Spoiler-Free Review of “Hysteria!” on Peacock: Bruce Campbell and Julie Bowen Star in this Bizarre Series

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“Let’s Be Satanists…”

Hysteria! premiered on October 18th 2024 on Peacock with all eight episodes available to stream now. The horror thriller series stars Bruce Campbell, Julie Bowen, Anna Camp, Emjay Anthony, Kezii Curtis, and Chiara Aurelia. Each episode runs for approximately 50-55 minutes.

When a football player goes missing, a small town begins to blame anyone influenced by the occult, including a Satanist rock band made up of teens.

Here is the trailer:

Hysteria! has a fun cast and a decent enough premise just in time for Halloween, but is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Peacock

Starts off with lots of potential.

This series is set in the 1980’s and I loved the soundtrack. I thought the opening was really creepy and weird, drawing me in to another place and time. I also really liked how this show drew from other iconic movies in the horror genre. It paid tribute to this era in a fun way and I enjoyed the band’s songs!

Images courtesy of Peacock

Bruce Campbell and Julie Bowen…

They’re the reason I tuned in and the reason I stuck with this series as long as I did. I love both actors and it was great to see them together in this. Anna Camp is always fun as well (although I’ve seen her play this exact same character before in True Blood).

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Peacock

Misused its best players…

As much as I love Bruce Campbell and Julie Bowen, I had mixed thoughts about their characters. I really missed Bruce Campbell’s sarcastic charm and humor and I think this series should have let him shine in that department. He did a solid job as the sheriff, but it also felt really flat at times. I liked Julie Bowen’s character, but even here I was searching for something more. It might have just been the content, but I was left feeling disappointed.

Extremely slow with too much fluff.

I hate when series do this. I think that this show was trying to be the next Stranger Things and it failed to reach anything close to that. There were some fun and dark moments, but it took long to get anywhere. I was fine with the ambiguous ending (although I have mixed thoughts on it), but I was completely drained of energy by the time I got there. The episodes were WAY too long and there were too many of them in my opinion, dragging things out unnecessarily.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Peacock

I’m 50/50 on this one…

Hysteria! is a confusing watch, but it does have some darker fun moments sprinkled in if you’re looking for something to binge-watch during spooky season.

I really wanted to like this one, but it went in too many different directions without ever really hooking me.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Hysteria! in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

This competition is killer…

When former friends, Shay and Adriana team up to participate in a Halloween scavenger hunt with a cash prize, they temporarily put their differences aside to outsmart their opponents. However, they soon start to realize that a dangerous threat is playing their own version of the game, stalking them during each hunt.

Winning is now a necessity as their lives are at stake. As old wounds and memories re-surface, Shay and Adriana attempt to unmask the threat before the night is over, but soon learn that Scream Hunt is not done with them just yet…

My young adult horror thriller is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Scream Hunt is available here!

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Spoiler-Free Review of “Grotesquerie” on FX on Hulu: Off to a Chilling Start!

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“Something about it seems so familiar to me…”

Grotesquerie premiered with its first two episodes on September 25th 2024 on FX (episodes air next day on Hulu). There will be ten episodes in total that will air weekly. The horror crime drama series (written and created by Ryan Murphy) stars Niecy Nash-Betts, Micaela Diamond, Courtney B. Vance, Raven Goodwin, Travis Kelce, and Nicholas Chavez. Each episode runs for approximately 42-50 minutes.

A detective investigates a series of violent crimes in a small town and is certain that they are connected to her in some way. With few leads to follow, she teams up with a nun to put the pieces together.

Here is the trailer:

Grotesquerie hooks its audience from the start, luring us into a twisted and disturbing investigation. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of FX on Hulu

The unlikely partnership works!

OK, I didn’t know how I originally felt about this particular team-up, but it is working really well and is the best part of the show. Niecy Nash-Betts is fantastic in this series. I’m used to seeing her in more of a comedic role (shout-out to Denise Hemphill from Scream Queens), but she has some serious range and is putting forth a believable and layered portrayal of her character.

I love Sister Megan and can’t wait to find out more about her character. She’s quirky and offbeat, which is needed when dealing with some dark and disturbing content. There are some other interesting characters as well and it looks like we haven’t met a few key people so I’m intrigued to discover more.

Images courtesy of FX on Hulu

A twisted mystery worth exploring.

These crimes were extremely violent and disturbing, but I’m very intrigued to put the puzzle together along with our main characters. There is enough of a captivating mystery here to keep me coming back for more. This series isn’t holding anything back and I think it’s doing a solid job so far of giving us enough of a hook to fully grab our attention. The religious theme may be overdone, but it’s still interesting.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of FX on Hulu

Dark and heavy content.

There is a lot to deal with in this series. The crimes are beyond awful and then Lois’s own personal demons don’t leave us too much room to breathe. This isn’t a major con, but I think I need to be in the right mindset each week to watch this one.

The pacing moved a little sluggish at times, but I think it did enough each episode to bounce back. I’m hoping this will smooth itself out as the episodes continue and I’m confident we’ll get there.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of FX on Hulu

I’m in!!!

Grotesquerie draws us in to an intriguing and disturbing mystery worth unfolding, featuring a stand-out performance by Niecy Nash-Betts.

I didn’t know I needed this series, but it was a fantastic surprise and I’ll be tuning in for the rest of the episodes!

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Grotesquerie in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

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