‘The Shivering Truth’: Watch the First Episode Before It Airs on Adult Swim

“The Shivering Truth” premieres next week, as part of the Sunday night block on Adult Swim. But for anyone adventurous enough to take a chance on a stop-motion descent into some dark territory of the human psyche, IndieWire is presenting the first episode in advance of the series premiere.

This quarter-hour creation comes from Vernon Chatman, the co-creator of “Wonder Showzen” who also helped bring “The Heart, She Holler” to Adult Swim back in 2011. Chatman also voices characters in the series, joining a voice cast for this debut episode that also includes Jon Glaser, Kevin Breznahan, Miriam Tolan, and Ivy Chatman.

As part of a certain amount of due diligence, this intro is the time to reiterate that this is an episode of TV that will likely make some viewers uncomfortable. Anyone expected a traditional heartwarming stop-motion special (or even the measured, less-happy offerings of something like “Anomalisa”) is in for a deep, profound surprise. (To wit: A flipbook sent to members of the press as part of a preview for the show features an insect bite morphing into a structure that envelops an entire person.)

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For those who feel mentally equipped to handle it, watch the full debut episode below:

So, that’s quite a lot to fit into 11 minutes. “The Shivering Truth” unfolds in the subsequent five episodes as part of an anthology of similar thematically connected mental rabbit holes. In order to let viewers watch more, Adult Swim has created an online scavenger hunt — before its television premiere, the network has released the following five episodes across other websites and platforms. Good luck finding them all!

To help bring these episodes to life, there’s an even bigger cast of favorites from the comedy world, including Jordan Peele, Maria Bamford, Andy Daly, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Trey Parker, Peter Serafinowicz, and Julio Torres.

For an idea of what to expect from the rest of this season, watch the trailer below:

“The Shivering Truth” premieres December 9 at midnight on Adult Swim.