Since his childhood, Jack Davis, now 26, was obsessed with monsters. Now the CEO & co-founder of Crypt TV, the leader in digital scares dubbed ‘Marvel for Monsters,’ Davis is overseeing the growth of his horror-genre network with over 5 million followers across social media. Within the short amount of time the channel has been lives, they’ve received over over 80 million views per month.

As the monster category continues to pick up steam, CryptTV will expand into long-form productions, something Davis always had in his sights. MiLLENNiAL caught up with the young network owner to learn what makes monsters so special and how this scary genre has created the life of his dreams. 

Where are you from and when did you first discover your love for horror movies?

I’m from Los Angeles, California and growing up around entertainment I’ve always had an immense respect for the horror genre. The best monster stories change culture forever and my love as a teenager for movies like SCREAM or NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET really cemented both my passion and respect for the genre.

Describe a breakthrough moment in your career.

A breakthrough moment in my career is when Crypt’s ‘6 Second Scare’ contest was featured on Good Morning America. My co-founder Eli Roth and I launched 6 Second Scare as a test to see if creators could successfully make short form scares for the phone and if fans would actually enjoy it. Over 15,000 submissions and the contest going totally viral later, our answer was a resounding yes. It was so exciting to see an idea you drew up on pen and paper become culturally relevant. Most importantly, that contest led us to Jason Blum and Blumhouse who became our first investor and have been an incredible partner ever since. 

Why did you decide to venture into producing “Monster” content and what do you feel is different about your style?

Crypt wants to be Marvel for Monsters. About a year ago we really focused on producing monster content because we believe the next Freddy Krueger, the next Pennywise is going to be born on the phone and we know the best characters live forever. I would say our focus on using social & mobile to build IP makes us different but even within the scare world our style is different because our best monsters – The Birch, Giggles – are both protagonists and antagonists.

Your Facebook Show Page has been wildly successful in a short amount of time. What is it that draws people to monsters?

Scary isn’t just a category, it’s an emotion. We all love to be scared. The best monsters stories don’t just touch on our fears, they touch on our hopes and dreams as well. Our strengths and our weaknesses. The fact that we aren’t fully in control of what is going to happen to us and live in a world where nobody has a definitive vision of the future.

Great stories encapsulate all those emotions and a great monster can be the physical representation of our deepest, darkest issues.

Crypt tries to tap into that in every story we tell and I think we do so in a mobile and social friendly way that leads to a really engaged community of viewers.

You claim that Crypt TV is about “embracing the monster within.” What do you mean by that?

CryptTV’s mission is to tell culture changing monster stories that bring the world closer together. Our monsters both reflect the human condition and the complexities therein while providing an outlet for the emotions that all of us struggle with. There’s a positive undertone to what we create – monsters with a moral compass, a humanized element to them. There’s power in sharing what scares us. We hope to urge viewers to run towards our fears, to feel empowered by what makes them different.

Being immersed in horror may have a tendency to take a toll on   your subconscious. How do you remain positive on a daily basis?

It is easy to remain not just positive, but elated and excited, on a daily basis when you see the impact and fervor of the Crypt community. Everything we do, we do for our fans and to see the passion around our stories makes not just myself, but our entire team so happy to come in to the office each and every day.

Crypt TV currently produces short form horror content. What would you like to achieve with the platform in the years to come? How do you envision it growing?

Our goal is to create the Marvel of Monsters and we see ourselves as building characters, not just producing videos. So over the next few years as we focus more and more on serializing our best monsters, we envision Crypt characters appearing in every medium of content. AR masks, VR, live events, merchandise, longer form production and more. We want to make a meaningful impact on culture with new monsters and that means bringing our best monsters to different content mediums.

Be sure to check out Crypt TV on Facebook and follow the latest happenings on Twitter. You can also say hi to Jack Davis on Twitter and Instagram.