The series is "a collection of the Oscar-winning filmmaker's personally curated stories, described as [equally] sophisticated and horrific." Del Toro introduces each episode. Del Toro credits
Rod Serling's
Night Gallery as one of the inspirations for his
Cabinet of Curiosities, specifically in the manner with which Serling opens and closes each episode. He told an interviewer, "I have incredibly vivid memories of the series, of the fear that enveloped me when I watched each episode: the
fantastic opening featuring those
wide-angle faces, distorted and grimacing;
Gil Mellé's incredible music that created feelings of both fear and excitement; and Rod Serling's carefully phrased introductions of
Tom Wright's horrific and dread-filled paintings that haunt my imagination to this day." The central
conceit of the series is the opening of a
cabinet of curiosities one section at a time, each episode corresponding to a different curiosity from the cabinet. ==Production==