‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Has Just Enough Halloween-ish Stuff To Pretend You’re In The Spooky Spirit

Halloween is so not my jam, and I know I’m not alone on that. I do love the candy, that’s for sure, but I’m all about the treat part and none of the tricks. So if you’re the same, I have a Halloween-adjacent streaming recommendation for you. It’s one that I’m glad this stupid October holiday gives me a reason to recommend, though I’ll be talking about it all year long. And that’s the FX series, What We Do in the Shadows.

This series is not what I consider “urgent viewing” where you have to watch it live the night it premieres or your entire office and all the baristas and every driver on your commute to work will ruin its events for you before you’ve had a sip of coffee. But that’s why it’s great. There’s a chance you put it off when it aired in the spring, and then thought, oh I need to watch that, when it landed on Hulu in August, and now, with the pressure to get into the spooky spirit, there’s truly no better time to watch it.

Because that’s the whole thing about Halloween: it’s such a peer pressure holiday. Pressure to have the best candies, pressure to dress up and do it right, and pressure to give a shit about watching scary stuff even if it’s not your cup of tea. But when it comes to What We Do in the Shadows, you can appear as though you are acquiescing to the pressure, but really, you’re just watching a dope TV show.

What We Do in the Shadows exists in the same world as the 2014 film from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, and is sort of like The Office with vampires. It’s shot in mockumentary style, and the characters are aware of the cameras and their participation in the project. But this show is more about vampires than Twilight ever was. And it’s a hell of a lot funnier. WWDITS is a comedy, first and foremost. There are times when it’s subtle as hell and times when a joke or gag lands in a big way. Just know, the humor is the priority for this show.

Now, does it have some spooky elements? Enough for you to tell people it’s your Halloween binge of choice, sure. There are a few blood spurty moments but nothing that’s too much of a gross-out. There aren’t a lot of jump scares or anything that will give you nightmares (I even like watching this before I go to sleep). You may even get a bit of inspo for any last-minute costume you might have to throw together for any parties you feel pressured into stopping by.

The vampires, played by Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, and Natasia Demetriou, will make you feel like you want to be their BFF within the first episode. There’s also the sweet, sweet Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), and then the energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), a term that you’ll unfortunately find yourself identifying and using for many people in your own life. The show has also got some pretty fantastic cameos that I won’t spoil but will promise are intriguing enough for you to watch them for yourself. Also, Beanie Feldstein is as excellent as always in this show and allows for some really lovely girl power moments, just as an added bonus.

So look, if you want WWDITS to be your Christmas binge, fine. There are just slightly more Halloween-ish themes at play, and it’s a nice compromise to make if a pal or partner wants to watch something remotely spooky. But again, the comedy is the priority, so the lack of creepiness here is quite refreshing. In fact, this show makes being a vampire seem like a bloody blast — and watching it proves to be just as fun.

Where to stream What We Do in the Shadows