The series originated from informal dinners organized in 2002 by director Mick Garris at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California, attended by ten horror 'masters' including John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Guillermo del Toro, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, and John Landis.

Garris continued organizing regular dinners and expanded the guest list to include directors like Dario Argento, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, Rob Zombie, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez, which eventually led to the creation of the anthology series in 2005.

The series premiered on Showtime on October 28, 2005 with 'Incident On and Off a Mountain Road,' directed by Don Coscarelli and based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, to excellent reviews.

Episode 4, 'Jenifer,' was accidentally made available on-demand to a select audience at the same time as episode 2, 'H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House.'

'Jenifer' was cut for graphic violence during its initial television broadcast, with the removed scenes only viewable in a separate featurette on the Region 1 DVD release.

Episode 13, 'Imprint,' originally scheduled to premiere on January 27, 2006, was shelved by Showtime due to concerns over its content, with series creator Mick Garris calling it 'the most disturbing film I've ever seen.' It was only released on DVD and Blu-ray and aired in the UK on Bravo in April 2006.

After Showtime declined to renew the series for a third season, Mick Garris and Lionsgate created a new anthology show called Fear Itself with the same premise, which premiered on NBC in June 2008.

IDW Publishing produced comic book adaptations of several episodes, including two-part adaptations of 'Incident On and Off a Mountain Road' and 'Dreams in the Witch-House,' with the first two covers painted by artist Jeremy Caniglia.