Goedam is a horror anthology series on Netflix which comprise of eight 8-minute short stories. While these bite sized horror shorts seem like easy viewing, don’t be fooled. Your heart will be ready to burst out of your chest before the final episode.

Crack tells the story of a high school student who gets more than she bargained for when she tries to sneak a smoke in the girls’ toilet. Destination introduces a sleepy can driver to a rather strange passenger. Special Guest turns the table on a vlogger who wants to trick her viewers. Curiosity shows what can happen to teens who want to test out internet theories. Red Shoes shows what can happen if a teacher does not care about her student. Dimension showcases the possibility of interdimensional travel and what it costs. Threshold breaches the borders of horror and reality, while Birth focuses on the revenge of the innocent.

Of all the episodes, my favorite was Crack. It was just so well executed that even if I was expecting the jump scares in the eight minute short, I was still horrified when it finally sprung up. It was creepy, and methodical, and it left enough crumbs to build an interest in its connection to the other chapters. My favorite part was the photo reveal in the end. Like I said, creepy.

The first four episodes could well be standalones but by the fifth one, it was already implied that the characters existed in a single universe. You would find familiar characters across each episode, such the main character in Crack who had a cameo in Red Shoes. The two main characters in Curiosity also had a brief role in Dimension. The talisman in Birth was also present in Threshold. And while these elements connected the stories, each episode focused on the individual story they wanted to tell.

The connections only helped make sense of what was happening. So don’t beat yourself up for not making all of the connections.

It would have been cooler though if the series had invested in fleshing out the connections among the stories and revealed them in an additional episode.

I loved the cinematic approach they used for Goedam. The scoring, the grinding sound on the background, the framing of the shots — everything served its purpose.

All in all, Goedam was pretty cool. It was a well executed horror piece that that provided enough shocks and just enough substance to stick around in your memory until the second season arrives.