Thanks to “R”-rated gambles like Logan and Deadpool paying off for Fox, Columbia Pictures is rolling the dice on a long-gestured dark property: Venom, one of the most vicious and brutal of all of Spider-Man’s enemies. When the studio announced that this spinoff would actually happen, the biggest question beyond “how?” was as to its aesthetics. It’s been confirmed a dozen times over now that it will be an “R”-rated affair that, while not part of the Marvel Comics Universe, Venom will, in fact, be in the same “reality” as the Spider-Man films, which could lead to a crossover in the future. Same reality or not, they’re planning on drawing from the works of horror gods.

For Venom, Sony has tapped director Zombieland‘s Ruben Fleischer to bring the menacing arachnoid to the masses. In the comic books and the film, Venom is hatched after reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) bonds with an alien symbiote — a union that gives him deadly powers. “I’ve always been drawn to the more anti-hero superheroes,” Fleischer told Variety.  “There’s a dark element to [Venom] and a wit that has always appealed to me.”

In first ever real story details, Fleischer says the film will deal with Venom’s origins and with the Jekyll and Hyde relationship Brock has with the alien symbiote. “They become almost a third being, which is what Venom is,” Fleischer says. “There’s a famous quote: ‘You’re Eddie Brock. I’m the symbiote. Together we are Venom.’”

While that’s exciting and all, Columbia Pictures’ president Sanford Panitch made eyebrows raise when he said that Venom will draw on the work of John Carpenter or David Cronenberg while promising “more pop and fun.”

It’s still uncertain if Spider-Man will appear in the film, however, does tease: “If we get lucky enough to make more than one [Venom film] and continue the franchise, there are lots of opportunities.”

Venom is scheduled to be released October 5, 2018, making it a Halloween affair. Venom isn’t the only symbiote featured as Carnage will be the murderous villain, while Brock’s ex-wife, dubbed “She-Venom” will allegedly also appear. It sounds as if there will be plenty of scares, as well as blood shed, but what’s most exciting is knowing that Venom could call back to films such as The Thing, Videodrome, or even The Fly. Hopefully, they don’t abuse CGI and find a way to make it as unsettling as the classics from the 1980s. What do you guys think?