Editorials
The Best Horror TV Episodes of 2018, Chosen By the Bloody Disgusting Staff
*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*
It’s been said quite a bit in recent years that we’re living in a “golden age” of television, and that’s certainly true when it comes to horror. This year has seen the birth of “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “Into the Dark” and “Castle Rock,” as well as the continuation of longtime hits like “American Horror Story” and “The Walking Dead.”
Needless to say, horror’s dominance over the small screen continued in 2018, and it’s a testament to how good small screen horror was this year that we couldn’t even trim this list down to a mere 10 episodes and feel good about it. And so, we ended up putting together a list of the *twelve* best horror TV episodes of 2018, collectively chosen by our writers.
Here’s what Meagan Navarro, John Squires and Daniel Kurland loved on TV this year.
“American Horror Story: Apocalypse” – ‘Return to Murder House’
- Chosen by Daniel Kurland
When it was announced that the latest season of “American Horror Story” would function as a crossover season between the show’s “Murder House” and “Coven” years—arguably two of the show’s strongest seasons—fans were understandably excited. However, much like with every season of the show, “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” turned out to be yet another half-baked circle jerk of a season that simultaneously had too many ideas and too few. The execution and the conclusion of “AHS: Apocalypse” may have been problematic, but the season’s high mark was definitely ‘Return to Murder House,’ an episode so satisfying it could very well be the best episode from the show’s entire run.
‘Return to Murder House’ largely served as one big epilogue for all of the tortured spirits from “AHS: Murder House,” acting as a welcome homecoming to the “Murder House” crew. And it also gave those characters the peaceful closure that they weren’t able to get before. Really, it was a big ole love letter to the entirety of “American Horror Story.” and in spite of the season’s many faults, this incredible episode effectively justified the season’s entire existence. And that’s pretty impressive, don’t you think?
“Ash vs. Evil Dead” – ‘Judgement Day’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
The penultimate episode of the final season of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” marked the beginning of an epic apocalyptic battle for Ash and the Ghost Beaters. Season 3 was also the first season to not have its final showdown set at the cabin, a welcome and refreshing change of pace. Moreover, it brought the series full circle by tying up story threads planted in season one, and Ash’s daughter Brandy finally followed in daddy’s footsteps proper with her own Deadite battle in a shed. Ruby was finally vanquished in a satisfying way, and the small glimpse of Kandar the Destroyer teased a larger-than-life fight for humanity. Everything that came before was building up to this grand finale, and we weren’t worthy.
“Castle Rock” – ‘The Queen’
- Chosen by John Squires
As a whole, I was pretty disappointed by Hulu’s “Castle Rock,” which began with such promise but quickly fizzled out and was ultimately very unsatisfying in the end. The brilliant concept of telling new stories in the world of Stephen King is one with endless potential, but the debut season of “Castle Rock” hardly lived up to it. That is, until “The Queen” came along.
Driven by a Emmy-worthy performance from Sissy Spacek, the season’s seventh episode was one of the all-time finest episodes of horror television, depicting Ruth Deaver’s utterly heartbreaking struggles with Alzheimer’s in a brilliantly immersive way. As Ruth jumped between space and time and reckoned with past and present, we went through all of it with her, culminating in the total heartbreak of a confused Ruth accidentally killing the love of her life. Thanks to this episode alone, “Castle Rock” became unforgettable television in 2018.
“Channel Zero: The Dream Door” – ‘Love Hurts’
- Chosen by John Squires
Not surprisingly, the team behind Syfy’s “Channel Zero” hit another home run with “The Dream Door,” the anthology series’ fourth (and quite possibly best) season. Like the previous seasons, “The Dream Door” managed to create an unforgettable new horror icon in the form of Pretzel Jack, a make-believe childhood creation that comes to life and wreaks havoc in the lives of its creator Jillian and her husband Tom. The season’s high point was ‘Love Hurts’ (episode 3), which really solidified “The Dream Door” as another stroke of brilliance for the series.
‘Love Hurts’ kicked off with an incredibly intense sequence of violence but culminated in most unexpected fashion, with the deadly Pretzel Jack and Jillian embracing each other with a hug. It’s the episode where everything started coming together, and it’s also the one that made it clear that Pretzel Jack is one of the best horror characters in years. We learned here that Pretzel Jack is Jillian’s “emotional defense system,” and the surprisingly emotional realization that the season’s villain and the season’s heroine are one and the same really took the story’s concept to a whole new level of compelling. The best horror stories use monsters as reflections of ourselves, and “The Dream Door” rather brilliantly knocked that ball completely out of the park.
“Channel Zero” remains the most exciting horror franchise going right now.
“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” – ‘Dreams in a Witch House’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
Chapter five of Netflix’s deliciously satanic “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” evoked a sense of nostalgia for the monster-of-the-week episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And a little bit of A Nightmare on Elm Street, too. The episode saw Sabrina and the Spellman household under attack from the demon she accidentally loosed in the previous episode. That demon, Batibat, traps its victims in a deep nightmare state, causing Sabrina, her cousin Ambrose, and her aunts to face their worst fears. Batibat makes for a fun foe, but this episode also allowed Sabrina to shine as the hero for once, with only a little outside help from her aunts, Salem, and the mysterious Ms. Wardwell. It was all around an entertaining high point for the show’s debut season.
