Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, Ranked By Scariness

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities just released all eight of its highly anticipated episodes periodically during the week before Halloween. Some one-hour-long episodes were inspired by short stories, while others were original concepts. Del Toro is a mastermind of horror, so fans were excited to see what terrifying stories he curated.

All the episodes dealt with one particular aspect of horror, like supernatural or body horror. The anthology series had a cast filled with great actors and directors who brought some very creepy tales to life. Even though some are scarier than others, they all are worth the watch.

8/8 Lot 36

“Lot 36” was directed by Guillermo Navarro and stars Time Blake Nelson and Sebastian Roché. It follows a man who tries to flip storage units to pay off his debts but finds some otherworldly things inside a particular one.

Related: 10 Best Horror Films Of The 2020s, So Far, According To Letterboxd

This is the first episode of the series, so this is the first impression the viewer has of the series. It was a decent story but not too scary. The ending is very predictable, which takes away a lot of horror from the episode. It gives the viewer the idea it is going to be spiritual horror but also turns out to include some monster horror elements as well. The scariest sequence is when the main character is running from the monster in the storage unit hallways while the lights keep going on and off.

7/8 Dreams In A Witch House

“Dreams in a Witch House” is directed by Catherine Hardwick and features Rupert Grint, DJ Qualls, and Nia Vardalos. This episode follows Walter as he tries to look for a way to see his dead twin sister.

Related: 15 Best Foreign Horror Movies, According To Reddit

This episode deals with supernatural horror as Walter explores the afterlife looking for his sister, Epperley. “Dreams in a Witch House” is not very scary. The main antagonist is well-designed and has some creepy elements, but overall has no unique features to it. There is also a small evil rodent that looks comically bad and not scary at all, which really takes the viewer out of any haunting atmosphere. It has an interesting story that has a somewhat bizarre ending, though, and it’s still worth watching even if it isn’t terrifying.

6/8 The Murmuring

“The Murmuring” is the final episode in the anthology and is directed by Jennifer Kent and stars Essie Davis, Andrew Lincoln, and Daxton William Lund. This episode follows birdwatching couple Nancy and Edgar as they travel to a secluded house for work.

“The Murmuring” is a good piece of television, but it is not too chilling. Its director, Jennifer Kent, is a great modern horror director, but the episode focuses more on the relationship between Nancy and Edgar rather than it does on any horror elements. It dives the most into supernatural horror and how that coincides with these characters’ past trauma of losing their child. “The Murmuring” is a good watch, but if one is looking to really be scared, there are plenty of better options.

5/8 The Outside

“The Outside” is directed by Ana Lily Amirpour and stars Kate Micucci, Martin Starr, and Dan Stevens. This episode is about Stacey, who is constantly neglected by her coworkers and wants a transformation in her life.

This is a good episode with a slightly eerie feeling throughout the entire thing. The horror begins with the upward camera angles of Stacey’s coworkers talking as it adds a sense of creepiness to their mundane conversations. “The Outside” attempts to create terror with body horror, but Stacey’s skin peeling fails to deliver any true scares. The most frightening moment was when Stacey was having a conversation with the television. The spokesperson on the screen was uncanny and creepy, and the silent atmosphere with no music playing made the whole moment very bizarre. This is a good story with a few shocks.

4/8 Pinkman’s Model

“Pinkman’s Model” is episode 5 of the series and is directed by Keith Thomas and stars Ben Barnes, Oriana Leman, and Seamus Patterson. This episode is centered around a painter named William and his struggles with reality after looking at a painting made by a classmate of his.

Related: 15 Horror Movies With The Most Kills, Ranked

This is an episode that’s goal is to disturb the viewer rather than simply scare them. There is only one proper jump scare, and it is a decent one. The rest of the memorable moments are pretty bizarre. One memorable and disturbing moment is when the carriage goes by William, and he sees an older gentleman kissing a woman’s discolored, altered breasts. The monster that shows up a few times in the episode is its biggest flaw, as it is more comical than frightening. Overall, a moderately disturbing episode that has its ups and downs.

3/8 The Viewing

“The Viewing” is directed by Panos Cosmatos and stars Peter Weller, Steve Agee, and Sofia Boutella. It is centered around a wealthy old man and a gathering he has with four strangers who are experts in their respective fields.

This episode is very good. It is the most like a Twilight Zone episode out of any in the series. The beginning is interesting but slow, and it does not get scary until the last 15 minutes. The last few moments of the episode do deliver some impactful scares, however. The final monster is the scariest and best-looking out of any in the series, but there was not enough of it to rank it higher. It has the most compelling story in the series but picks and chooses when to scare the audience.

2/8 Graveyard Rats

“Graveyard Rats” was directed by Vincenzo Natali and stars David Hewlett, Alexander Eling, and Ish Morris. The episode follows a grave robber who pays his debts by stealing artifacts from the dead. However, rodents foil his plans and get him into a lot of trouble.

This episode was very psychologically scary. The first half features some dead bodies and one visual with a lot of rats which will disturb the viewer. For the latter half of the episode, Masson is crawling through very tight tunnels underground, so the episode really feeds off of claustrophobia, a popular modern horror trope. There are also a lot of disgusting visuals with the rats during this sequence that will make the viewer cringe. If one hates small spaces and has musophobia, “Graveyard Rats” will truly terrify them.

1/8 The Autopsy

“The Autopsy” is directed by David Prior and stars F. Murray Abraham, Glynn Turman, and Luke Roberts. This episode follows a police officer and a corner who try to solve a mystery of an explosion in a mine shaft.

This is a good episode with more slow-burn scares. It starts off rather slow, and the story takes a while to establish itself. When the corner is alone examining the bodies is where it really picks up. It does a good job of creating suspense while Carl is slicing up the dead miners. The best aspect of the episode was probably when Carl had to disassemble himself by stabbing his eyes, ear, and throat. The alien storyline was a bit boring and not scary, but overall, there are parts that will have the audience wincing and covering their eyes.

Next: 10 Best Haunted House Horror Movies, According To Reddit