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Fear Itself (TV series)

horror/suspense anthology television series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ465776 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fear Itself is an American horror-suspense anthology television series. It debuted on NBC on June 5, 2008, but was pulled from the air after late July 2008 with five episodes remaining unaired. On March 13, 2009, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled and would not return to NBC.

Production and development

Its title is derived from the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The anthology was born out of Masters of Horror and shares several of the same creative elements. It features self-contained horror/thriller stories directed by the biggest horror directors working in features, both shows were created by Mick Garris, and both shows are produced by Industry Entertainment's Andrew Deane, Adam Goldworm, and Ben Browning. Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson, John Landis, Ernest Dickerson, and Rob Schmidt all directed at least one episode of each series.

The series was filmed in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with some additional filming taking place in the city of St. Albert and the town of Devon, Alberta. Guest stars included Eric Roberts, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Josie Davis, Briana Evigan, Jesse Plemons, Elisabeth Moss, and Cory Monteith. The song in the opening credits is titled "Lie Lie Lie" by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian from his first solo album Elect the Dead.

Broadcast

The show aired on Thursday nights at 10/9c.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fear Itself (TV series)” as horror/suspense anthology television series. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fear, Itself and series.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 2009—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fear, Itself and series providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fear Itself (TV series)”, the useful work is to connect “horror/suspense anthology television series” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q465776. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008 and 2009.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fear Itself (TV series)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fear Itself (TV series) primary sources, Fear Itself (TV series) archive and Fear research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fear Itself (TV series)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fear Itself (TV series)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.