WARNING: SPOILERS
On Sep. 19, 2025, the hit adult cartoon, “Haunted Hotel,” was released to the world on the popular streaming platform, Netflix.
The show centers around a single mother, Katherine Freeling (voiced by Eliza Coupe) who has inherited a haunted hotel from her deceased brother, Nathan, who is now a ghost (voiced by Will Forte). Katherine and her two kids, 13-year-old Ben (Skyler Gisondo) and 11-year-old Esther (Natalie Palamides) now live in the hotel and have to manage life surrounded by all the ghosts.
Additional characters are Abaddon, a demon trapped in the body of a young boy from the 1700s (Jimmi Simpson) who has quickly become a fan favorite; Annabelle, Ben’s ghost girlfriend, who happens to be from the 1920s (Riki Lindhome) and Heather, Esther’s nerdy human friend (Sunita Mani).
Throughout the season, the family has to solve various issues going on in the hotel, such as demon possession, evil exorcists and even an issue so complex they barely make it out alive: power outages.
The show has been confirmed by Netflix to have a second season, which is speculated to air sometime in 2026.
“Haunted Hotel” was created by Matt Roller, after his love for horror shows. The show is rated TV-MA, and the minimum age requirement between reviews goes from 14-16 years. In my opinion, the show should not be seen by anyone under 14. It is quite a bit gory (though the show is animated), in an almost comedic way. There are mentions of suicide and sex, but not anymore than your average PG-13 movie, in my opinion.
Episode Guide
Each episode is 25 minutes long, which is nice for short movie nights. Here is my opinion of all the episodes, with an added description: (Warning! Spoilers ahead!)
S1E1: Welcome to the Undervale
“Welcome to the Undervale” is the first episode of “Haunted Hotel,” and is paced like your classic intro episode. After watching the whole season, I don’t really care for this episode particularly, but it did make me want to keep watching the show.
The plot follows Katherine after she has recently inherited the Undervale from Nathan. Frustrated that all of the unpredictable ghosts are driving all of the guests away, Katherine decides to hire an exorcist – much to Nathan’s dismay. When the exorcist arrives, she immediately gets to work, banishing all of the ghosts to an eternal void, even the beloved character Nathan, which makes Katherine put her foot down. Unsurprisingly, the exorcist turns on the family, summoning a demon straight from the jaws of hell. She explains that there is a balance going on in the ethereal world, where ghosts beat demons, demons beat humans and with some challenges, humans can beat ghosts, which is why she wanted all of the ghosts gone.
What follows next is an epic race against time as Katherine, Esther and Ben try desperately to bring the ghosts back and finish off the demon before it kills them all.
S1E2: Unfinished Business
I didn’t really care for this episode, but it is still very entertaining to watch. Katherine doesn’t approve of Esther’s new ghost friend Phoebe, who she fears is a bad influence. Phoebe and Katherine must both learn to listen to Esther as they both try to get rid of the other.
S1E3: Randy Slasher
“Randy Slasher” is an interesting episode, to say the least. Essentially, a person (not a ghost, a person) seems to have it out for people engaging in PDA, and when Ben invites friends from school over when his mom is out of town, Nathan, Esther and he must come together to save the hotel.
S1E4: How to Train Your Demon
“How to Train your Demon” is probably my second favorite episode of the show, right next to E10. What can I say, Abaddon’s a great character!
Katherine decides that Abaddon has lost his “roaming” privileges and decides to take him into town on one of her errands. What follows is the demon acting like a four year old boy, complete with kicking the seatback in the car, dragging his feet on the sidewalk and complaining loudly about the unfairness of it all.
After a lot of outbursts and excitement, the two finally make it back to the hotel, where Katherine contemplates on how to make Abaddon behave, only for him to misunderstand her directions and kidnap her competition, owner of the other hotel in town, Charlie.
I’ll leave the rest up to you to watch on your own, but just know it’s very humorous and had me chuckling every few minutes!
S1E5: Rollyfluffs
All you need to know, evil possessing little fluffy creatures attempt to take over the world. Esther and Ben have to stop them. Heartwarming and funny. All jokes aside, it is a good one, though not one of my personal favorites.
S1E6: Ghost Hunters!
Honestly, this was my least favorite episode, just because I found the plot kind of weird and boring. Basically, a TV show that goes to haunted places and investigates them comes to the Undervale, causing chaos along the way.
S1E7: Seven Deadly Bens
This was a funny episode. Ben unintentionally creates seven carbon copies of himself, and he and Katherine must figure out how to make the clones disappear.
S1E8: Aunt Rose
I didn’t really care for this episode. To be honest, it’s probably one of my least favorite ones, but don’t let that stop you from liking it!
Katherine and Nathan’s belligerent aunt Rose comes in for a visit, and no one is happy about it. When Rose decides she wants to die at the hotel in order to become a ghost, the family tries all they can to stop her.
S1E9: The Esthercist
E9 was also a very good episode, where Abaddon once again is forced to save the day. When Esther breaks a magical snow globe, Assyrian demons are released, possessing a deer, the mailman and Esther. The rest of the family must send the demons back to their home before it’s too late.
S1E10: The Acolytes of Abaddon
“The Acolytes of Abaddon” is by far my favorite episode of the show. This episode is full of comedic humor, which I am a huge sucker for and showcases the bond that the characters all share with each other.
The plot goes as follows: A strange cult, who see Abaddon as their powerful leader, arrive at the Undervale in search of the demon boy. Promising to send Abaddon back home and restore his powers, they set up a ceremony, where quite literally, all hell breaks loose.
The cult brings Abaddon’s home to him, instead of the opposite, and the entire world is swallowed up in a fiery lava pit, including the Freelings. It is up to Abaddon to save the world. Using a time travel device mentioned earlier in the episode, he travels back to the dawn of time to try and stop the cult from continuing forth with the ceremony. Things don’t go as planned, and Abaddon is forced to travel back more times than he had planned, which makes for a hilarious sequence.
In conclusion, “Haunted Hotel” is a great TV show that I believe many people can watch and enjoy. As stated previously, it is exclusive to Netflix and is rated for mature audiences, so make sure you’re prepared before you grab the popcorn!
