The hungry ghost month’s coming to a close, but All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner, so we’re not quite done with all the spooky fun just yet. If you’ve an interest in ghost stories and the occult, then this new HBO original series should be right up your alley.
Folklore is HBO Asia’s first horror anthology, featuring local myths and paranormal entities from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It’s attempting to give the Asian horror genre a reboot — because we’re so fond of reboots nowadays — by modernising local legends and making them present-day-relevant.
Local directors will be helming episodes set in their respective countries. We’ll also be seeing a couple of familiar faces in the cast. Kazuki Kitamura (Godzilla: Final Wars, Kill Bill), Bront Palarae (Halfworlds, Satan’s Slave) and Lee Chae-Yeon (Running Man) are all set to lead the episodes they’re starring in.
Of course, the star we’re most looking forward to seeing is our favourite local celebrity, the Pontianak, who’s historically portrayed as the malevolent ghost of a pregnant woman, but we’re not sure if she’ll be ‘rebooted’ for this series.
Folklore premieres October 7, 2018 on HBO Asia and HBO GO and will be airing every Sunday — which should fill our weekends with a healthy dose of horror all the way up to Halloween.
JoYFQ is a Gryffindor who distracts herself from the pitfalls of capitalism and hegemonic representations by reading fanfiction. Has surprisingly good RNG luck in games. Probably just jinxed herself.
Natalie
Yonk
