50 States Of Fright (2020)

“Every state has its folklore…..”

2020 was a brutal year for the world. COVID-19 was in full force, effectively shutting down the lives of most people. For folks in south Louisiana, 2020 had the additional “gifts” of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta, destroying homes, businesses, and lives. Many folks, bound to their homes, or in the case of many Louisianians, temporary homes and camper trailers, sought out entertainment on streaming services. Netflix graced the world with Tiger King and The Queen’s Gambit while other streamers like Apple+ entertained viewers with Ted Lasso. In April of 2020, upstart streamer Quibi,which I completely missed due to the hurricanes, began streaming short form series with episodes running under ten minutes in the hopes to capture a young, short attention spanned crowd. Although it would shut down by December of the same year, its original programming would be purchased by Roku and released on that platform. One of those shows, which I only recently discovered, was the Sam Raimi executive produced 50 States Of Fright.

50 States Of Fright is a horror anthology series consisting of folktales and horror stories that take place within the fifty United States of America. While it is implied that these tales originate within the state that they take place in on the show, the first story, The Golden Arm (Michigan), is a folktale with its print roots in Finland but an oral history that extends even farther back and with no determined origin. Most of the other episodes, especially Scared Stiff (Oregon), America’s Largest Ball Of Twine (Kansas), Red Rum (Colorado), and Grey Cloud Island (Minnesota), at least use local sites and legends for inspiration. Each tale is told across two or three episodes, all of which run between five and ten minutes long.

Many of the stories are both written and directed by the same person or persons. Some of the writers and directors involved include Sam and Ivan Raimi, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, Lee Cronin, and Cate Devaney. The stories also featured well known actors in almost all of the major roles. Ming-Na Wen, Karen Allen, Rachel Brosnahan, Ron Livingston, Jacob Batalon, and Christina Ricci are just a few of the many popular actors to appear in the series. Don’t let their popularity fool you, however, as no one is safe from danger in this series.

There have been two seasons of the show so far. The first season consisted of fourteen episodes and focused on five states. The second season featured ten episodes featuring four states. All of the episodes are very well done but do vary in their scariness. My favorite stories (and not necessarily the scariest ones) are Scared Stiff (Oregon) and Almost There (Iowa). Red Rum (Colorado) is also very enjoyable and features a decent amount of humor supplied by the quirky performance of Christina Ricci. My least favorite tales are actually the bookends of the series, the first story told, The Golden Arm (Michigan), and the last story of season two, Dogwood-Azalea (Missouri). While they were both entertaining, they felt more like a Hallmark Channel attempt at horror than legitimately creepy tales.

The entire series is available on Roku for free. You can stream the entire series on a lazy afternoon. Roku has already released new seasons of other Quibi originals and according to an article dated November 30, 2022, a new season of 50 States Of Fright is planned to be produced. I hope that this is true, as I’d love to see more stories in this anthology, especially stories from Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Thanks for checking out my post. I’ve been a little silent recently and I apologize for that. I’ve been in a rut. I definitely recommend checking out 50 States Of Fright and I plan on checking out more of the Quibi shows now available on Roku. See you real soon!