Haunted – Season 1 on Netflix (3/5)

Haunted is a new horror reality series on Netflix. It feels a bit like watching a Docu-Drama at first. However, having people telling their own story gives it an edge. Here’s our take on season 1 of the show.

And don’t worry, the dramatizations aren’t some silly low budget versions. They’re actually pretty terrifying.

In fact, the very first episode (which is very strong) had elements that reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House. Not exactly a bad comparison. In fact, that’s about as good as it can possibly get!

Six different narrators

Season 1 of Haunted on Netflix consists of six episodes, which means we get six different narrators. If you’ve ever watched Lore, then this should feel very familiar – even if Lore uses just one narrator.

Also read: Our review of Lore season 2, which dropped the narrator >

How you feel about each narrator will probably impact how you view the episode. Or to put it very plainly; The vibe you get from the person telling the story will determine whether you believe them or not.

I’m the kind of person who believes completely that they believe what they’re saying. And yes, for the record, I do also believe that there’s more to this world than what we can see.

I just don’t believe it’s tied into religion, which is why I was very happy that it isn’t really in Haunted either. Again, each story differs, but religion doesn’t generally seem to help any of them much.

Not much hope for the haunted

While watching each person tell their story, you can clearly feel their pain. What’s more is that you can see their friends and family feel their pain. In some instances, other people in the room have experienced part of the haunting trauma. This means there are extra witnesses in several cases.

Again, you can play Devil’s Advocate and try to explain everything. But whether you do that or just enjoy the story, there’s plenty of reason to watch this series.

The only thing I’ll warn you about is this; There really isn’t much hope for any of the victims [storytellers] in season 1 of Haunted. They are all pretty much broken after their experiences and don’t seem to believe things will get much better.

Also, this really isn’t a show for kids. Not unless they’re pretty damn hardcore – or you’re ready to have them sleep in your bed for the next year!

Is season 1 of Haunted worth watching?

The only real question most people have when Netflix releases something new is whether it’s worth watching. And yes, season 1 of Haunted is definitely worth watching.

Not all episodes are equally good. That’s to be expected. Right off the bat, the season does start out with very strong episodes.

As stated earlier, episode 1 even reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House. Episode 2 reminded me a lot more of another Netflix show: Mindhunters. We are actually dealing with siblings whose father is a serial killer. Some really dark and twisted stuff in the second episode.

The first season is just six episodes and each episode has a runtime under 30 minutes. It’s basically the perfect snack size horror story. And these do feel like pure horror when you have the haunted people telling their own stories.

Season 1 of Haunted is out on Netflix worldwide from October 19, 2018.

Plot

Real people sit down with friends and family to share true stories of terrifying events that continue to haunt them, shown here via vivid recreations.