It's that time of year again as the dark nights move in and the Halloween season gets into full swing. It's been a weird year, full of highs and lows, and so I didn't fancy watching anything too scary or contemplate existentialist thoughts such as Ernest Becker's duality of the human condition; the idea that there is the external version of ourselves that we share, either by the way we speak, dress, show our affiliations, and the internal version of ourselves, which is more difficult to describe but includes our thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams. However, ultimately we all have the core anxiety which is the fear concerning our mortality and that our life is fleeting. Instead of contemplating this, I decided to watch all of Creeped Out season 2 instead.

The first series was a 13 episode series of standalone spooky tales but the second series has a shorter 10 episode run. The stories are created for an all ages bracket, so think more 'Goosebumps' or 'Are You Afraid Of The Dark' rather than 'It' or 'Saw'. The tales all start in the same way, a preamble about The Curious, a slight teen figure in a creepy mask who likes to collect tales of dread whilst whistling an unsettling melody. There are a mixture of American and British stories and as such, the cast is quite diverse and the level of acting is pretty standard, so don't go expecting any Oscars or BAFTAs grade performances. However the stories themselves are quite intriguing and do enough to keep the interest up.

The episodes are a plethora of horror tropes including creepy newborn baby, the AI taking over and magic evil maguffin and the episodes recall classic films like 'The Breakfast Club', '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'Aliens'.

The stories all have a monkeys paw ending of 'be careful what you wish for' but one of most interesting thing to note is that no matter the episode the power of the storytelling and kitchen sink creepy atmosphere made them all worthwhile watching, which is particularly impressive when you consider each episode had a tiny budget of like a fiver.

The episodes include :

The Unfortunate Five- When a group of students has a Saturday detention they are introduced to a mindfulness coach who wants them to share their feelings. The problem is that she's an emotional succubus and gets joy from their misery... So how to deal with this?

Only Child- When a family gets a new baby the older sibling seems jealous but the new baby is not what it seems.

The Takedown- When a female wrestler gets a chain message to get what she wants she requests strength... but at what cost?

Help- When the voice controlled home assistant gains sentience and takes over the house the 2 spoiled kids learn a lesson.

One More Minute- When a young gamer meets an online friend who convinces him to continue playing the game, at the cost of other commitments, the ultimate costs becomes too much to bear. Tempus Fugit indeed.

Splinta Claws- When a boy loses a precious present in a department store he waits until closing time to retrieve it. The problem is an animatronic Santa is after him as he's on the naughty list.

Itchy- When there's a head lice outbreak it seems all pretty low-key. However, these are mutant love and they won't go quietly.

No Filter- After downloading a free filter, a young and vain girl realises that her prized feature is stolen to be sold to the highest bidder.

Tilly bone- A vloggers birthday party gets out of hand as a Tilly Bone (think nightmare creator) is gifted to her.

The Many Places- A group of children get lost in an alternate reality when one of them presses all the buttons in a lift.

The episodes are all pretty solid but for me the standouts are Splinta Claws and The Many Places as they are nerve-wracking, in a kid-friendly way, whilst having an intriguing story.

Creeped Out is a great series that leaves a lot up to the imagination. It's all quite lightweight but covers heavy stuff like parallel worlds, data theft, the rise of AI and errm, evil babies. It's all uniformly solid and worth a watch for tweens looking to be spooked out.

LINK- The 13 Best ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ Episodes

LINK- The Secret Garden (BBC 1975 Review)

LINK- Children of the Stones Review

LINK- Dead of Night: Cult TV Review

LINK- The Stone Tapes: Cult TV Review

LINK- Tom’s Midnight Garden: Cult TV Review

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

As the darkness settled in, I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit and watch some spoopy stuff. Now, it's been a pretty bleak year all round so I didn't fancy watching anything too scary or anything to contemplate the feeling of ennui- the fact that Lovecraft's cosmicism states that man is insignificance in a vast endless and uncaring expanse with forces beyond our understanding wishing to do us ill- so I decided to watch all of ‘Creeped Out’ instead.

It's a 13 part series of spooky takes created for an all ages bracket, so think more 'Goosebumps' or 'Are You Afraid Of The Dark' rather than 'It' or 'Saw'. The tales all start in the same way, a preamble about The Curious, a slight teen figure in a creepy mask who likes to collect tales of dread whilst whistling an unsettling melody. There are a mixture of American and British stories and as such, the cast is quite diverse.

The episodes are a veritable smorgasbord of horror tropes including classics like weird fun fair attraction, dodgy creepy neighbours etc but are identifiable with themes from classic cinema like 'Rear Window' and ‘Big' and more recent pretty decent fare like 'It Follows'.
The stories all have a monkeys paw ending of 'be careful what you wish for' but one of most interesting thing to note is that no matter the episode the power of the storytelling and kitchen sink creepy atmosphere made them all worthwhile watching, which is particularly impressive when you consider each episode had a tiny budget of like a fiver.

The episodes include :

Slapstick
After a puppet grants a young girl the power to control her embarrassing parents, the girl realises the true value of family. It features a creepy puppet so you know it's a bit scary.

Cat Food
When a young boy fakes being ill to stay home from school he gets more than he bargained for from his unusual cat-lady neighbour.

Trolled
When a cocky troll belittles and ridicules his private school mates online, there is a price to pay when he brings forth an ancient curse.

Marti
An unpopular girl gets a new smart phone and its AI goes crazy as it starts to take over her life.

A Boy Called Red
A boy visits his father's childhood home where a well leads to a different dimension.

The Call
An adopted teen who was found on a beach finds out that she isn't who she thinks she is and there is more to her heritage than meets her eye.

Bravery Badge
A reluctant girl scout has an interesting time away as a zombie infection turns her friends into creepy humming zombies... Why do they always hum lullabies in creepy voices and super slow?

Spaceman
When a kid leaves the city for the sticks he's worried it'll be too quiet and boring. Then he discovers an alien spacecraft and an alien creature and all bets are off.

Kindlesticks
A terrible baby sitter who scares the kids in her care to bed with terrible tales suffers a fate of her own making.

Shed No Fear
A couple of high school friends tackle a mysterious creature that lives in a shed. The creature fears light so they go about thinking about a way to jerry-rig a system to tackle it.

The Traveller
When two troublesome teens, who don't respond well to authority, are given powers to freeze time and use the power for ill there is a heavy price to pay.

Side Show Part 1 and 2
The two-parter ends the series with the story of an orphan, who is part of circus, who is looking for his real family. The 1950s Americana setting is well done and the mystery is very intriguing. The season ends on a high with this one.

Overall, tales are not scary with no real jump scares or violence but they are simply told tales told pretty well nonetheless. The stories are a little heavy handed though and lack nuance, the acting is a little hammy on occasion and the morals are obvious but it's a show for a younger audience so there you go. The strict age rating means that there is an economy of design with the creatures and powers are rarely seen. There's very little subtlety on show as the themes are covered in broad strokes but this is a beginners guide to the horror genre and is very much baby's first horror show.

My favourite 3 episodes from this series were Slapstick, Trolled and Side Show and if you've got a spare hour or so I'd definitely check these ones out. Go in knowing it's for tweens and you'll be fine, it ain't gonna win any Oscars but it's harmless slightly spooky fun.