Despite it employing a rather simplistic anthology format, the Netflix show Slasher easily sets itself apart from any and all competition and—for many reasons—is the smartest horror TV show on the market to date.
Slasher got its start on Chiller in 2016 before moving to the streaming platform, Netflix, after season 1. Chiller, which is similar to the Slasher will get a season 4 is available. Created by Aaron Martin—with Ian Carpenter taking over as showrunner in season 3, Solstice—Slasher combines elements of classic 1980s slasher movies with elements of mystery and suspense.
Each season of Slasher adapts a different murder mystery and cast, and there's less overlap than with shows like American Horror Story, which is known for featuring the same actors in different roles. Also, Slasher doesn't seem to take place in a connected universe—in that regard, it stands alone with each story as its own, separate entity, though they could all take place in the same general timeline. Other horror shows, such as The Walking Dead, don't apply the anthology format at all, and instead focus on one single element of the horror genre—like a zombie apocalypse. While this can be effective storytelling for continuity and engagement, it is a risk due to how elements of the same world season after season can grow stale or require more drastic plots to keep the audience engaged instead of just hitting the reset button with a new theme or—in Slasher's case—a new killer and mystery to solve.
Slasher's Greatest Strength Is Its Murder Mystery Elements
The main reason why Slasher is so smart is because of the "whodunit" aspect the show boasts. While the central theme and killer is introduced early, the larger motivations for the killings and the killer's identity isn't revealed until the very end. Slasher boasts a large, ensemble cast with multiple characters who could have motivations for killing the others—usually, more backstory is revealed on each character as the show progresses, the longer they survive, and it allows for audience interaction with each other to help try to solve the mystery and stay engaged. The killer typically has personal vendettas against one or more characters for a larger reason that leans into the concept of the show's monster being very human underneath all the vicious murders they commit throughout the eight episode seasons.
Before Slasher, this concept was tried with Harper's Island, which aired on CBS in 2009. Instead of employing a Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers type figure who is out for their own reasons, the characters who are being dispatched are usually tied to some larger crime or cover-up that exposes their secrets. Traditionally, slasher movies were a commentary on promiscuity, drug use, and reckless teenage behavior; the murderer would then kill their victims as a way of "punishing" them, and Slasher takes this very literally. Season 3, Solstice, centers around an entire apartment complex of people who are all tied together in various ways who refused to act in aid of a fellow tenant when he was being stalked and killed by the Druid in plain sight. Nobody acted up to save him, which set off a chain reaction that led to the killer taking offense to their inaction for their own, personal reasons.
Slasher Has A Formula That Is Simple & Doesn't Get Stale
Other horror TV shows, such as Bates Motel, The Walking Dead, Dexter, and True Blood—all of which have been immensely popular, and decidedly more mainstream than Slasher—fixate on a single setting and slowly grow the universe through the progression of many seasons. This is standard storytelling, and it does work, but with horror elements, can quickly become stale. For example, Dexter ended up becoming more convoluted as the show wore on because there's really only so many ways a person can skillfully dodge the police while committing increasingly messy and prominent murders.
With True Blood, the book universe was already expansive, but the show ended up going off the rails toward the end with a vampire virus that was a thinly-veiled commentary on the AIDS epidemic, and made the show's messaging—which already disconnected from the original story, but proved how too much deviation can also be problematic and feel like a different—and less enthralling—variation on the same theme.
With horror, the anthology structure is all but guaranteed to be successful, when applied correctly. American Horror Story has been renewed through season 13 and has even been green-lit for a spin-off series, American Horror Stories, which is set to release on Hulu. Outside of the murder mystery elements, the clever use of red herrings, and other deflections to keep the audience in suspense, Slasher is a more gritty, pulpy, and edgy horror TV show that doesn't shy away from excess. Given that it airs on Netflix, Slasher is able to push boundaries in regard to sexual content and gore. Political commentary is interspersed throughout, and even poked fun at, such as with "woke" culture in season 3.
When the murders happen, there are no punches pulled; they are often sudden and shocking. Each death sequence is artfully crafted, and often tailored directly to the victim or plays into the killer's overall scheme such as in season 1, where the crimes were connected to a series of copycat murders. Deaths such as turning a hipster barista into his own coffee percolator and dissecting a biology teacher like a frog during final exams are only the tip of the iceberg with Slasher, which has more than just intelligence and interesting stories to offer horror fans.