What We Do in the Shadowshas been set to return in late October with its sixth and final season. The mockumentary sitcom, created byJemaine Clement, follows a group of goofy vampires who face a wacky paranormal problem each week, one that often serves as a springboard for killer jokes. While waiting forWhat We Do in the Shadowsto make its bittersweet return, fans should check out anotherhilarious horror comedy show,Los Espookys. TheHBOcomedy created byJulio Torres,Ana Fabrega, andFred Armisenis every bit as funny as FX’s vampire series.
Los Espookysfollows Andres Valdes (Torres), the spoiled heir to a chocolate fortune. Like the out-of-touch vampire Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak) onWhat We Do on the Shadows, Andres is hilariously self-absorbed. He’s also obsessed with horror and creates a team with his friends called Los Espookys, bearing the tagline, “We’re not Ghostbusters… it’s different.” Andres’s best friend Renaldo (Bernardo Velasco) tries his best to quietly put up with Andres’s selfish tendencies, much like Nandor’s human familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) in the early seasons ofWhat We Do in the Shadows. The self-dubbed Los Espookys also includes Úrsula (Cassandra Ciangherotti), the more mature voice of reason, and her sister Tati, played by co-creator Fabrega in an excellent broad performance. Armisen also features in the series as Renaldo’s uncle Tito, who earns his own arc before officially joining the group in Season 2.
‘Los Espookys’ Is a Comedy Series for Horror Fans
Although it’s an ensemble,Los Espookysis defined by Torres’s unique voiceand sensibilities. Fans of the creator’sSaturday Night Livesketches, such as “Wells For Boys” and"Papyrus,“his filmProblemista, orhis follow-up showFantasmaswill recognize his unique sensibility here. Of all Torres' work thus far,Los Espookyshas the strongest narrative and the most fleshed-out characters. Its big strength is the supernatural world it builds up, where anything is possible.
The Los Espookys stage fake supernatural phenomena, building effects to create events like an exorcism and a haunting. But,supernatural creatures also exist for realon the show, and the characters are not surprised by them. Renaldo is haunted by a ghost throughout the second season, Andres can speak to water spirits and The Moon, and, at one point, the characters discover a mirror dimension. The show incorporates a wide variety of supernatural creatures and situations, in the same way thatWhat We Do in the Shadowsbranches out to include beings like a siren in Season 3, fairies in the Season 4 episode “The Night Market,” and cursed items in Season 1’s “Manhattan Night Club.” Both shows mine a large swath of mystical lore to great comedic effect.
At their core, the biggest similarity betweenLos EspookysandWhat We Do in the Shadowsisthe character arcs that Andres and Nandor experience. Andres repeatedly pushes his friends away by ignoring their input and taking them for granted. He also repeatedly has romantic relationships that end because he’s too self-obsessed to notice his partner. BecauseLos Espookysis a much shorter show thanWhat We Do in the Shadows, his arc wraps up faster than Nandor’s, but it still feels earned rather than rushed. By the end of the show, his friends have started to show him that he needs to listen and acknowledge their contributions, in the same way thatNandor slowly begins to appreciate Guillermoand show respect for him with gestures like promoting him from familiar to bodyguard.
As much as Andres is similar to Nandor in personality, he and the rest of his team share much more in common with anotherWhat We Do in the Shadowscharacter thanks totheir love of horror. Like Guillermo, who openly admits he always wanted to be turned because ofAntonio Banderas' Armand inInterview with the Vampire, Renaldo lives in a world with real monsters and spirits but also happens to be a huge horror movie fanboy. It’s interesting to watch characters who become acquainted with the world of the supernatural not because of a curse or a calling, but because they watched horror movies in their youths and loved them.
In addition to being about and for horror fans, both shows are alsoaimed at the broadly pop-culture obsessed. Just asWhat We Do in the Shadowshas an arc about a fakeProperty Brothers-style reality show calledGo Flip Yourself,Los Espookysfeatures a corny Spanish-language sitcom calledMi Puta Suegra. Both of these fake shows start off in the background and then become important in surprising turns. When Andres meets a Water Spirit (Spike Einbinder) who desperately wants to watchThe King’s Speech, it’s reminiscent of Nandor the Relentless becoming obsessed withThe Big Bang Theory. Both series find humor in the idea that there’s a world of infinite magical possibilities out there, but most people still spend their time watching whatever’s popular on streaming.
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‘Los Espookys’ Reflects Unique Perspectives
LikeWhat We Do in the Shadows,Los Espookysisa horror comedy featuring mostly LGBTQ+ characters. The relationship dynamic between Andres and his fiancé, Juan Carlos (José Pablo Minor), in the first season is hilarious. Meanwhile, Renaldo struggles to understand his sexuality, repeatedly telling people, “Horror is my only passion…” Tati, as the token straight member of the ensemble, spoofs that culture, so to speak, dressing like a high school girl in the 2000s and telling her gay sister, “No one likes men, but everyone needs a husband.”
One thing that differentiates the two shows from each otheris thatLos Espookysis mostly in Spanish with English subtitles. It takes place in an unspecified Spanish-speaking country, featuring cast members of different nationalities, something referenced in the very first episode when Tati is asked why her accent is so strange. On a deeper level, it’s a meta-joke calling out the fact that, unlike most of her castmates, Fabrega was born in the United States. Becausethe show is not meant to reflect any one country,the creative team onLos Espookyshad a lot of freedom. As production designerJorge ZambranotoldRolling Stone,
“We realized it would be set in this special place, like Macondo in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. In Macondo, you can see a rain of flowers, or a baby being carried away by ants. In Los Espookys, everything is possible. The idea was that this place could be found everywhere in Latin America.”
Withpunchy writing, a great cast of quirky characters, and fun horror scenes,Los Espookysis the perfect show to binge untilWhat We Do in the Shadowsreturns. While it has its own unique style, the joke writing and relationships between the characters onLos Espookysshould satisfy anyWhat We Do in the Shadowsfan. Its take on horror creatures from sea monsters to ghosts will have viewers laughing out loud.
Los Espookysis available to watch in the U.S. on Max.
Los Espookys
A group of friends in a Latin American country turn their love of horror into a quirky business, staging eerie events for clients. As they navigate strange requests and supernatural occurrences, their passion for the macabre leads to hilarious and bizarre adventures.
