Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities (2022-)

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, an anthology series of eight tales of macabre and horror, is suitable and perfect for the current Halloween season. Just like the manner of Alfred Hitchcock, Del Toro presents each tale with a brief introduction to the subject and the director before the theme intro and the episode starts. The episodes shift between both present days, the sci-fi, fantasy, and the past.  Most of the tales are adapted from stories from authors Michael Shea and HP Lovecraft and some are even written or curated by Guillermo Del Toro himself.

Each episode has their strength and weakness but those that stands out is The Autopsy, Pickman’s Model, and The Murmuring. These episodes stand out with a deeper meaning beyond the characterization and the story. The first two-episode aka Lot 36 and Graveyard Rats are mostly general in storytelling and don’t bring any new to the table. The episodes of The Outside, Dreams in the Witch House and The Viewing provides the weaker parts of the whole first season.

What all the episodes have in common is the superb characterizing, distinct from each other, the audio visualization, and the world-building that each episode shares. The best thing about each of the stories is to go in blindly, not researching any episodes to get the whole experience. Some episodes like Graveyard Rats and Lot 36, end with a predictable ending like many other episodes. Each episode has a prediction that easy to foresee the ending. The Viewing is probably the worst of these tales.

Even if the story is alternating and we get to see the wonders of the world in different aspects, it’s a nice horror series that accurately tells the story it wants to tell instead of adding things that take the story off course. Overall, it’s a nice addition and Guillermo Del Toro has crafted an entertaining anthology series that fulfill the word horror which is a return with more tales much needed.