US cable network Showtime has ordered a horror series from Skyfall director Sam Mendes and Call The Midwife producer Neal Street Productions. 

The premium broadcaster has ordered psychosexual period horror drama Penny Dreadful, which will begin production in London in the second half of the year.

The series was created by and written by Mendes’ Skyfall partner John Logan, who also wrote The Aviator and Gladiator. It will exec produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris, head of film and television at Neal Street Productions, the company founded by the pair in 2003.

Penny Dreadful will feature some of literature’s most terrifying characters including Dr. Frankenstein and Dracula as they become embroiled in Victorian London. 

The series was commissioned by Showtime’s president of entertainment David Nevins. 

“John Logan and Sam Mendes are two of the great storytellers of our time,” said Nevins. “The visual spectacle combined with the psychological insight in their reimagining of these iconic literary characters seems totally mesmerizing to me. This promises to be a wholly original television show.”