feature film, with James Morris once again playing the lead and Michael Ballif acting as writer and director. Production began in July 2018, and on October 30, 2018, Dread Central released the first official screenshots of the film and stated that Witching Season Films was "hoping to have the film ready to release by Halloween 2019." Production on They Live Inside Us wrapped in July 2019 and the film is expected to be released sometime in 2020.
