'Creepshow' – The Last Post... (Episodes 5 & 6)

Well, my reading challenge has pretty much gone into a nosedive straight to Hell... :o) That's what happens when you're on holiday with two kids who just want all your attention. It doesn't do the ego any harm at all but just try and get any reading done and, well... you know ;o) Oh well, there's nothing there that can't wait another few days.

It's a good job then that once they've fallen asleep at the end of the day, I've had 'Creepshow' to watch. It's had its ups and downs, as far as the quality goes, but has also swiftly become one of those 'why haven't I watched this a lot earlier' shows. On the whole, it's been the most fun I've had, watching a TV show, for a long time and I'd recommend it to you guys if I wasn't sure that you've all watched it already.

All good things come to an end though so before I have to go and find something else to watch, here's what I thought of the stories in the last two episodes...

'Night of the Paw'

A fugitive hides in a funeral home for shelter, and finds that the local mortician possesses a monkey's paw that grants wishes which backfire horrifically on the user. As the mortician tells her about how the paw ruined his life, it becomes clear that the fugitive’s arrival in the funeral home was not mere coincidence...

I'm not going to lie, I didn't get this one at all. Don't get me wrong, I love me a bit of cursed monkey paw action and it was great seeing wishes made by accident as well as wishes made entirely on purpose, all of which end up just the way you'd expect. I just didn't quite get how it all tied together for the mortician and our fugitive from justice. That's probably more on me rather than the story itself though, there was a lot of other cool stuff going on in the meantime though. A second viewing would probably make all the difference.

'Times is Tough in Musky Holler'

A whole town turns on the mayor and his cronies who have controlled the town for far too long in the midst of awakening zombies.

Now this one was a lot more straightforward but it ended up being almost too straightforward. It's a great exercise in maintaining a steady increase of tension but the whole 'bad people getting their just desserts thing' needs a bit more story to really make it work. What we get instead is basically people being executed by zombie which isn't that bad actually (loads of gore and I do mean loads) but needed a little more plot to flesh it out.

Oh well, like I said, gorehounds will be very happy with this one.

'Skincrawlers'

An overweight man learns about a miraculous new treatment for weight loss, where the fat from a person’s body is sucked out by a newly discovered and highly rare species of leech. Though initially reluctant, he is talked into taking the treatment on live television. However, on the day of the treatment, the supposed miracle cure turns out to have horrific side effects.

I loved this one but not for the reasons you'd think. Okay, I loved the body horror at the end but you knew it was coming (no matter how great it was to watch it all kick off). Nope, as a 'larger gentleman', I loved watching our hero not only make it but stick a finger up to everything that's intent on fat shaming. In a very literal sense, 'Skincrawlers' tells us not to kill ourselves trying to look better, love yourself first and then see how it goes. Thanks 'Skincrawlers' (well, Paul Dini and Stephen Langford for writing it), I needed to hear that :o)

'By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain'

And we're onto the final story of the season (I hear it's getting at least another season and I'm very cool with that)...

Rose seeks to prove her late father’s claims of having seen Champ, a monster that allegedly lives on the bottom of Lake Champlain, were not the delusions of a madman.

'By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain' is a real slow burner and as such, the best choice to end this season of 'Creepshow'. No 'big bang' ending, just a really slow and thoughtful affair that reminds us that the real world has enough horror of it's own and that people live with this every day. Champ is almost an afterthought and that's a neat little bit of subterfuge, on the part of writer Joe Hill, that adds an extra kick to the story at just the right time. And again, in the best traditions of 'Creepshow', evil never goes unpunished.

And that's that for 'Creepshow', now what am I going to watch...?