Hi all!
Today I am going to be ranking all of the episodes from Creepshow Season 1! If you didn’t know, this Shudder Original Series was produced by Greg Nicotero, who brought us The Walking Dead. It is also based on the film with the same name, directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. It features 12 terrifying tales of terror, designed to scare and intrigue viewers. I will be ranking Seasons 2 and 3 (no word on a Season 4 at the moment), in the future. I really like this show. It is fun, spooky, easy to watch and definitely worth checking out. Without further ado, from most to least favourite, let’s get into it!
Spoilers ahead!
1.) The House of the Head
In first place, we have The House of the Head. It follows a bright young girl named Evie, who owns an enormous dollhouse. One day, she discovers the dolls inside have been moved around. Their happy smiles are replaced with fearful expressions, as a new figurine sporting a ghoulish head appears out of nowhere. Every single time she checks the rooms, they are in different positions, trying to escape the monster. The nightmare progresses until the creature sets its sights on Evie, forcing her to confront it at a more human size. This was my favourite tale because I love creepy toys/dolls as a sub-genre in horror. It was also very effective in scares. That scene under the bed got me good!
2.) The Companion
In second place, we have The Companion, which was a close contender for the top spot. Set in 1987, it follows a boy named Harold, who flees from his violently abusive older brother. When he comes across an abandoned farm, Harold discovers a grotesque scarecrow that manages to come to life. As you can imagine, this is the ultimate revenge story but with an interesting twist. I loved the deeper layers to the story and of course, the bloody retribution. If it wasn’t obvious by now, I am a huge fan of the supernatural and that includes killer scarecrows!
3.) Lydia Layne’s Better Half
In third place, we have Lydia Layne’s Better Half and, in my opinion, the scariest story in Season 1. Lydia Lane, the powerful owner of a private equity group, denies her secret lover (Celia) a promotion over an employee less qualified and deserving. In a rage, Celia argues with Lydia, which results in her accidental death, after she falls on an award puncturing her skull. Terrified, Lydia attempts to move the corpse into an elevator and dispose of it but an earthquake causes the power to go out. Trapped in a confined space with a dead body, our protagonist becomes convinced that Celia is going to re-animate and kill her. The tension in this episode was perfect. It made me question until the very end if something was going to happen or if it was just a manifestation of guilt.
4.) Gray Matter
In fourth place, we have Gray Matter, which was the debut episode of Season 1. Why was it ranked so highly on my list? Because it starred Tobin Bell (Saw) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad)! In this story, the pair are waiting out an epic storm, when they encounter a local boy named Timothy. The child mentions that his father is sick and doesn’t want to go home to him. It turns out, his dad has a severe drinking problem that is slowly turning him into a gelatinous beast. The situation escalates as the monster absorbs his victims and multiplies, taking over the world as a flesh-eating demon. It’s both terrifying and ridiculous.
5.) Skincrawlers
I view Skincrawlers as a story against diet culture. It follows an overweight man, desperate to shed a few pounds. When he learns about a miraculous new treatment involving leeches ingesting fat cells, he decides to try it. I don’t think I need to say much more. We all know where the episode is going. Think the infamous scene from Alien, where the Facehugger bursts out of the stomach. It’s gory, gross and a laugh-riot. You can’t help but agree that the candidates deserved what became of them. It’s a tale of self-absorption and vanity.
6.) The Man in the Suitcase
The Man in the Suitcase was very bizarre. This is where my rankings start to go downhill slightly. It literally follows a supernatural man, trapped in a suitcase, who produces money whenever he feels pain. As you can guess, he is exploited and repeatedly tortured to enrich the lives of those he meets. However, greed comes at a price and there is only so far one can push a mysterious entity before it pushes back. It was entertaining but super strange.
7.) All Hallows Eve
All Hallows Eve is a pretty basic Halloween story. It was aesthetically pleasing but a bit lacklustre in tone. It follows five children that call themselves the Golden Dragons. Every October 31st, they meet at a cemetery dressed up in costumes and go ‘trick-or-treating.’ We learn fairly quickly that they are ghosts, haunting the evening they died due to a prank gone wrong. Creepshow loves its revenge tales, and this is just another one not executed (pardon the pun) as well.
8.) The Finger
The Finger had potential but was too outlandish for my tastes. It follows a bitter man named Clark, who collects lost and abandoned objects. One day, he discovers a severed finger in the middle of the street. He takes it home and over time, it grows into a lizard-like creature he dubs “Bob.” Yes, you read that correctly. The evolved monster becomes quite protective of its owner, killing anybody who angers him. It’s a very odd relationship between pet and human that was definitely meant to be comedic but didn’t work for me.
9.) Night of the Paw
Night of the Paw unfortunately didn’t hold my interest. It follows a female murderer on the run, who crashes her car and wakes up in a funeral home. The local mortician patches her up and shows her a monkey’s paw, that grants wishes with horrific consequences. She steals it, revealing she was convicted of killing her own husband and wants to use the paw to revive him. Plot twist, it backfires in a gory, violent way. The pacing was far too slow for me to enjoy the pay-off. I wasn’t invested by the end.
10.) Bad Wolf Down
We are now down to the worst three episodes – in my honest opinion. No shade if you enjoyed them! The episode is set during World War II. A group of soldiers retreat into the forest and seek refuge in an abandoned police station, only to discover it is inhabited by a werewolf. When their enemies track them down, the soldiers allow themselves to be bitten and transformed into lycanthropes in order to retaliate. Bad Wolf Down wasn’t bad, just not my vibe.
11.) By The Silver Water Of Lake Champlain
First of all, what is with the name of this episode? It’s far too long and clunky. This was the finale of Season 1. I wish I had enjoyed the closing story, but I didn’t. It’s set in 1984 and follows a teenage girl who mourns her father. It turns out, he died hunting Champ, an alleged monster that lives in the lake of their hometown. His daughter seeks out the creature in the hopes of proving her dad wasn’t a madman. You would think this was a solid horror tale about a quest to slay a monster, but the real evil lies in the teenager’s sadistic stepfather, who tries to take credit for her discovery. The final scene was so bizarre. Too bizarre. I wasn’t a fan.
12.) Times Is Tough In Musky Holler
In last place, we have Times Is Tough In Musky Holler, which has an even worse title than the one above. It follows a used car salesman, who turns a zombie apocalypse into a source of entertainment. He sacrifices anybody who challenges his authority to the flesh-eating monsters, by trapping them on a football field, with their heads poking out of the ground. Aside from the fact that the protagonist was a horrible person, the episode contained too much dialogue and not enough action. I wanted them to stop talking and just get to it! The only redeeming feature was it starred David Arquette.
Thank you so much for reading. How would you rank this list? What are your favourite episodes from the first season? I’ll be back with rankings for Season 2 and 3.
Peace & Love xoxo
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