The Dream Door’s Pretzel Jack is now not a puzzle anymore!
The Dream Door served as the fourth and final season of Syfy’s horror anthology, but many fans are still confused about the show’s twisted creature Pretzel Jack. Now that ‘Channel Zero’ is cancelled on Syfy and we don’t know if the series will return on another platform or not, let’s solve the mystery of this horrific creature Pretzel Jack.
Highlights —
- Creepypasta is real treasure of terror
- Was ‘Channel Zero’ purely Creepypasta
- Is Pretzel Jack from Dream Door really a monster?
Creepypasta is real treasure of terror
Before we go ahead with explaining Pretzel Zack, it is important to mention that ‘Channel Zero’ is based on Creepypasta. For those who are wondering what is Creepypasta, it is a form of horror fiction that emerged with the rise of the internet. Most of the stories on Creepypasta are contributed by anonymous authors and they often take the form of first-hand accounts of eerie events. We can absolutely call them modern urban legends. Not to mention, these Creepypasta have given rise to famous creations like Jeff The Killer, The Rake, or Slender Man. Some of the best stories of Creepypasta are “Candle Cove” and “Ted The Caver”.
Was ‘Channel Zero’ purely Creepypasta
Creepypasta has its own history of success and failures when it comes to adaptations, but one can easily claim that best of Creepypasta came in SYFY’s ‘Channel Zero’. This 4 season anthology, consisting of six episodes each, adapted one particular Creepypasta story. Though many think ‘Channel Zero’ is purely adapted from Creepypasta, in reality, each series had little to do with the original story. Channel Zero’s four seasons were only inspired from the stories or moments but they spanned a whole new story around them.
For instance, Butcher’s Block of season 3, has little in common with the actual story of Kerry Hammond’s Creepypasta “Search And Rescue Woods”. It just got inspired by the image of stairs in the middle of the woods which leads to nowhere. The series itself was crafting new horror arcs that boasted some truly nightmarish imagery.
Is Pretzel Jack from Dream Door really a monster?
Not to mention, ‘Channel Zero’ created some unique monsters of its own, including Tooth Child in season 1 and Pretzel Jack in season 4. The fourth season of ‘Channel Zero’ features Troy James – AKA Twisty Troy, who is the famous contortionist from ‘America’s Got Talent’ Season 13. James plays an impossibly flexible clown Pretzel Jack, who was the imaginary friend of Jillian (played by Maria Sten) when she was young. Jillian has a unique power to manifest imagery things into reality. She brings Pretzel Jack back to life in the first episode who murders anyone or anybody upsetting her.
Though Pretzel appears to be a monster, he’s only triggered by Jillian’s suppressed rage. He only attacks others out of a desire to protect her. In the final episodes of season 4 of ‘Channel Zero: The Dream Door’, he is depicted as more benign. The show even tries to make him a borderline heroic figure. It’s because of the showrunner Nick Antosca and actor Troy James’ incredible physical performance that Pretzel comes across as quite lovable too.
The story of Pretzel Jack and Jillian in the series moved the audiences. In particular, their sweet, tragic friendship in ‘Channel Zero: The Dream Door’ was loved by people. But people were confused if Pretzel is actually a monster. Now it is clear that the monster looking clown might have a heart of gold and he’s the final season’s standout character. As a matter of fact, Troy James’ first appearance on ‘Channel Zero’ was not as Pretzel Jack, but he previously played a nightmarish creation known as Scuttling Father Time in Butcher’s Block.
