Binge and Repeat: Supernatural Netflix thriller ‘October Faction’ follows a family of monster hunters

I’m not sure why but I love when things get a little spooky during the summer months ... okay, no that’s a lie. I do know why, it’s because I am deeply invested in all things autumnal (hello pumpkin spice everything) and I’ve always enjoyed spooky/supernatural tales. Right now, fall seems to be light-years away, not surprising given the pandemic’s ability to make time feel a bit more fluid. I know it’s technically July, but given that I have been camped out at home for months, it just feels like March has dragged on for ages. Since I was feeling a little spooky, I decided to give Netflix’s supernatural hunter series “October Faction” a shot. The series is based on a comic book series of the same name written by Steve Niles and Damien Worm that follows a family that works for a secret organization of supernatural assassins. The series begins when Fred and his wife Deloris learn about the death of Fred’s father and find themselves returning to their hometown for the funeral. They drag their twins Viv and Geoff along with them, pulling them out of their school in Japan to a small town in New York. Fred and his father were estranged so he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by his death, but returning to his childhood home kicks up memories about his brother’s death at the hands of a monster. Fred and Deloris decide that while they’re home they’ll cut back on their monster hunting but find themselves quickly involved in a case while the kids explore the creepy old house. After the funeral service Viv holds a seance with some of the local teens that inexplicably releases a mysterious woman from her underwater prison. As the series goes on, the parents continue to hide their profession from the kids while the teens begin to experience strange things, knowing things they shouldn’t know about the town. Viv begins to draw events before they happen while Geoff finds himself chatting with a ghost. As the series moves forward with several twists and a commentary about otherizing the groups of supernatural beings against the humans, “October Faction” manages to craft an intriguingly eerie tale. “October Faction” has one season on Netflix and the platform already killed any plans to continue the series, but the series wraps itself up tidily in the finale. The series is rated TV-MA. Viewers might also enjoy “Locke & Key,” a series about three siblings who discover magical keys in their ancestral home after their father’s death.

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