Spooktober: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

After six years, fans of the Youtube series Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared have finally awakened with the release of six new episodes on Channel 4.

Now although this is a television series and not a movie, I couldn’t resist not bringing it up for Spooktober. The show is the living incarnation of twisted horror and I couldn’t not talk about it.

The series follows our three main characters: Red Guy, Yellow Guy and Duck. The trio live in a house together and exist purely for the torment of whoever visits them.

The original Youtube series was based upon the idea of taking children's shows like Sesame Street and the Muppets and making it a little more real when it came to life lessons.

Now don’t be fooled by the childlike look of it all, DHMIS delves deep into body horror, gore and the frustrations of living in the modern world.

Although the first season is made up of only six episodes, it uses the time to tell individual compelling stories that all disintegrate to an ever-growing ball of madness that you can’t help but watch.

My favourite episode out of the bunch is simply titled, ‘Death’. The premise goes as such: Duck is dead and the others have to live their life without him. Pretty simple, no? But add in the dark depression Yellow Guy goes into and a few shovels and you’ve got yourself a twisted series of events.

I personally find this the funniest episode out of the lot, with my favourite lines being:

The show does hint at a deeper lore within it’s final episode, though I couldn’t tell you in detail what it means. DHMIS encapsulates everything that is bright and colourful about children’s tv and presents it in a pessimistic lens.

The set design is something I deeply adore about the series, not one thing isn’t made from felt and it gives the show such an unusual style that if I saw anywhere else I could only relate it back to this series.

The designs of the puppets you see throughout the series are outstanding, they either go from deeply unnerving to just fun little guys. They balance the line of being very unsettling and would be nowhere near allowed to be around children to a talking briefcase and his older brother Brendon.

Just like the original Youtube shorts, DHMIS features original songs and I love when a show changes its theme as the series progresses. Gravity Falls did something very similar but I think DHMIS takes it to a whole other level.

Overall, if you’re a fan of disturbing puppets and spontaneous humour then you’ll love this show!

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared gets 5 out of 5 Chudd Dollops from me.