We haven’t done a new “Serie/ous Addiction” post in a while mostly due to the fact that we’ve covered the new Berlin-related TV shows either individually – like Babylon Berlin or 4 Blocks – or paired with movies – such as this massive listing. But a recent new Netflix show has spiked my desire again to write about addictive shows and paired with the occurrence of Halloween I thought it would make a lot of sense to write up a new round of recommendation with the theme of horror.
Scary and suspenseful shows have always fascinated me (with The X Files being my first favorite show as a teenager) but to be honest, it’s rare that this genre creates something truly original or surprisingly frightening. But for some reason, this year (possibly inspired by the horrific politics in the world) saw the release of quite a lot really good horror shows. And maybe you haven’t heard of some of them, so here are my recommendations.
The Haunting of Hill House
So, this pearl of a TV show inspired me to write this post. It really took me by surprise because with its premise of a family moving into a scary looking house only to realize it is haunted (duh!) I really didn’t expect much of it. But it got such great acclaim online and I have always liked the main actress Carla Gugino so I gave it a shot. And, wow, was I in for a ride. Despite its generic-sounding plot, the show is so smartly written, well-acted and full of surprising twists that it really pulls you right in. The story of the aforementioned family is told in two timelines with so many perspective changes and puzzle pieces flying around which makes it quite intriguing and along the way so satisfying (and at times absolutely heart-breaking) to see the pieces falling into place. It’s also fun to try to spot the hidden ghosts appearing in the background that are curiously observing the drama happening in the house the same way that the viewers of the show are.
Streams on Netflix.
Channel Zero: The Dream Door
Channel Zero is a bit of an underdog of a show that you probably never heard of before, but it really is worth your while. The show is an anthology type of format changing stories and cast every season. Each season is based on what is called a “Creepypasta” which is a certain type of format of scary fan fiction that spread through the internet. The most interesting one of the 4 seasons for me so far is the current one titled Dream Door which might be the most frightening and bizarre one of the series. The main scary element is a freaky-looking contortionist clown. Yeah, you heard that right. Brace yourselves!
Castle Rock
Castle Rock is yet another anthology-style show based on the fictional world created by Steven King. It’s not based on any particular book of the popular author but rather draws inspiration and details from various books, such as the titular location of Castle Rock. As you know there have been countless adaptations of King’s novels both good and bad. I would say Castle Rock belongs to a rather elegant and cool variety of them. The story of a mysterious young man who shows up captured in the abandoned part of a prison unravels with lots of flashbacks and story twists and a quite mind-boggling ending.
Streams on Hulu.
The Rain
The Rain is a new Danish Netflix show about a post-apocalyptic world where a poisonous rained killed most of humanity except for a group of adolescents who were safe in a shelter. Sounds pretty contemporary to me with all the climate change drama going on right now if you ask me. It’s a nice change of style, pace and actors to see a Danish show. One gets so used to the American shows that their style really gets branded into us. But I really liked the different kind of storytelling of this Danish production. If you are not used to watching stuff in foreign languages there are dubbed versions in English, German and other languages too.
Streams on Netflix.
Into the Dark
This one is the only of the bunch where just one episode has been released so far, but that one was quite original and also the most fitting one for today’s Halloween night. Each episode tells a completely different horror story but always based on a different holiday – the first one being Halloween. It’s about an assassin who ends up with the body of his victim at a Halloween party and everyone assumes it’s just a great costume, taking selfies with it. It sounds a bit mad – and it is – but it’s surprisingly entertaining and suspenseful (and funny). The second one is coming out on November 2 and is set during Thanksgiving.
Streams on Hulu.
