‘Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities’ Is the Perfect One-Season Horror Show to Stream After ‘Frankenstein’

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With the Oscars approaching and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein being a strong contender, now’s a great time to explore his other work. Films like The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth showcase his distinctive storytelling, while Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water were daring projects within the mainstream film industry. He’s also made a mark on television with series like Tales of Arcadia and The Strain, but Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities remains his most impressive TV achievement.

As part of his ongoing collaboration with Netflix – where he’s already created versions of Pinocchio and Frankenstein – this miniseries is a great way to explore Guillermo del Toro’s unique style within the television format. Cabinet of Curiosities showcases various horror subgenres and features eight chilling Gothic tales introduced by del Toro himself, guaranteed to give some viewers nightmares. Many consider it one of the best TV anthology series of the 21st century.

Elegant, Weird, Horrific: ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ Delivers Terror for Everyone


Netflix

Guillermo del Toro, influenced by the classic horror show Night Gallery, created a series with something to scare everyone. Like the original show, del Toro introduces each story by revealing a creepy object connected to it. The series covers all kinds of horror – from traditional ghost stories to unsettling body horror – and features a fantastic cast including well-known actors like Rupert Grint, Dan Stevens, Peter Weller, and Crispin Glover.

Despite the director’s films being a hit with genre enthusiasts, Netflix hasn’t announced plans for a second season of the anthology miniseries. Guillermo del Toro is currently working on a stop-motion animated version of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. He’s also writing the script for Fury, a particularly intense and violent project that will once again feature Oscar Isaac, who previously starred in Frankenstein.

The Top Voices in Modern Horror Gather in Del Toro’s Twisted Vision

Guillermo del Toro hosts this series of standalone stories, but he didn’t create them all. He co-wrote one episode and two episodes are based on his own short stories. Beyond that, he primarily served as a creative supervisor, ensuring the show captured his signature style. Del Toro selected eight talented directors, giving them the freedom to tell their stories with their own unique voices, while still maintaining the overall tone he envisioned.

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Several episodes of the series really shine. Panos Cosmatos, known for his visually striking films like Beyond the Black Rainbow and Mandy, directs “The Viewing,” which is arguably the most original and bizarre installment. Jennifer Kent, the director of The Babadook, crafted a touching story called “The Murmuring,” starring Essie Davis and Andrew Lincoln. The series begins with “Lot 36,” directed by Guillermo Navarro, the Oscar-winning cinematographer behind Pan’s Labyrinth, and it perfectly captures the distinctive style fans expect from Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. For those looking for a truly frightening experience, David Prior (known for The Empty Man) directs “The Autopsy,” with a script by David S. Goyer, who wrote The Dark Knight trilogy, and it’s the scariest episode in the collection. F. Murray Abraham stars in this particularly chilling installment.

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2026-02-19 01:21