Fluffy, Fear, And The Crate

The scare that hooked so many of us wasn’t just teeth and shadows. It was wood splintering underwater, a breath that didn’t come when it should, and the stubborn belief that a crate at the bottom of a quarry still holds something hungry. We open the vault on Creep Show’s The Crate, the creature fans call Fluffy, and the handmade practical effects that make this segment feel alive decades later.

We talk about why The Crate sits at the top of our Romero list and how that cliffside ending reads like a neon sign for a sequel that never arrived. The conversation moves from fandom to the shop floor: the oversized creature head, a routed breakaway crate front, and a studio tank likely shared across segments. On take one, panic hits—proof that even seasoned crews can miss the rehearsal that matters most. That moment becomes a lesson in preparation, safety, and the strange alchemy of fear and craft that gives horror its bite.

From there, we chase the artifacts that got away—those broken crate fronts and odd treasures that slip into the “murky past.” The nostalgia turns forward as we trade ideas for modern Creep Show, including a cockroach-inspired script concept itching to be written. It’s a love letter to practical effects, the Romero lineage, and the creative loop where one iconic monster sparks a new one. If you’ve ever wondered why some segments live rent-free in your head, or how a single prop can shape a generation of nightmares, you’ll feel right at home here.

Join us for a candid, lively look at creature building, underwater gags, and the sequels we still dream about. If this conversation stirs your own pitch or memory, share it with us, subscribe for more deep dives, and leave a review so fellow horror fans can find the show.

Chapters

• 0:01 Opening And Creep Show Fandom
• 1:49 Why The Crate Begged For A Sequel
• 3:16 Building Fluffy And The Water Tank Ordeal
• 5:22 Artifacts Lost And Production Memories
• 5:22 Cockroaches, Scripts, And New Ideas

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Dill Ferrucci on the fishbowl, welcome. Hey, thanks. Absolutely thank you for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me. Oh, no problem. I just want to say that the fluffy segment in Creep Show is my number one favorite segment in the film. And Creep Show is my number one favorite George Romero movie. Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 0:26

You know, it's amazing how often I I hear statements like this. Particularly the first one. People love the crate segment, they really do. And you're the second guy just this today who said that to me.

SPEAKER_00: 0:42

I I I actually went to school for screenwriting here at Point Park, and I have George Romero's desk.

SPEAKER_02: 0:49

Really? Yes. No kidding.

SPEAKER_00: 0:52

And I I had I had like a concept idea for a sequel story to the crate.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00

Great. You know, I was kind of surprised there wasn't a sequel to the crate. I mean, it's obviously set up for a sequel, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 1:07

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02: 1:08

The classic ending there.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 1:10

Right. You expect more. And then right then when Creep Show 2 was going to come out, you know, people would have been thinking, oh, what about the crate? Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:19

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 1:23

Unless the creature, no, no, I was gonna say, could the creature have mutated into that slimy black stuff, but no, it's not even the same thing. Completely different.

SPEAKER_00: 1:36

Right, right. Any stories working with George, creating fluffy, the experience of working on the crate?

SPEAKER_02: 1:44

Gosh, well, um, sure, sure. I'll I'll tell you a story that was um interesting to me at the time. It has to do with the um the the very ending of the segment that we were just mentioning, you know, being flung into the quarry. I guess it was an old, supposed to be an old quarry, right? Right, right. With a flooded quarry. Right. They throw the crate in there and to drown the creature, right? So, I mean, I was not obviously actually in a crate that was going off a cliff, but but we did have the underwater shop, okay? And that was in in the studio, the studio that we created with in somewhere around here in Monroville, you know. Um so they had a water tank, a big water tank was built. Maybe it was the same one used for the for the for the unfortunate, you know, Becky and what's his name, you know, in the big to tide you over. Uh but anyway, yeah. Probably the same tank. Anyway, because you remember there's underwater shots of of them, right? The hair flying and the water, they're drowned. Right. Anyway, so the um head, of course, right, and it's large. This is a large map of creation that we built. I was assisting Savini. And so it comes out like this much, right? It's it's like this. There's a lot of space inside there. And um so I had to be inside a like a crate front, which had been routed out in a crack pattern behind it, right? And in there to punch, wearing the the creature head and arms punch through and break out of the crate, like break the front of the crate apart. And um so they had a scuba set up for it, like first. A scuba mask, but whatever would fit, right? And and then put the head on over that, and then I got in the tank and went down. This is going on very long. Anyway, look, the point is, I went down in there, and on take one, my body completely panicked. I like blew the take, broke the thing wrong. I'm like, I thought I was drowning. Like, but I was just going for it. I just went, you know, underwater to do the thing. The thing is, I'd never worn one of those things, and nobody had me practice whatsoever. And like, I like I had no conscious fear, but like instinct took over. It really was like some internal signals told me I'm gonna drown right now. And that's I don't know, it's one of those funny little things that happens. You know, typically we were well prepared with whatever we were doing, right? Right. On that one occasion, neither I nor anyone else thought that if I've never breathed through a scuba apparatus, maybe I should try it. That's right. Right, right. Weird. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:53

Well, I'm glad I'm glad it all worked out and that you're you're you're here you're here with us today.

SPEAKER_02: 4:59

Yeah, of course they had extra crate fronts. That's an artifact I used to have. Whatever, you know, interesting things I used to own from the free show are gone and the murky past, like in the bottom of the reservoir with yeah, that broken crate part. Right. That's kind of a cool artifact.

SPEAKER_00: 5:18

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02: 5:19

It's history.

SPEAKER_00: 5:21

Right. Another segment that is one of my favorites is is the final segment with with with the cockro with the cockroaches. Yeah. That segment actually inspired me to write a script dealing with cock cockroaches. Yes, yes, actually it has. The way I I was telling it to Howard Berger earlier is that I I wrote a spec script for the creep show series.

SPEAKER_02: 5:54

Oh, yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 6:06

Right, right. Maybe all I have to do is write it. There you go. I had an idea. I haven't it's it's it it hasn't been written yet, but I kind of have the the premise in my head.

SPEAKER_02: 6:22

Okay. Honestly, I'm surprised that it has not appeared, particularly considering that the creep show series. Exactly. I've never I I ran into Greg occasionally. I've never thought to mention that to him. Not that I I mean I don't have to push it, but it's not gonna like have a a you know vested interest necess, so to speak. Right, right. That'd be cool. I mean, I don't think I would, you know, be fluffy. I don't need to be. Again, you know, I mean, right.

SPEAKER_00: 6:56

Awesome. Well, Daryl, it's been a pleasure talking with you. Same here. Thank you for sharing your your your stories about George and Fluffy and the creep show. And it's been a pleasure having you swim in the bowl with me. All right. I hope the temperature was just right. Yeah, well, thank you so much. Okay, cool.