In the very little free time that I have, I decided to indulge myself in a new series. To set a precedent, I, like many others, am an “American Horror Story” fanatic. I love the dark that encompasses every episode. There is something to be said about being able to build characters so beautifully in a horror genre and “American Horror Story” does just that. Very few movies and shows can get me to feel bad for the villain like this show can make me do.
That being said, in browsing my streaming services I came across Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities.” This too is an anthology horror series where every episode is a different story. The series features 8 episodes and came out in 2022.
Each episode also features a different director and oftentimes writer, making each episode unique. However they are all similar in their dark nature. For those who have watched “American Horror Story” I would put it on par with that series, except I would have to say “Cabinet of Curiosities” is much darker.
In terms of how scary each episode is it would depend on the individual. Some episodes are scarier than others but each feature a darkness in the tone and overall prose. The focus of each episode is on something sinister rather than purely scary. From rats stealing bodies in a graveyard to aliens as parasites inside of people, this series features it all.
The one major drawback of this series is that most episodes start off slow. It is a challenging thing to establish a world, characters, and plot all in the span of 1 hour. The first 20 minutes of each episode is mostly focused on world-building for that episode but does often include key components to what is coming next.
As a warning, these stories do not typically end with happy ever after. In fact, most have quite disturbing ends which speaks to the darkness that this series embodies.
Anyone from horror fanatics to those who like a story that just keeps them guessing, this show is for you. I would encourage others to give it a try. It is definitely one of those shows that a person might hate or love but no in between.
