Unboxed

Wonderful episode that tells a story about a doll considered possessed in an engaging and very disturbing way and manages to maintain a very high tension throughout the course of the story.

Having never heard of the podcast, Amazon Prime's "Lore" was a show I turned to looking for some sort of anthology horror fix. What I found wasn't really that. It was an historical re-enactment, mixed in with the wider context of the story, either the real reasons behind a superstition or another associated case.

For example, one episode shows a historical re-enactment of the capture of Peter Stubbe, a man who the people of the German village of Bedburg believed to be a werewolf. Aside from a dramatized version of that story, we're also told about the historical context for the werewolf stories, including the various afflictions that might have caused belief in them to be more pronounced, as well as the much more contemporary stories of murders like David Berkowitz, who claimed to be controlled by animalistic forces.

Each re-enactment generally has at least one recognisable actor amongst the cast, ranging from Robert Patrick, Campbell Scott, Colm Feore, Kristen Bauer Van Straten and Cassady McClincy. That said, I usually found them to be the least interesting part of the episode and would much rather have spent all that time with a someone explaining to me the origins of the lore, or the near examples.

It's a bit disjointed when it comes to the approach it takes too. Usually the narrator forms a rational or skeptical tone, explaining that it was the best idea that science had at the time, or that superstition was still commonplace. The re-enactments though often do include direct otherworldly accounts with ideas that aren't easily explainable.

I understand from the reviews that the second season is going to do aware with my favourite aspect and keep only the historical dramas. We'll see if I can make it though all of them.

Loved the casting and story presentation. This is the only one I truly enjoyed. Good job!

Truly harrowing main story, and the side notes /'mini documentaries' about real world doll&doom related events are not making it any less creepy. Anyone who enjoyed the chucky franchise and gets jump-scared by every lazy-eyed porcelain doll will love this episode. This one gets 8/10 from me because it scared the living willies out of me ,and the episode (also the whole Lore series) is made witch such care for detail and interesting factoids or side stories.