Netflix’s The Midnight Club is Great Horror

After the immediate successes of The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan took on vampires on Midnight Bliss last year. Now, in 2022 he’s back alongside Leah Fong to bring the world a new chilling show, with The Midnight Club. As expected, this series also features scary fun with interesting characters and interconnected personal relationships that present all kinds of twists. A perfect October show, this is one you won’t want to miss around Halloween time.

A Scary Story

The story follows eight kids who are suffering from different types of terminal illnesses living at a hospice and gathering at midnight to tell each other scary stories. The season evolves with each episode you feel more and more for the characters. Though at first, it might seem like you aren’t connecting much with anyone, everyone will grow on you after a while. By the last episode surely there are at least a few characters that you will want to see get out well and safe out of the freaky situations.

Just like with the previous series, Mike Flanagan has created a show that intertwines its stories and presents different unexpected twists. It’s always entertaining and all ten episodes hold your attention well enough. There’s little filler here and even scenes and story beats that may not seem like they’re saying much at the moment, but later on, come to mean so much more. That is to say that with a re-watch you will understand a lot more and appreciate the early episodes on a different level.

Comparison to Previous Horror Series

When you compare it one-to-one with the other three shows, you will see that it holds up quite well comparatively. Although, still the first show, The Haunting of Hill House, stands as the clear favorite among fans. There was something quite shocking about the way that story revealed itself and people weren’t quite familiar with Flanagan’s name just yet. Now that we have certain expectations his movies and shows are held up to a different standard.

The Haunting of Bly Manor suffered from those same consequences as fans were constantly comparing it to Hill House. With how well that story is laid out and the incredible directing, it’s impossible to compare any horror series to Hill House and expect it to come out as great. Nevertheless, Midnight Mass, a series that focused on religious trauma through a vampiric eye, was a quiet hit last year and now The Midnight club seems like it will join that tier of shows.

One thing’s for sure though, critics have been generally loving this show and the audiences have been streaming it quite a lot. No matter what series Flanagan does next, as long as he keeps this quality up and releases it properly around Halloween time, it will most definitely be watched and reach huge numbers. People have rightfully fallen in love with his scares and deep stories. The way he uses horror to showcase personal trauma within relationships is undeniably unique. Netflix has struck gold with these horror series released every year during this time of the year.

You can now watch The Midnight Club streaming the first full season with a Netflix subscription anywhere in the world.

Photo: Netflix

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