ARCHIVE 81

Archive 81 is the best horror series I’ve seen in a long while.

A conversation I often have goes something like this: where are the great horror shows? The stumbling block is often perceived to be the format; how do you maintain that creepy sense of unease, that existential dread, from episode to episode, when the lights come back on. 

My answer is often goes like this: think of them as a mystery to be unpacked.  

The horror thrives beneath the mystery - and in Archive 81, as well as The Ring - it’s wrapped up in analogue technology and a story of a disappearance. Someone is trying to solve a mystery and from within that darkness the horror ensues. 

I bloody loved this show. It has echoes of early Polanski, De Palma and even House of Leaves. The term archive horror is being used to describe this genre of horror and I’m thoroughly on board the next season. But the question I’m asking is: where’s the British equivalent?