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Netflix subscribers are often eager to watch the latest title the streamer has to offer, but even in spooky season, Mike Flanagan's recently released The Midnight Club couldn't knock Dahmer from the top spot of its UK and US TV chart. Instead, the new horror show debuted at number 3 – behind the controversial crime drama at #1 and documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes at #2.
Created by Leah Fong and The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan, The Midnight Club is based on Christopher Pike's novel of the same name. It centers on a group of eight, terminally ill teens, who all live together at Brightcliffe Hospice. To "escape" their realities at the end-of-life facility, run by enigmatic doctor Georgina Stanton (A Nightmare on Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp), the youngsters meet every night at 12am to tell each other scary stories.
One night, they agree to a pact that insists the first of them to pass away must try to communicate with the others from beyond the grave. And sure enough, after one of them dies, inexplicable supernatural events start to occur. Flanagan's frequent collaborators Samantha Sloyan, Matt Biedel, and Zach Gilford star alongside Iman Benson, Adia, Igby Rigney, Ruth Codd, Aya Furukawa, Annarah Shephard, William Chris Sumpter, and Sauriyan Sapkota.
As it stands, the show has 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a higher fresh rating than its Flanaverse predecessor Midnight Mass. GamesRadar's William Salmon gave its "engaging" opening episode four out of five stars, praising how it sets up an intriguing mystery that will hopefully pay off as the series continues.
Black Girl Nerds' Cassondra Feltus gave the whole season full marks in her review, writing: "The writer-director's signature blend of spine-chilling horror and dramatic character study makes The Midnight Club' an absolute must-see for horror aficionados, Flanagan admirers, Pike fans, and just anyone who loves exceptional storytelling."
"Mike Flanagan is a master of death and grief, and that's on full display throughout The Midnight Club," IGN Movies' Amelia Emberwing claimed. "Unfortunately, the more threads the club members pull, the weaker the story gets."
TV Guide's Liam Mathews stated: Flanagan and his collaborators have once again delivered an emotionally potent horror drama, this time adding in a YA element to keep things fresh."
"The Midnight Club aspires to change the conversation around death, perhaps for an entire generation of viewers, but such heady (and necessary) ideas aren't well-embodied by what quickly devolves into a cheesy, scattered, and frustrating tale," argued Indiewire's Ben Travers. Elsewhere, TIME magazine's Judy Berman called the show Flanagan's "first miss".
"This show comes with a pronounced young-adult spin. Yet despite finding softer moments in the vulnerability of the central octet and their bummer of a situation, there’s relatively little to distinguish the drama on that level," added CNN's Brian Lowry.
Both The Midnight Club and Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which stars American Horror Story star Evan Peters as the titular serial killer, are available to stream now. If darker titles aren't your bag, then check out our guide to the best Netflix shows for some viewing inspiration.
