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It is a dark and stormy night; the glow from your television screen lights the room, tree branches rattle against the windows, and Only Murders in the Building seems like the only good choice for a night like this one. There are other similar shows (and even movies) that are great options to turn on for a comfortable (or eerie), exciting night. Horror-comedies can be many things: vampire stories, classic whodunits, and even supernatural slaying.
Though some of these shows and films lean more towards horror than comedy and vice versa, there are plenty of exciting and experimental ideas here.
‘What We Do in the Shadows’
What happens when vampires have to room together for centuries on end? What We Do in the Shadows is a hilarious look at four vampires and the trials and tribulations of immortal life.
From awkward encounters with past lovers’ families to the day-to-day struggles of needing to drink blood (or drain emotions) to survive, Hulu’s unique sitcom offers a twist on every part of vampire lore. Hypnotic, hilarious, and heartwarming, What We Do in the Shadows is the perfect dark comedy.
‘The Addams Family’
A classic family sitcom, The Addams Family, is seeing an upcoming animated adaptation. Hopefully, it will bring the joy and humor of the original to a new audience. A show where the interests of a horror-obsessed family are the butt of the joke, The Addams Family offers plenty of laughs while being completely genuine and healthy in how much that family cares for and supports one another.
Laugh at how Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia’s (Carolyn Jones) idea of romance includes comparing each other to bats in a cave, but spare a moment to consider how they still adore each other after so many years.
‘Santa Clarita Diet’
The comedy in Santa Clarita Diet gets dark as a husband (Timothy Olyphant) has to deal with his wife’s (Drew Barrymore) new status as a member of the undead and her sudden urge to eat human flesh.
This is a gruesome pick, and it sometimes takes a strong stomach to get through, but the comedy lands most of the time, and the surrealism of the situation is juxtaposed perfectly against the more mundane aspects, such as the main characters’ jobs as realtors and their concerns about their parenting style.
‘Dead to Me’
Dead To Me is a black comedy that intertwines the thriller elements of trying to cover up a murder with a surprisingly heartwarming conversation on grief. When a woman (Christina Applegate) recovering from the death of her husband befriends a member of her grief counseling group, her world turns upside down when it is revealed that her new friend (Linda Cardellini) drove the car in the hit-and-run accident that killed her husband.
Relying on gallows humor, Dead To Me isn’t for everyone, but this exciting thriller consistently provides heart, twists, and humor.
‘Search Party’
A well-received dark comedy, Search Party, follows a group of four self-absorbed teens who set out to find a mysteriously disappeared friend from college. Much of the humor here revolves around the absurd actions of the main characters and their deeply flawed personalities.
That doesn’t mean it is without its deeper elements: even presented through comedy, the social commentary about the current Internet Age, materialism, and the uncertainty of being a youth today comes through loud and clear.
‘Pushing Daisies’
An unassuming pastry chef (Lee Pace) is hiding a secret: he can revive (or permanently un-revive) anything. The ability to bring things back to life with a touch, and then return them to the dead with a second touch, brings plenty of complications to his business and personal life, but at least there’s a bright side once he starts working with the police department, using his power to help them solve crimes.
Pushing Daisies deals with its absurd situations without being outright grotesque or insensitive, and it’s certainly a unique premise for what is, essentially, a sitcom.
‘Dark Shadows’ (2012)
If you want something more horror than outright comedy, Dark Shadows might be something to look out for. While it’s not a masterpiece of fiction, it offers some interesting ideas and presents some out-of-the-box thinking like Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s team-ups usually do.
When a vampire (Depp) awakens from a curse in 1972 and realizes that he’s still being followed by the witch who cursed him in the 18th century, he attempts to restore his descendants’ company and home to their former glory. The movie was based on the critically-acclaimed gothic soap opera of the same name that aired in 1966.
‘Knives Out’ (2019)
Directed by Rian Johnson, known for tight-knitted stories like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out was a bit different than anyone expected. In this homage to the “gentleman detective” mystery stories popular in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Johnson brings together a well-paced and thrilling mystery, social commentary, and humor.
While the story focuses mostly on solving the case of a wealthy man murdered in his study, Daniel Craig brings a gentle dry wit to his private investigator. The writers also poke fun at the genre’s tropes and elevate the style by bringing in quips about modern society in the same way detective writers like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Arthur Conan Doyle did for their time.
‘Veronica Mars’
Mixing noir and teen drama together doesn’t sound like it would work, but Veronica Mars became a cult classic in no time. The titular high school (and, eventually, college) student (Kristen Bell) is the daughter of a private investigator, and after her best friend is murdered, she starts helping him solve the case.
Veronica quickly becomes a known personality in her school for her mystery-solving, and each episode focuses on a case as she works to put together the clues pointing toward her friend’s murderer.
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Though it isn’t explicitly marketed as such, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is as much a hilarious romp as it is a teen drama filled with vampires, werewolves, and other classic horror creatures.
While the horror itself is toned down and has more in lines with the genres of science fiction and paranormal fantasy, it has a profound effect on the main characters, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and Xander (Nicholas Brendon). The show is also punctuated with plenty of jokes and lightheartedness, often making fun of the exact scenarios that the characters are finding themselves in.
