Guillermo del Toro said in a conversation for Netflix with fellow director Mike Flanagan that the story for "Lot 36" was partially inspired by del Toro's experience of his storage unit being sold without anyone telling him, as happens to the character of Amelia (Elpidia Carrillo).
The title of episode 1: Lot 36 is a word-play of "lot three-six (lot 666)"
Guillermo Navarro, director of this episode, previously worked as a director of photography in other horror projects by Guillermo del Toro, namely Hellboy (2004), The Devil's Backbone (2001), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and Cronos (1992).