‘Creepshow’ (2019) Recap: ‘All Hallows Eve’ & ‘The Man in the Suitcase’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​It’s always a wonderful thing when a television series finds a way to surprise you with something that has in essence, been hiding within plain sight. Because that means the series in question is doing such a fine job of grabbing your attention that you’re completely and utterly immersed within the experience and you are in essence oblivious to what the show is trying to accomplish, making the moment when it finally dawns upon you, a special one to the least. And that’s precisely why I was so impressed with this week’s episode of the phenomenal new horror series from Shudder, Creepshow.
 
Because I came to properly realize, that this is a show that is working to explore and revitalize every single facet of the horror genre, and oddly enough, that’s something I briefly mentioned in my recap of last week’s episode of the show. And the fact that I glossed over it, lends credence to everything I made mention of a moment ago. But now that I am fully aware of what this series is trying to accomplish, I find myself enjoying it more and really, what allowed for this particular epiphany to sink in, was this week’s edition of the series. For the two tales present in this episode here actually managed to share a particularly fascinating thematic concept, since both of them dove deep into the power of karma.
 
In fact, the first story featured in this episode is perhaps the most direct example of this, since ‘All Hallows Eve’ introduced us to a group of kids who were causing nothing trouble on Halloween, making it seem as though we were about to be treated to a parable about bad people getting their just desserts for their dirty deeds. But as this series is wont to do, there was quite the twist ending present in this one, in that, our Halloween miscreants were actually victims of a horrible accident involving bullying and all they wanted on this Halloween night was to close the circle and make the last man that hurt them pay for his crimes. And really, I love the twist here and the inherent lesson that one way or another, karma will make you pay for your darkest deeds somehow and in some way.
 
As for the second tale in this episode, ‘The Man in the Suitcase’, well it decided to look at how karma can reward us when we do something right, but it too played a little game of misdirection. For this particular tale introduced us to a young man named Justin who was in quite the precarious place financially, that is until he discovered a strange man stuffed into his suitcase who could also spit out gold coins when he found himself in pain. Which prompted Justin to take advantage of this little gift, with a little help from his girlfriend and his roommate, and they tortured the poor man night and day, an act that eventually didn’t sit right with Justin. Because it was wrong and twisted and while he suffered some injuries for his epiphany since he threatened to call the cops on his buddies, his good deed was indeed rewarded. For the mystery man revealed himself to be an evil genie who claimed the souls of those who are wicked of heart, allowing for Justin to live a full life while his crappy pals suffered a fate worse than death.
 
Plus, I love the fact that the second vignette also injected a little lesson on the dangers of greed since my goodness did those kids get a lot of coins out of the genie, and it really was nice to see those two punks get their just desserts from a genie who collects souls from a-holes. But in the end however, this was just another brilliant entry from this incredible series, and I love that this week’s episodes were more philosophical in nature and that leads me to wonder what themes await us in the future. For we’ve covered old school horror, and camp and black humor and now higher concept horror, and while I haven’t a clue what corner of the genre awaits us next, the unknown is what makes this series so exciting. Because you just don’t know where it’s going to take you when you settle in to watch and my excitement for this series remains at an all-time high and once again, I’ll be quietly counting down the minutes until we’re able to reunite with the Creep once more. Until next time, kiddies. 

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