It’s that time of the year again–Shudder has released Season 4 of Creepshow. And we’ve covered the entire season, reviewing it from start to finish. But what about seasons one to three? How about we talk about the best segments from those three previous seasons?
For those of you who don’t know about Creepshow, it’s an anthology TV series that originally started out as a movie in 1982. It was created by Stephen King and George A. Romero. That’s right, the best-selling author of Carrie, Pet Semetary and IT and the director of Night of The Living Dead, and the Dead franchise came together one day and decided, “Let’s make a movie based around the EC comics from our childhood.”
In 2019, streaming service Shudder picked up and ran with the TV series, producing 17 episodes with two horror segments per episode. So, let’s dig into the best Creepshow segments from seasons one straight through to season three:
The House of the Head (Season 1 Episode 1)
Adapted from the short story of the same name by Josh Malerman, this follows a young girl named Evie who recently received a dollhouse. At first, everything is completely fine, until she comes back from school to find the dolls have moved to another part of the dollhouse.
The dolls look terrified and are pointing to another part of the doll house. There is a severed head, a small one, and it begins to terrorize the doll family. Evie tries everything to protect her dolls from this severed head, but it’s not enough.
This one was pretty chilling. There is a moment that will make your blood run cold, so we won’t spoil it here for you, but it’s very worth checking out.
Night of the Paw (Season 1 Episode 5)
“Night of the Paw” follows Angela, a murderer on the run, who stumbles across Avery, a lonely mortician. Seeking shelter at his home for the night, Angela and Avery get to know one another. Avery spins Angela a tale about a paw that grants wishes. Avery tells her how he and his wife came into possession of this magical item, how it ruined his life and took his wife, and about his last wish. It seems that Angela is just another result of a wish.
There’s nothing like a good monkey’s paw story. And like every good monkey’s paw story, this one has a twist that you might not see coming.
Skincrawlers (Season 1 Episode 6)
This one you might have seen circulating around TikTok. An overweight man named Henry is given the chance to have a miracle weight loss cure, named Skin Deep by Sloan. This miracle new weight loss treatment is headed by Doctor Herbert Sloan, and is said to help the user to lose weight by having a leech-like species suck out the fat from their bodies. Although Henry is initially reluctant to take part in the treatment, he is convinced when his friend Kelly undergoes the treatment and gets instant results. He decides maybe he’ll give it a try live on television.
This one was wonderful. If you look for the signs and all of the hints you could figure out what’s going to happen at the end, but when it does, it is an absolute gory mess. Try not to eat while watching this one.
Shapeshifters Anonymous (Special Episode 2)
Taken from the Creepshow holiday special, this one is just plain fun. It follows a group of shapeshifters as they go to a support group for werepeople. There are some funny gags in this one, such as one of the participants being there because she’s a furry, much to the annoyance of the rest of the group, who are actual werepeople. However, this band of werefolk is going to have a lot on their hands, especially when Santa Claus comes to town.
A fun segment for the holidays, this is wild, enjoyable, and funny, with an ending that is just an absolute bloodbath.
Public TV Show of the Dead (Season 2 Episode 1)
The Evil Dead meets PBS, and that is all we need to say for this one. But we’re sure that you will want to know more.
Claudia is the director of network programming at WQPS public television station in Pittsburgh. She is forced to cancel The Love of Painting with Norm Roberts so that arrogant and racist Mrs. Bookbarry can take over his spot. But when the host of Apraiser’s Road Trip (a parody of Antiques Roadshow) comes across a Necronomicon and unlocks it, all sorts of ancient evils are unleashed on the station, and it’s a fight for survival.
Come on, it’s a mix between The Evil Dead and PBS. There is a Bob Ross counterpart fighting Deadites. Need we say more?
The Right Snuff (Season 2 Episode 3)
Meet Captain Alex Toomey and Major Ted Lockwood. They are astronauts testing an experimental gravity manipulation machine on the space station Ocula. After an interview where his partner just got a little more attention than he did, Toomey starts hearing voices and starts to hallucinate, seeing his overbearing father. Alex becomes even more envious of Lockwood when Mission Control gets in touch and gives Lockwood the chance to make a life-changing first contact.
So, The Right Snuff might be one of our favourite segments across the seasons of Creepshow. It’s not wholly up there with Bob Ross fighting Deadites, but it’s up there. The words, “I didn’t know,” will haunt you a little bit afterwards.
Within the Walls of Madness (Season 2 Episode 4)
This one is for those who love Lovecraft. We follow graduate student Zeller, who is incarcerated in a detention centre. He is appointed a new attorney and must explain to his new lawyer the incident that led to his arrest.
If you’re looking for a more updated character-driven version of “At the Mouth of Madness” by HP Lovecraft, this segment will scratch that itch. It still has the scares and mysteries that come with HP Lovecraft’s story, but is just as fun and gory.
Skeletons in the Closet (Season 3 Episode 2)
One of the best things that the Creepshow TV series is great at is paying homage to the horror institutes that came before it. “Skeletons in the Closet” is one of those homage segments. It tells the story of Lampini and his girlfriend, Danielle, as they run a horror movie museum, which he inherited from his father after his death. He inherited not only the museum, but also his father’s old rival, Bateman, who decides to continue his vendetta with Lampini.
“Skeletons in the Closet” is filled to the brim with horror movie references. The segment is like an Easter Egg hunt. See how many references you can catch. And it does this while telling a fun and cohesive story with all of the elements that make Creepshow segments remarkable. You can tell they were definitely having fun with this one.
Meter Reader (Season 3 Episode 4)
“Meter Reader” tells the story of a world that has fallen victim to a plague that allows people to become demonically possessed. In this weird parallel universe, those who are immune to this contagion are called Meter Readers, and they are hired to travel the world in the hopes of either curing or eliminating the infected. We follow one family as their father, who is a Meter Reader, returns home.
This one was released in 2020 and parallels COVID-19. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining, fright-filled and scary segment. The world is imaginative and horrifying at the same time. So, bring out your heads before sitting back in your homes and watching this segment.
The Things in Oakwood’s Past (Season 3 Episode 5)
And the final segment of season three is another one of our favourites. This is an animated segment, and when you see what happens in it, you’ll understand why.
“Things in Oakwood’s Past” tells the story of a news team covering the 200th anniversary of Oakwood, Maine. Oakwood has this peculiar and morbid history. In 1821, the entire town disappeared, and no one knows what happened. The team interviews local librarian Marnie Wrightson who believes she has found a clue to what happened 200 years ago. And as the town begins to prepare for its 200th anniversary, she’s determined to solve the mystery.
And there we have it, 10 episodes of the best Creepshow segments from seasons 1-3. Of course, you could check out the series for yourself on Shudder. So, have you watched The Creepshow TV series? Do you have your own favourites? Do you agree with this list? Comment below and let us know!