Every culture has its legends and myths and as anyone should have been able to guess, every state in America has its fair share of urban legends and tall tales as well. Sam Raimi is undoubtedly one of the best individuals to helm this idea since 50 States of Fright is something that could continue onward and endure for a while to come if people are truly into it and want to keep contributing one legend after another since there are plenty to go around. From east to west and back again this idea could be something that might be revolutionary in the horror industry since it’s one that opens up a lot of doors and grants an amazing amount of perspective on the history of each state. Likely as not you might have heard a local or regional ghost tale growing up since they tend to get around and are the kind of tales that people tell over a campfire, during the Halloween season, or just because they want to scare the living daylights out of someone when the nighttime comes. The fact is that every state does have a slew of stories, some that are outright fabricated bits of nonsense that have very simple beginnings and are blown way out of proportion, and others that are essentially legends that have been muddied up but have no worldly explanation that can truly decipher just what happened and why.
Some people might want to scoff at this since the idea that any horror story or unexplained phenomena could be real is what horror directors thrive on since it allows them to play fast and loose with a narrative that might not be that compelling on its own but can be beefed up in a big way to the point that it would make a great story on screen. After all, reality does need a bit of help from the imaginations of those that are willing to tell a good story now and then, but the fun fact is that there are ghost stories and tragic tales from every state, and they’re bound to come to the fore if this show is going to continue, which it should by all means since it looks extremely entertaining. The fact that it’s on Quibi is a bit off-putting if only because Quibi is, at this time, looking for a buyer to pick it up since its own business model hasn’t proven to be that effective. But upon finding out just where Quibi might land it’s a hope that whoever does purchase the service would keep this series running since it’s bound to be something that people from every state can relate to given that if you look around each state there are stories that stem from the annals of history and from one border to another that can be picked up and illustrated on screen for the viewing pleasure of the audience.
The thing about those stories that are lucky enough to be featured on TV is that they’re likely going to be embellished quite a bit since the desire of the audience is to be thrilled and scared since that’s the whole point of a ghost story. There are other reasons that ghost stories are told obviously, but one of the primary reasons is because people genuinely want to be scared. Some folks are adrenaline junkies, others just enjoy the sensation, and then there are others that get excited about the prospect of hearing a scary story. The whole idea behind telling a ghost story can differ from tale to tale, so listening to what a person has to say is fairly important since they could have a whopper of a tale on their mind or it could be something that might be fun to pass along or both. Sam Raimi has been busily showing us for years that he can produce the kind of stories that are bound to stick with us and are also bound to be shared from one generation to another, so it’s not paying lip service to say that these stories are likely to scare the pants off of some people and make a lot of horror lovers absolutely giddy with the idea of a story that might keep them up at night.
This approach to ghost stories is even more appealing since there are certain areas of the US where ghost stories are far more prominent due to historical reasons or because they simply have more storytellers that continue to come up with new and exciting tales that grip the people who read them. But going from state to state is fun since it proves that every place in the US has at least a small bit of a dark history that can entice willing fans, and can show them that not everything is as mundane as it appears.
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