‘Creepshow’ (2019) Recap: ‘Night of the Paw’ & ‘Times is Tough in Musky Holler’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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'Night of the Paw'

​We run into some tough moments throughout our lives, and for the most part we view these challenging moments as building blocks, the kind that make us into a better person when we take the time to learn the lesson, they are trying to teach us. But while it is human nature to view these emotional speed bumps as something worth facing, there are some so severe and so powerful that overcoming them seems impossible to say the least, and these are the kinds of obstacles that can quite frankly, break a person thanks to their severity, and it just so happens that the next episode of Shudder’s new series, Creepshow, took the time to explore a challenge in that vein.
 
For death is the kind of the life changing event that can shatter us in ways we never thought possible, since losing a loved one creates a void in the heart and the mind that allows for sorrow to linger, which in turn engenders a bevy of negative emotions. And while we view grieving as natural and slow in its own right, there are those who never escape it and let the sorrow constantly surround their soul, and that is precisely what this episode of the series took the time explore; how death can transform a mind when the sadness that comes from it, infects every aspect of the human mind and the end result of this exploration made for a pair of fascinating and disturbing tales, the kind that stay with you after the show has come to an end.
 
Because these particular tales of terror had morals and messages present within their framework, ones that in essence offered warnings to the audience about what can happen when we let those darker emotions fill us up in both subtle and direct fashion and the subtle stuff was handled by way of ‘Night of the Paw’. For this particular tale used the old legend of the Monkey’s Paw to get philosophical in nature in regard to how death is indeed our destiny and while we cannot fight that biological finale, nor avoid having it impact our lives in some form or fashion, what matters more is that we embrace the moment and the memory of those we love. Because if we cannot, our deep-rooted fear of the end and the pain that comes from missing those we love, will eventually consume and destroy us. 
 
As for the more direct approach, well that was handled by ‘Times is Tough in Musky Holler’ since this particular tale added a unique twist upon the zombie apocalypse, by introducing us to a society that used living death to exact revenge upon those who did this tiny burg wrong. And really, the lesson inherent here when it comes to death and how we handle it, is that people should use the end as an opportunity to come together and support one another and help one another move forward. As opposed to what we saw here, wherein the town’s ‘mayor’ took full advantage of the situation and used fear and negativity to seize control. If anything this story was fascinating simply because it toyed with the duality of man and the notion that an eye for an eye is acceptable and all of these elements made this vignette an angry and gory affair that definitely hammered home its message about the anger and the fury that can come forth when death is involved, in the most unique way imaginable.
 
In the end however, this turned out to be one magnificent episode of the series, one that was supremely intelligent for certain since it a did fine job of disguising its commentary on this slightly taboo topic, and I also love that the second vignette felt very much like a tribute to George Romero since his views on how humanity handles disaster was on full display in this tale. But what matters most is that Creepshow once again delivered some powerful storytelling through and through, the kind that captivates and compels because this hour of the show simply flew by and I was hungry for more when all is said and done. And this is another set of stories that I will likely need to re-watch. Because they are so layered and detailed and that will likely tide me over until next week’s episode, which is one that will be difficult to watch, since it will bring season one of this brilliant series to an end. Until next time, kiddies. 

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