While horror movies will always have a special place in certain fans’ hearts, there is a certain offshoot of that genre that seems to be getting more popular by the day. Horror comedy is becoming a popular category in its own right, perhaps because as things get a little heavier in the real world, people are looking to laugh at the horrors that befall television and movie characters more on screen. Of course, horror-comedies aren’t brand new. The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film starring Kristy Swanson certainty fits into this category, but the number of movies and shows that are produced every year that qualify as horror comedy seems to be growing quickly.
One reason horror-comedy series are growing in popularity these days might be the fact that they are easier to watch, even if they’ve been out for a while. Even if a show originally started on broadcast television, they all tend to head to a streaming service eventually. Shows that started off on the CW or FX tend to head to those streaming platforms rather quickly. That’s certainly good news for people who are looking for a good horror comedy to binge.
Ash vs Evil Dead
Bruce Williams is a cult icon thanks to his role as Ash Williams in the original Evil Dead movie franchise. That particular franchise is so popular that there is now even an Evil Dead video game. The massive popularity of the film series eventually allowed Ash’s Deadite Killing to travel to the small screen in a three-season series, in which he has to take on the horde of evil spirits and demons on a weekly basis.
For the series, Ash enlisted the help of two coworkers from his new hardware store after he read from the Necromicon while he was trying to impress his lady friend. Bruce Campbell continues to delight in his role as the veteran demon chaser, so those who are interested in seeing even more Evil Dead shenanigans can check out all three seasons of the show on Netflix.
Santa Clarita Diet
Santa Clarita Diet couldn’t be more different from Ash vs Evil Dead, even if the Netflix show does center around zombie-like creatures. In this hilarious series, starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as husband and wife team Joel and Sheila Hammond, something very odd has happened to once meek and mild Sheila. It turns out she ate a clam that transmitted a zombie virus.
The show offers a unique take on the zombie genre. Shelia mostly feels great after turning into a zombie, and is still able to go about her day-to-day life as though she was a normal person. The thing that really sets her apart from the living is that she is only able to eat human beings for sustenance — and if she doesn’t get her fix, she will turn quite a bit more feral. Joel is roped into helping Sheila find victims that deserve to be eaten while trying to hide what's going on from the cops and their neighbors. All three seasons of the show are on Netflix. Perhaps because the show runners were never sure if it was going to get a fourth season, the third season finale does do a decent job of wrapping up the story.
iZombie
iZombie is actually quite a bit like Santa Clarita Diet in a couple of ways. The show features zombies that, for the most part. are able to function as though they are regular humans. However, there are some dead giveaways to those who have become undead: namely, they tend to be very pale, and their hair turns white. The show, which ran for five seasons on The CW, also sets itself apart for its unique take on the undead creatures. When the outbreak starts, it becomes more of a counter-culture revolution where restaurants will serve specially prepared brains for the richest among the undead.
At the center of the zombie uprising, which takes place in modern Seattle, is a young woman who was once a promising doctor until she was infected with the virus. Once she became a zombie, she gave up her practice at the hospital and instead went to work in the medical examiner’s office, which gave her unfettered access to the brains of corpses. There is one small drawback of eating these brains: zombies in iZombie end up taking on the memories and the personalities of the people they eat.
Stan Against Evil
To some degree, Stan Against Evil has some Evil Dead vibes, especially since the main character tends to do battle against monsters and demons that have risen up from the depths of hell. John C. McGinley’s Stan is also a bit like Ash Williams, though he’s actually a bit more curmudgeonly.
However, Stan Against Evil does tread its own path, with McGinley playing a recently retired sheriff who seems to be one of the only people in town who is noticing that his little hamlet keeps getting invaded by evil creatures on a far too regular basis. He’s joined by Janet Varney who plays new sheriff, Eve, who is quick to join forces with Stan after realizing the situation she’s inherited. Originally an IFC original program, all three seasons can now be viewed on Hulu.
What We Do In The Shadows
What We Do In The Shadows stands out because this isn’t about some unwitting soul who accidentally became a member of the undead horde. Instead, this FX (now available on Hulu) is about a group of vampires that are quite happy being vampires as they live out their day-to-day lives in the middle of the United States. While they have the power to fly and even change shape on occasion, these vampires are not finding it all that easy to blend into normal life.
What We Do In The Shadows is based on the movie of the same name that starred Taika Waititi, who has gone on to become one of the most beloved directors in cinema these days. It should come as no surprise that the movies he's working on now tend to blend horror or action and comedy. He left his footprint on both the movie and the show versions of What We Do In The Shadows.