Spooky season is upon us, and with it, some very scary shows that will possibly leave you with nightmares (er, in a good way?). But if you want a break from the jitters, there’s also some romance and female-focused series that might just be your calming cup of tea.
Here are Jenna Guillaume’s picks for the best new shows hitting streaming this month…
Everything Now
Just in time to fill the Sex Education-shaped hole in your heart comes the premiere of new British teen dramedy Everything Now, about a girl named Mia who has spent months in a mental health facility recovering from an eating disorder, and who now must re-enter school and reconnect with her old life and friends. Aussie actress Sophia Wilde plays Mia, and she’s joined by a cast of exciting up-and-comers, as well as Stephen Fry and Vivenne Acheampong in the adult roles. It looks to be both funny and moving, accurately capturing the extreme highs and lows of being 17.
The Fall of the House of Usher
Horror master Mike Flanagan is back with a new “house” to be haunted by—this time a metaphorical one, in the Usher family, a rich, privileged group of characters led by patriarch Roderick Usher, the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company. When his children start dying one by one, Roderick must come to terms with his own dark past.
It’s loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories, with Flanagan’s interpretation of the classic being a bit like Succession, only spooky and with a lot more deaths. Flanagan faves Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Carla Gugino, Samantha Sloyan, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli return in fresh new roles, and this time they’re joined by Bruce Greenwood, Mary McDonnell, and Mark Hamill.
Goosebumps
R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps books are children’s horror classics. This new series has been aged up slightly, starring and pitched at teens rather than tweens and younger. A group of high schoolers become convinced they’re cursed as a result of something their parents did decades earlier in connection with the disappearance of a boy named Harold Biddle. It’s got a great mystery, genuine scares, and fun dialogue, with some nods to the original book series that will make nostalgic fans happy.
Lessons in Chemistry
Based on the hit 2022 novel of the same name by debut author Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry is set in the 1960s and follows Elizabeth Zott, a scientist fired from her own lab and struggling in a misogynistic industry who lands a job hosting a TV cooking show and manages to create something subversive and feminist. Brie Larson plays Elizabeth, perfectly capturing the character’s deadpan delivery. She’s joined by Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Thomas Mann, Kevin Sussman, and Beau Bridges.
Bodies
Another limited series perfect for the month of Halloween, Bodies is set across four different timelines and follows four different detectives as they each investigate the body of the exact same murder victim that’s mysteriously shown up in each of their time periods. Based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer, it’s a cracking premise that unfolds with an irresistible tension. Shira Haas, Stephen Graham, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Kyle Soller, and Amaka Okafor make up the ensemble cast.
Doona!
From the same director as mega-hit Crash Landing on You, Lee Jeonghyo, comes new romance kdrama Doona! Based on the webtoon The Girl Downstairs and following a popular kpop idol who suddenly retires and moves in with a regular college student, the series has got a very different vibe to CLOY, but looks like hell of a lot of fun. Singer/actress Suzy is perfectly cast as the titular ex-idol Doona, while Yang Sejong plays her roommate/love interest Wonjun. It’s the ideal antidote if all the scary stuff is not how you’d like to spend your October.
Fellow Travelers
With an incredible (and incredibly attractive) cast led by Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers is powerful historical romance and political thriller all in one, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon. Spanning four decades in America—from the Red Scare of the 1950s through to the Vietnam War of the 1960s, the disco days of the 1970s and finally the AIDs crisis of the 1980s—the series focuses on the volatile romance between its leads against the backdrop of some of the most dramatic events of the 20th century. Dropping weekly, the series will carry you through to almost the end of the year, and will no doubt be the subject of much water cooler/social media conversation.
