Here’s to another post on ThirTEEN Terrors. As I had previously stated, in order for me to keep this post within a reasonable limit I decided it would be better to split up the episodes and review them individually. ThirTEEN terrors is an anthology series based around high school students discovering terrifying tales centered around their school. In this post I will discuss episodes four through 6. So, no better time to get started than now.
Episode 4: Unsolicited Calls
Unsolicited Calls is a story about Nae, a boy who does not have a very stable relationship with his mother. In the beginning of the episode he has a fight with his mother over his education. He ends up leaving to to pursue a degree in communication arts. Nae then calls his mother to tell her that he won’t be coming home to see her anymore. He is essentially telling her that he is going to commit suicide. After the phone conversation, the viewer learns that he is just messing with his mother. Nae then begins to make prank phone calls with his friends in the middle of the night. In my opinion, this is where we learn that this kid is a total jerk. Not only does he treat his mom like garbage, but has absolutely no respect for anyone, including his elders. He winds up prank calling an old woman and pretends to be her grandson. This is what starts the strange turn of events. Nae begins receiving strange phone calls. As the story progresses, his mother starts getting phone calls from Nae again, only they are not actually from him. Things get to the point that Nae and his mom are fearing for their lives. In the end, the event brings them closer together but not until death has a say in the matter.
Overall, there is not much to this episode. It is nothing but a bunch of spooky phone calls. It is super confusing to even know what the heck is going on. With that being said though, it isn’t a bad episode. The main reason why I only gave it three and a half stars is because it is confusing and Nae is just whiny and annoying so it made it really difficult to enjoy overall. The story is good, but I felt like a little more explanation would have made this episode significantly better. This is one of my favorite endings, as I did not even have a sneaking suspicion of the episode ending in the manner it did.
Episode 5: Grandfather Som
Grandfather Som is the story about a family of shamans. They are known and very popular for their miracle healing techniques. People come from all over to be “healed” by this family. As the story progresses, the audience learns that the shaman is a fraud. They essentially pay people to make it seem like their miracle cures are effective. One day, the daughter, Wan is at school when she is approached by a very, VERY sick looking girl. This girl, Cherry, is known to be very promiscuous and always hanging around with boys. Cherry has contracted HIV and recently had an abortion. She ends up going to to shaman to get her miracle cure. However, she doesn’t get any better. In fact, she starts going to school less often and slowly deteriorating into nothing. One day, Wan comes home to find her mother “working her miracle” on Cherry again. Only this time, she is causing physical harm to her. Eventually, Cherry loses her fight. Once she does, she begins haunting Wan for being a fraud. Things continue to get worse until everyone thinks that Wan has went crazy.
This episode is absolutely fantastic. The story kept me intrigued and was always wondering where the story was going. This is an episode that I did not really see the ending coming at all. I felt that this story was original and it was certainly not anything that I had really seen before. There isn’t really anything negative I can say about Grandfather Som. I think I wish there was just a little bit more, and that the story explained a little better with the family’s business.
Episode 6: Alluring Abomination
Alluring Abomination is the story of the ever so popular, Aun. He is always receiving gifts from girls with crushes on him. One day after basketball practice, on his way to class he spots a girl, Phan, who he thinks is the prettiest girl around. He ends up following her around until he ends up at her house. She proceeds to ask why he is stalking her. After this encounter, they begin their friendship and tutoring sessions. He goes to her house multiple times, and this is when things start to take a turn. Of course this has to happen, these are “scary” stories. Aun ends up staying overnight at the house. When he does this, he begins to experience strange things. On his way to the bathroom, he hears a girl weeping from the other side of the door, only to be stopped by the housekeeper. Later, he wakes up in the middle of the night to find a ghost staring at him while he sleeps and hears the same crying as earlier. This sends him over the edge and he leaves immediately.
After he has calmed down, he goes back to the house and learns that Phan does not have many friends. He decides to continue to be tutored by Phan and again stays at the house. On this night, Phan asks him if he likes her. As if the stalking didn’t say it already, he of course tells her that he does. They make a promise that no matter what happens they will stick together. As Aun is waiting for Phan to get back he happens to see a news broadcast of a missing girl. When he does, he notices a striking resemblance to Phan. Finally, the truth comes out and when it does, it will change everything for his new found relationship.
This episode is another one of the better ones. I had no idea where the story would end. I thought it was just going to be a typical ghost story, much like the others in this series. Man, was I wrong! I think that is what made me enjoy this episode as much as I did. What I really don’t understand is that in the end, the true Phan is not that bad looking. I don’t understand why he reacted as badly as he did to the truth. That is really the only complaint I have. I mean I don’t understand why people are so obsessed with looks I guess.
Overall though, these three episodes were some of the better episodes of the series. I have found that in a general sense with the way that the series is set up, it reminds me a lot of Creepshow. It is an anthology that is an overall short story with the twist endings. I think this may be one of the reasons I enjoy this show as much as I do.
With that all being said, I think I will use what is left of October to finish out this series and I will get back to my normal schedule come November. I have been working ahead of time, so I feel like my upload schedule should get back on track! Thanks so much for taking your time to read my ThirTEEN Terrors review, and I hope to see everyone in the next one!
DJ's World 
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