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The night is dark and holds terror, as Melisandre said in Game of Thrones. The shop windows have been warning for a few days now: Halloween is here. And on November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, for those who would rather use these days to re-read Bécquer and see Don Juan Tenorio for the umpteenth time.
There is no channel or platform that can resist the temptation to program horror or fantasy content on these dates. In the last few days and in the coming weeks, interesting suggestions for these genres have been and will be published. Among the titles that we discuss below are several Spanish productions that have been solved with more or less luck. Also some series that are a few months old but are relevant. And even a comedy with ghosts.
The Fall of the House of Usher
Mike Flanagan shined in 2018 with The Haunting of Hill House (if you haven’t seen it yet, leave this list for later and start with it), in which he reviewed Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name. In The Haunting of Bly Manor he began with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Now he turns to Edgar Allan Poe to use his literary work as inspiration for a tale that combines horror and family drama. The heirs of the Usher dynasty, the family at the head of Farmacéutica Fortunato, die one by one at the hands of a mysterious woman linked to the past of the family father and his sister. Every death is connected to a Poe story. Good performances (look out for Carla Gugino) and good entertainment. On Netflix.
nightmares
Zack Morris, Ana Yi Puig, Miles McKenna, Will Price and Isa Briones in the series “Nightmares”.
Those who were teenagers in the ’90s remember RL Stine’s Goosebumps books. Also the series from the same decade, with the headline that started with a mysterious man with a briefcase and this dog with yellow eyes. The new adaptation gives these stories a more contemporary feel. A group of high school students decide to throw a Halloween party at an abandoned house where a boy died 30 years ago. After this party, the young people are faced with strange situations. With a background plot linking the chapters (exploring what happened in the past and the boys’ parents’ relationship to it), each part focuses on one of the teens adapting a story from the books. More entertaining and adult than expected. On Disney+ (weekly episodes).
30 coins
Three years after its first season, the series created by Alex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría has returned. And he does it without hesitation. The chaos into which Pedraza was plunged attracts curious people interested in strange cases, and the police continue to try to understand what happened. Meanwhile, the battle for the 30 coins that Judas sold Jesus Christ for becomes increasingly fierce. The new chapters make no concessions and begin in chaos to create more chaos. The excesses that characterize De la Iglesia’s work, brought into the cube. On HBO Max (weekly episodes).
Chucky
The series based on the film saga about the devilish doll was released in 2021. Don Mancini, the character’s creator, is at the helm of the production, which received critical acclaim. The third season, which is now premiering, continues to receive acclaim, and there are even people who say that it is an improvement over the previous installments. The ingredients that are not missing are murders with a crazy touch and the typical black humor. Now the action shifts to Washington, where Chucky has managed to reach the White House itself to continue his thing. On Syfy, Day 2 (weekly episodes).
romance
Bosnian actress Elena Matic in “Romancero”.
In this supernatural thriller, drawing on influences such as comic books, gothic literature, horror stories, and the iconography of Lorca’s poetry, six half-hour chapters condense a tale of good guys who flee and evil who pursue them. The plot begins when a boy and a girl desperately flee. What they are fleeing from, why, who is following them and what happened are questions that are resolved (or not) in the darkness of the night in which the action takes place, peppered with flashbacks to put the pieces together. Supernatural creatures, violence and revenge intersect in a story that has the most visual impact but is less prominent in the script. On Amazon Prime Video, on the third day.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre
The Japanese Junji Ito is considered one of the masters of horror manga. An anime adapting some of his stories was released earlier this year. They are short stories (some so short that there is room for two stories in the 25 minutes of the chapter) that take the images and plots of her comics and set them in motion. Some create very disturbing scenes. Terrible? Well, it depends on each individual… It has the disadvantage that it doesn’t exactly start with the best story. Interesting for those looking for something different, although going to their vignettes is probably a better idea. On Netflix.
Ghosts
The tender and funny (and brilliant) British comedy reaches its fifth and final season, which will have six episodes and a Christmas special to conclude (the American version will still feature “Ghosts”, paralyzed by the actors’ strike) . Now the protagonists face the financial disruption in which they find themselves and which will force them to consider various economic proposals related to the Button villa. Alison is also pregnant, which will also make her change her mind. And all with ghosts and their endless stories. On Movistar Plus+, on the 6th (two episodes per week).
Wreck: Psychopath
An image from the series “Wreck: Psychopath”. Peter Marley (BBC/Euston Films)
A slasher with a killer named Quacky the psychopath? Of course you have our attention. The plot of this mystery story, which combines classic horror and dark comedy and premiered on BBC3 last year, is set aboard a luxury cruise ship whose crew is in search of constant partying. Traveling among them is a man in his mid-twenties who is trying to find out the truth about his sister’s suicide on the last voyage. A hidden organization hosts a macabre game in which passengers fight to avoid falling into the hands of a villain dressed as a duck in a yellow raincoat. As absurd as it may sound, British critics welcomed it. On Dark on the 10th (weekly episodes) and the same day on AMC Selekt.
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