The subreddit r/TwoSentenceHorror showed that sometimes, all it takes is two sentences to strike terror. The CW's Two Sentence Horror Stories has moved into its third season of bringing these bite-sized terrors to life.
The anthology is saturated with ghosts, demons, murderers, and a plethora of other things that go bump in the night. Whether the monsters are supernatural or human, quite a few episodes of Two Sentence Horror Stories unleash nightmarish tales onto its audience. From home invasions to demonic possession, there are so many opportunities for a great scare, and viewers looking for a thrill may be wondering which episodes are most likely to have them cowering under the covers.
"Bag Man" (S2, E1)
The first episode of the second season comes from the two-sentence story, "Be cool, stay in school. It's easier for me to get to you." "Bag Man" features a group of kids in detention that fall victim to a seemingly innocuous backpack with a very dark attachment.
Nobody wants to be stuck in detention, and certainly not with a white-faced demon that lives in a backpack. Watching these teens face this murderous entity head-on is panic-inducing for a passive audience that can only helplessly watch the poor decision-making that leads to their deaths. Although, these poor choices might lead some to say, "they had it coming," which siphons out a bit of the terror.
"Only Child" (S1, E7)
In "Only Child," a grandmother, Desi, finds herself at odds with her demon-possessed grandson. Fittingly, this story comes from the sentences, "My grandson got his big, beautiful smile from me. It never wavers on his face as he watches me die."
Dealing with a demon in any capacity normally warrants some terror. The thought of a sweet grandmother trying to exorcise a demon from her possessed grandchild as he and his parents plot against her is deeply unsettling. The way that this episode uses hellish forces to turn a family against each other is definitely disturbing, but killing the main character with an asthma attack is a bit underwhelming.
"Essence" (S2, E7)
"Essence" is based on the micro-story, "I always admired her looks. And then I found out who she ate to get them." The episode follows a young salon worker who discovers that her boss is eating the women who work there to preserve her beauty and youth, and then bottling their life force to sell as the VIP treatment.
This episode gives a new meaning to "body horror" by giving gore a home in the beauty industry. The stark contrast between butchery and beauty is incredibly unnerving, especially in a scene that shows the boss grotesquely devouring human organs. Unrealistic beauty standards for women are scary enough. To imagine that the only way to reach them is to kill and eat people's organs is terrifying.
"Ibeji" (S9, E2)
From, "I swore I woke up. But the monster is still here, grinning on top of me," comes the haunting tale of a woman who harnesses her telepathic abilities to save her comatose sister from the clutches of a demonic entity.
Being attacked by a dark, otherworldly monster is enough to scare anyone witless. Now, add the layer of being in a coma, unable to move or speak while the demon goes about its torment. That's a real paralyzing fright that leaves viewers feeling just as powerless. The promise of evil having no power over sisterly love is barely comforting with an ending that shows the creature alive and well outside their window.
"Hide" (S1, E4)
Hide is based on the sentences, "Knock, knock, I heard. But the monsters had already found their way inside." This almost-classic home invasion story tells the audience about a Hispanic mother who battles for her own survival and that of the little girl that she babysits.
Watching this break-in play out is enough to have any viewer glancing outside their windows for signs of a masked assailant. The episode capitalizes on the power of horror to make someone feel uncomfortable in their own home after watching. As if that isn't enough, the episode finishes with the heartbreaking implication that the hero's life is about to turn upside down as ICE agents show up to her own home.
"Quota" (S2, E5)
"Quota" takes, "We work ourselves to the bone. And when we die, they replace us," to new levels with a quintessential zombie outbreak story. The episode takes place in a warehouse where workers are quickly falling victim to the virus and the crazed cannibalism that comes with it.
This story brings the exact brand of terror that can be expected from any zombie movie or TV show: blood, gore, a few great kill-or-be-killed struggles, and impending apocalyptic doom. The ending delivers on an irresistible cliché by showing that the virus has made its way out of the burnt-down warehouse and into the world, crafting the exact alarming zombie story that the series needed.
"Gentleman" (S1, E1)
"She was stiff and cold in my arms. Then the doll blinked." This creepy concept gives way to an equally creepy twist in the series' first episode. Hana, a young mother, begins to date Ken, a man who is dangerously obsessed with women who have babies.
The end gives viewer a sense of victory as they see Hana kill Ken before he can cause any real harm, but the reveal that her child is actually just a doll is the terrifying shock factor that is unmatched by any other episode. After spending an entire episode rooting for Hana, the audience almost feels betrayed upon finding out that she was completely delusional.
"Legacy" (S1, E3)
The sentences, "'I will never leave you,' my husband whispered as he climbed into bed last night. I woke up gasping as the suit he was buried in twisted around my neck," inspired "Legacy." The episode tells the story of a woman whose deceased husband is as abusive toward her in death as he was in life.
The terror in this episode comes from the heart-wrenching theme of abuse. The fact that the widow could not even escape her abuser once he died is chilling, and ghostly imagery of a blue-faced man in a funeral suit crawling under the covers does not make the story any easier to stomach. This episode's villain is one of the most terrifying in the series because his humanity is what makes him the monster.
"El Muerto" (s2, E8)
The creepy prompt, "Alone in the morgue, I hear little footsteps. My daughter has finally come back to me," breathes life into "El Muerto." The story takes viewers into the world of a little girl who is haunted by the ghost of a troubled boy in a morgue that her mother works in, only to find out that she herself is dead.
The episode's sweet ending does not make "El Muerto" any less terrifying. The plot utilizes some classic ghost tropes– flickering lights, slamming doors, screaming apparitions. A scene where the little girl finds herself stuck in a mortuary cabinet outshines any spirit-centric scenes in the series so far. Plus, the only thing creepier than one little ghost child is two little ghost children.
"Squirm" (S1, E2)
With a prompt like, "I felt my skin crawl. Then I saw the head of the worm push through," the venereal horror in "Squirm" really packs a punch. The plot adds a new element of terror as it follows a young woman who was drugged and assaulted by an anonymous abuser who turns out to be her boss.
While appalling, the horror in "Squirm" extends beyond the imagery of live worms making a home in the human body. It takes the audience out of the fictional world of Two Sentence Horror Stories in favor of a real-world horror, which is what makes it so much more horrifying than the rest. The plot explores terrifying and unfortunately very real elements of sexual assault in a way that succeeds in making viewers squirm in their seats.