Worth the Watch? Huluween Edition

This Halloween, let’s take a closer look at a few offerings on the “Huluween” menu this spooky season.

To satisfy every Halloween modus operandi, I picked a scary one, a funny one, and a true one. Happy hauntings, everybody!

GROTESQUERIE

Prolific television writer, producer, and director Ryan Murphy takes an ambitious stab at crime drama in this new series on FX, just in time for Halloween. Oh, Ryan, you’ve done it again — and by “it”, I mean disturbed me entirely.

Niecy Nash is at her best as our flawed protagonist. After Nash showed the world she was more than a comedy actress in Murphy’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” she stars in the lead role of “Grotesquerie” as Detective Lois Tyron, an alcoholic cop who believes a twisted serial killer is tying her up in his sick game, laden with puzzling biblical references. However, Lois’s personal life often feels just as complicated as the case of nightmare juice hanging over her head.

Boyfriend of the year, Travis Kelce is also a guest star in this series. He plays handsome recovered-addict and orderly, Fast Eddie, who takes a shine to Detective Tyron and her daughter. In my opinion, he is very compelling in this role. Dang, is there anything this guy can’t do?

Rounding out the cast is Nicholas Alexander Chavez (“Monsters”), Courtney B. Vance (“The Hunt For Red October”), and Micaela Diamond, a relative newcomer who certainly earns her stripes in this one.

Viewer beware, “Grotesquerie” is not for the weak of stomach. There is no shortage of shock value. Here’s my advice; if first responders are throwing up in the bushes outside the crime scene — get ready to shield your eyes.

However, thankfully, most of the horrific violence occurs off-screen and viewers only see the, uh, grotesque result. Some the most chilling details come from the dialogue rather than the imagery. That being said, I definitely lost some sleep from the first crime scene in the pilot episode. *Vomits just thinking about it*

Overall, I thought “Grotesquerie” was a thrilling watch. I’m afraid to see what’s next but I can’t look away. I wouldn’t rank this among Murphy’s best series to date, but with its stellar acting and fresh storytelling — “Grotesquerie” is certainly Halloween-worthy.

The final episode is appropriately due out on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 a.k.a. “Devil’s Night.”

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

“What We Do In The Shadows” is back for its sixth and final season on FX just in time for Halloween.

This creative mockumentary-style vampire comedy is one of my personal favorites. I’ve been a die hard fan since Season One and I’ll forever only pronounce New York City the way Lazlo does.

This spin-off of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s vampire satire film of the same name comes to new life through this television series. It also expands upon the lore in hilariously nuanced ways — such as adding in “energy vampires” who drain humans by boring them to death. Come on, we all know an energy vampire…

Unlike the usual method of romanticizing vampires, “What We Do In the Shadows” just slaps them right into the real world. Nadja, Lazlo, Nandor, and Colin Robinson live in Staten Island, navigating life as a modern vampire with the much-needed help of their devoted familiar, Guillermo.

Whether it’s meeting other mythical creatures, applying for citizenship, or pretending to like pizza — this lovable gang of misfits keep the laughs coming. Through the six seasons, they’ve continued to find new ways to poke fun at vampire-kind in new and delightful ways.

I could go on and on about how much I adore this show, so I’ll let you experience this one for yourself. For some light-hearted Halloween humor, I definitely recommend watching or re-watching this FX series from the beginning as it enters its final season.

OUT THERE: CRIMES OF THE PARANORMAL

If there are two types of documentaries I gobble up like candy, it’s true crime and alien conspiracies. This Huluween pick has both! For this, whether you believe in the supernatural is not important because the crimes in these episodes are indisputably real.

This new documentary series from Duplass Brothers Productions and Number 19 explores the intriguing line where true crime and paranormal activity intersect. You may already be familiar with the work of The Duplass Brothers, Mark and Jay, for their cross-genre film-making as well as their acting.

“Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal” is not here to tell you that aliens built the pyramids or that Bigfoot is real. Through honest, first-person accounts from witnesses and experts, the viewer can explore all the discourse surrounding supernatural phenomenon and see when something even darker may be lying beyond the surface. Although monsters may not be real, they still have real world consequences.

This is a fresh take on the “Unsolved” shtick that opts to tell the unbiased full perspective of each crime. “Out There” also serves as a reminder that humans are often the scariest monsters of all. Not everything may be as it seems. Dive into eight episodes, each observing a very different paranormal subject from lizard people to UFOs.

I was really taken with this docuseries and hope there will be a second! This realist’s account of “supernatural” crimes underlines our responsibility to keep fact and fiction in check. Going down the rabbit hole of paranormal theories can be fun, but sadly it can also be deadly.