“The Haunting of Hill House” – ‘Two Storms’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
Continuous long tracking takes, circling camera trickery, and intricate technical preparation that required over a month of choreography and rehearsal all culminated in what is arguably television’s finest hour in 2018. Right on the heels of episode five’s twist revelation behind the Bent-Neck Lady, standout “The Haunting of Hill House” episode ‘Two Storms’ brought the surviving family members together under one roof for Nell’s funeral. Narratively, it centered on two storms; a literal storm set in the family’s past at Hill House, and a metaphorical storm of raging emotions among family members with unresolved anger toward one another. Both storms brought the horror, driving further wedges between the Crain family and redefining what a haunting can be.
‘Two Storms’ was masterful horror at its finest.
“Inside No. 9” – ‘Dead Line’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
Series creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are masters of dark comedy and shocking twists, but the special Halloween episode of “Inside No. 9” that aired live on BBC Two on October 28 managed to top an already high bar of brilliance with a clever, meta episode of pure terror. What began as a live recording of an episode that sees its lead character getting into strange trouble over a cell phone he found in a graveyard becomes something else entirely as audio problems kick in. Cue the technical difficulties card and apologies from the network, as they insist the kinks are being worked through. Viewers that stuck through it found a meta horror story unfolding live in the studio, a site tied to rumors of serious hauntings. Similar to Ghostwatch, ‘Dead Line’ brought the dread and fear by way of live television.
“Into the Dark” – ‘POOKA!’
- Chosen by John Squires
It’s up for debate whether the episodes of Blumhouse and Hulu’s “Into the Dark” are actually episodes of television or full-on feature films (honestly, I could make compelling arguments for both), but since “Into the Dark” is indeed a TV series, I don’t think anyone will have issue with me including its best episode (to date) on this list. While I wasn’t a big fan of the first two episodes, Nacho Vigalondo’s Christmas-themed ‘POOKA!’ totally won me over, centered on a new hit holiday toy that wreaks havoc on the actor tasked with bringing the character to life. ‘POOKA!’ is a total mind-fuck with one hell of a twist, coming together so wonderfully in the surprising final moments that it’ll likely have you watching it again immediately afterwards.
And trust me, ‘POOKA!’ is even better the second time around.
“Santa Clarita Diet” – ‘The Queen of England’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
Season two of Netflix’s gory zombie comedy “Santa Clarita Diet” managed to be bigger and funnier in every way, and the fourth episode catapulted the mythology forward in a major way. We knew from season one that Sheila’s (Drew Barrymore) undead status was connected to the mysterious red ball she threw up, but ‘The Queen of England’ showed what happens when the ball is allowed to exist at room temperature. Meet Mr. Ball-legs, a spider-like thing sprouted from zombie Ramona’s barfed up red ball. Combined with new connections in regard to Mr. Ball-legs, Gary’s (Nathan Fillion) lonely severed head, and more Hammond hijinks hilarity, this episode was not just a season highlight, but a *series* highlight.
“The Terror” – ‘The Ladder’
- Chosen by Meagan Navarro
AMC’s “The Terror,” the ten-episode series based on Dan Simmons’ novel of the same name, was a slow burn tale of terror about Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic. As the two polar explorer ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror become stranded in thick ice, the crews face starvation, mutiny, cannibalism, and a mysterious monster, the season taking its time to unravel the narrative. This is why episode three delivered such a thrilling jolt of excitement. It marked the shocking demise of lead character John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds), expertly handled in one of the tensest sequences of pure panic and horror. Franklin barely has time to process his party getting slaughtered by the bear-monster before it ripped off his leg and knocked him down a deep hole, plummeting to his death.
We damn sure didn’t see that coming.
“The Walking Dead” – ‘Evolution’
- Chosen by John Squires
As tired as the show has become in recent years, even many longtime haters of “The Walking Dead” were in agreement that the first half of Season 9 was home to some pretty damn strong episodes, including the sendoff episode for Rick Grimes and the follow-up episode to it, which jumped six years into the future. But I’d like to make a case for “Evolution” (the mid-season finale) being the strongest episode of the AMC zombie series this year, primarily because it was an hour of television that finally made “The Walking Dead” scary again.
“Evolution” introduced us to a new group of villains known as The Whisperers, shocking the characters with the crazy twist that a pack of zombies that were hunting them were actually human beings disguised as zombies. The encounter with this creepy new threat culminated in a dark, foggy battle in a graveyard that was one of the show’s most downright terrifying sequences to date. And while it may be too late to win back viewers who tuned out long ago, “Evolution” damn sure made the back half of Season 9 a must-watch for yours truly.
Here’s hoping the horror of “Evolution” was a proper reflection of what’s coming next.
“The X-Files” – ‘The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat’
- Chosen by John Squires
The eleventh season of “The X-Files” may have ended with a disappointing whimper (even Gillian Anderson herself seemed quite disappointed by the finale), but the season was certainly not without its gems. My personal favorite episode of what may end up being the show’s final season? The Darin Morgan-penned/directed “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat,” centered on the fascinating idea of the Mandela Effect; in short, the phenomenon wherein we have strong memories of things from the past that either doesn’t exist at all, or simply aren’t how we remember them.
In the episode, Mulder and Scully are confronted by a man named Reggie, who claims to be a former member of their team. Later, Mulder eventually comes face to face with the mysterious Dr. Thaddeus They, a brainwashing doctor who’s been pulling America’s strings all along. As bonkers and fun as the episode was, it rather brilliantly used the Mandela Effect to touch upon the idea that none of us really know what’s real and what’s not anymore, making it a timely social commentary at its core. If you’re asking me, it’s an all time great episode for the show.
“Forehead Sweat” also operated as a more satisfying finale than the actual finale. Go figure.
It’s not actually a horror show but an honorable mention must be given to the ‘Mister Knifey-Hands’ episode of “The Goldbergs,” which brought back Robert Englund as Freddy!
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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