- Release year: 2025–
- Creator: Matt Roller.
- Producers: X and X.
- Screenplay by: Avital Ash, Alix Bloom, Matt Roller, Kevin Arrieta, Joshua Corey, Siena East, Greg Gallant, Dan Guterman, Brian Kratz, Sam Nulman, and Carrie Rosen.
- Art Director: Robbie Erwin.
- Music by: Ryan Elder and Joshua Moshier.
Synopsis: A family struggles to keep their hotel business afloat as a result of the ghosts that haunt it.
Shotgun Commentary: Ghosts (2021–) meets Rick and Morty (2013–).
Review
Haunted Hotel is the kind of show you can binge-watch on a silly afternoon and move on with your life. It will not change your life, but it will sure as hell bring you the perfect silly Halloween vibes to get in the creepy mood this autumn. With its second season coming this October, it is worth checking out.
The premise is simple: a single mom, Katherine (Eliza Coupe), inherits a hotel full of ghosts after her brother passes. She has two kids to take care of, Ben (Skyler Gisondo) and his younger sister Esther (Natalie Palamides), not to mention Abaddon (Jimmi Simpson), a demon trapped in the body of a Victorian child. With her dead brother’s help, she will try to make ends meet while surviving the poltergeist and keeping her children alive.
If you have watched Ghosts, particularly the American version, this show will look awfully familiar to you. In fact, it is pretty much the same show, only with the evergreen advantage animation provides: taking things to the extreme without any fear of repercussions. As a result, the humour is a lot less wholesome than in the live-action show, a lot saucier. Still, the concept is pretty much the same, so if you found Ghosts just a tad too wholesome for you but you still enjoyed the concept, this is definitely for you.
The good with the bad
As for the cast, it definitely has its ups and downs. If you are amongst the people who cannot stand Morty in Rick and Morty, I have bad news for you. Ben is essentially Morty: a whiny teenage wetrag with the moral compass of a corporate lawyer at a tobacco convention. He is unlikeable no matter how much you try, and if he were an only child, the show would be doomed.
Luckily for them and you, there is also Esther, a young girl who has embraced the reality that she lives in a haunted hotel and has learnt all she can about the other side. Her moral compass is about as tuned as her brother’s, but at least she does not pretend otherwise. She is dark, messy, and absolutely hilarious. In great part, this is thanks to the best character of the show: Abbadon.
All in all, the series shows an enormous amount of creativity and a penchant for slimy, icky creatures, as expected from the creators of Rick and Morty. So if you enjoy silly humour, lots of gore, and unexpectedly, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wholesome moments, this is definitely a show worth keeping on your radar. It is not the type of series that will make you cry with laughter, but it is definitely an enjoyable watch.
The upcoming season looks like they have taken the same shenanigans and raised them to the next level, so it seems like this October 9th there is some promising content coming to Netflix. More ghosts, more evils, and more recurring characters. It looks as bingeable as the first season, so here’s another reason to look forward to October content for cosy horror fans.
Advice to take from this movie:
- There is always a bright side to all troubles.
- Having a possessed child as a friend might not be the safest, but it is definitely hella entertaining.
- A family that stays together is pretty much indestructible.
What’s your take? Have you watched Haunted Hotel? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message on my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