Castle Rock trivia: 75 amazing facts about the anthology series

Castle Rock is an anthology web series that is inspired by characters, settings and themes from Stephen King’s stories! It is currently in its second season.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this series!

Castle Rock is an American psychological horror anthology web television series
Featuring and inspired by characters, settings, and themes from the stories of Stephen King and his fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine
The series premiered on July 25, 2018 on Hulu
It was created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason
And stars André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, Jane Levy, and Sissy Spacek in its first season
On August 14, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season
Which premiered on October 23, 2019
Castle Rock combines “the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland”
On February 17, 2017, it was announced that Hulu, J. J. Abrams, and Stephen King were collaborating on a new series entitled Castle Rock
Based on King’s large canon of work
It was further reported that the series would be written by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason
Produced by Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions
And distributed by Warner Bros. Television
Four days later, Hulu revealed that they had given the production a series order consisting of a first season of ten episodes
And executive producers would include Abrams, King, Shaw, Thomason, Ben Stephenson, and Liz Glotzer
On July 12, 2017, it was announced that Michael Uppendahl was joining the production as a co-executive producer
Also, he would direct the pilot episode
On August 14, 2018, it was announced that Hulu had renewed the series for a second season
The second season premiered on October 23, 2019
On May 11, 2017, it was announced that André Holland had been cast in the series’ lead role
In June 2017, Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, and Melanie Lynskey had joined the main cast
On July 10, 2017, Bill Skarsgård was set to join the roster
In August 2017, it was reported that Scott Glenn and Terry O’Quinn had been added as series regulars
On March 1, 2018, it was announced that Chosen Jacobs had joined in the recurring role of Wendell Deaver, the son of Holland’s character
On June 8, 2018, it was announced during the annual ATX Television Festival that Allison Tolman will have the recurring role of Lynsky’s character’s sister
Five days later, it was reported that Noel Fisher was also on board
In March 2019, it was announced that the season 2 cast would feature Lizzy Caplan, Tim Robbins, Garrett Hedlund, Elsie Fisher, Yusra Warsama, Barkhad Abdi and Matthew Alan in lead roles
Hedlund’s role was later recast with Paul Sparks
On April 17, 2019, it was reported that John Hoogenakker had been cast in an undisclosed recurring role for season 2
Principal photography for the first season was expected to take place in Massachusetts
In locations such as Orange, Massachusetts, and at New England Studios in Devens, Massachusetts
In August 2017, production began in Devens and in Orange
There the downtown area had been refitted to appear as the town of Castle Rock
And where production was expected to continue through January 2018
That month, crews also shot scenes at Vernon Hill School in Worcester, Massachusetts
And at an old Victorian house in Lancaster, Massachusetts
Filming returned to Orange during the week of August 21 for production of the series’ second episode
In late September 2017, filming took place in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, at The Public Health Museum on the campus of the Tewksbury State Hospital
In October 2017, filming took place at the Central Cemetery in Orange where a funeral scene was shot
The downtown area was refitted with a more modern look in November for another phase of production
From September 4, 2017 until the end of the month, production took place at the former West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia
Which appeared as the fictional Shawshank State Prison
On November 21, 2017, filming took place in Worcester in the lobby of the Mercantile Building, which had been refitted into a boardroom
On December 18, 2017, production for the season finale began
By January, all filming in Orange was completed
The production proceeded to donate $3,500 dollars to the town
The Fire Department received $2,500 for helping facilitate production
The Trustees of Soldiers’ Memorial will receive another $1,000
Visual effects were used to alter seasons
Including adding snow to scenes in which there was no snow on location
As well as to create a forest fire in episode five
In 2019, it was reported that filming for second season would take place at additional Massachusetts locations
Including a former meat factory building in Clinton
And several properties in Gardner
The song “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa” is used three times during the first season
Including the first song heard in the premiere (Gene Pitney’s 1963 version)
And the last song heard over the closing credits of the finale (Dusty Springfield’s 1964 version)
It captures the underlying situation of The Kid in the lyrics: “Dearest darling, I had to write to say that I won’t be home anymore / ’Cause something happened to me while I was driving home / And I’m not the same anymore”
Simultaneously with the series announcement, Hulu released the first teaser trailer for the series
The teaser trailer mentions titles of and characters from a number of Stephen King novels, short stories, and collections
These include It, Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, ‘Salem’s Lot, Dreamcatcher, Night Shift, The Green Mile, Misery, Hearts in Atlantis, The Shining, “The Mangler”, Four past Midnight, Different Seasons, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, The Dark Half, and “The Night Flier”
On October 8, 2017, a second teaser trailer was unveiled at the annual New York Comic Con and subsequently released online
On February 1, 2018, a thirty-second television commercial for the series was released online
Eventually aired three days later, during Super Bowl LII
Hulu reportedly paid $5 million to air the advertisement during the football game
On May 2, 2018, a third teaser trailer was released, alongside the announcement of the show’s premiere date of July 25, 2018
On July 10, 2018, the first full trailer for the series was released
The first season has been met with a generally positive response from critics
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 86%
Based on 70 reviews
With an average rating of 7.57/10
The website’s critical consensus reads, “A meticulously crafted mystery brimming with allusions, Castle Rock is bound to please even the pickiest of Stephen King fans — though mileage may vary for casual viewers”
Metacritic assigned the series a weighted average score of 66 out of 100
Based on 35 critics
Indicating “generally favorable reviews”