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Mysterious and Spooky: On Race and Remaking a Cult Classic
Halloween may have been almost a month ago, but the spooky season knows no bounds. And if “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has taught us anything, there’s a horrible side to even the most wonderful time of the year, evidenced by all of the television series that have popped up in the gothic/mystery/horror genre this past week and in the month to come.
This is why I’m calling in the start of the Holiday Horror season by writing about Netflix’s “Wednesday” and AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire”. Both of these series offer an example of the recent turn in horror television, which explores cultural differences to understand life’s mysteries and mysticism. Specifically, there is a trend of rebooting spooky shows with a multicultural narrative.
Because as much as I love the lore of WASPy American culture, there are only so many times that we can harken back to the ghosts of the Salem Witch trials before it gets boring. Instead, bringing in stories from other cultures lets the audience learn more about the traditions and practices popular within a more diverse…
