Hauntings, violence, and true crime: Series to binge on over Halloween
IN TIME for the culmination of spooky season, horror and crime drama series are filling online streaming platforms. Here is a quick rundown of what you can catch this Halloween if getting shivers down your spine is your thing.
NETFLIX
From suspense-filled thrillers to natural and supernatural horror, there’s a lot to choose from on Netflix. There is True Haunting, an American docufiction series that looks into hauntings using immersive reenactments and interviews. With James Wan as one of its executive producers, the five episodes look into two tales of mysterious hauntings.
Meanwhile, the Italian true crime limited series The Monster of Florence delves into the case of a serial killer in 1960s Italy who targeted couples parked in lovers’ lanes. Based on a notorious true story, the four-episode limited series was directed by Stefano Sollima.
Other interesting titles are Nightmares of Nature, an animal documentary series that centers on the horrific beauty of nature from the perspective of prey; and Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the third in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s anthology of American serial killers, this time following the 1950s murderer Ed Gein.
HBO MAX
Another series about a real-life serial killer, this time on HBO Max, is Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. The miniseries first premiered on Peacock and dramatizes the life of Gacy who murdered young men and boys in the 1970s.
Then there’s the HBO original crime drama Task, created by Brad Ingelsby, which stars Mark Ruffalo as an FBI agent investigating violent robberies in stash houses. The seven-episode miniseries is a bleak and horrific look at the reality of crime.
For a more fun yet appropriately themed watch, check out the 11th season of Halloween Baking Championship, an entertaining battle between some of America’s top bakers who are seeking to create the spookiest treats and desserts.
DISNEY+
Disney+ has a lineup of horror and crime series fresh from Hulu. Murdaugh: Death in the Family is a five-episode miniseries that investigates a man accused of the murders of his wife and son. The platform also has the biographical miniseries The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, a true story that centers on an American college student studying in Italy who is wrongfully convicted of murder.
Riffing off the popularity of true crime these days, Hulu is also showing the fifth and latest season of the fictional comedy-drama Only Murders in the Building. The show is a must-watch, about a trio of neighbors (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who have a shared interest in true crime podcasts and become friends while investigating a series of murders in their apartment building.
PRIME VIDEO
Over on Prime Video, the UK-set horror-thriller series Lazarus, created by Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst, follows a forensic psychiatrist who looks into cold case murders after coming home for the death of his father. Meanwhile, the platform’s satirical superhero series Gen V, a spinoff of the famed and equally violent hit The Boys, has a new season.
Another fun watch is the brand-new second season of Hazbin Hotel, an adult animated musical series about Charlie Morningstar, the crown princess of Hell.
LIONSGATE PLAY
For older titles that aren’t necessarily spooky, but still horrific in their own, realistic way, Lionsgate Play has some gems worth revisiting. The 2018 UK drama miniseries A Very English Scandal has Hugh Grant play a charming and charismatic politician hiding a dangerously cruel interior.
Finally, there’s Mr. Robot, a show that ran from 2015 to 2019, starring Rami Malek as a cybersecurity engineer and vigilante hacker who exposes the scary global chaos of a world that is reliant on the internet. — Brontë H. Lacsamana
