Stream Your Heart Out: “Light as a Feather”

Genre: Supernatural

Episodes: 10, about 25 minutes long

“Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” is a game I used to play with my friends in the basement of my best friend’s house when I was 13 or 14. It’s a game I’m sure many girls have played with their friends at sleepovers and birthday parties. It is also the name of a book, and now, a Hulu original series released around Halloween 2018.

The series is centered around four good friends and the new girl at their high school. In both the book by Zoe Aarsen and the show, Violet Simmons (played by Haley Ramm) is pulled into a friend group and invited to their annual Halloween festivities. Some of the girls are skeptical at first to invite her, but they do anyways. Peyton List, Liana Liberato, Ajiona Alexus, and Brianne Tju join Ramm in the cast, all apart of the central clique. You may recognize Brianne Tju from Scream, the TV Show.

During their Halloween night at the cemetery, every year they partake in something scary before going to a party. This year, Violet recommends they play a game of “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board,” but with a twist. The twist is a read of how each girl will die before being lifted up. These predicted deaths begin to come true and that’s all I can spill about it for now.

The show in itself is good, I’ll admit it. While I’m not a huge fan of Hulu originals, this one shone bright. I am familiar with most of the cast, and was pleasantly surprised by most of the acting. The script is also written fabulously, as far as I can tell by listening to the dialogue and such.

I haven’t read the books yet, but they started on Wattpad like a lot of what I wrote when I was younger, so I resonate with that especially. I love that Hulu picked something like this up and did a great job with it.

There are a few cliche plotlines, but there are also episodes with twists that you won’t expect. The show feels old-fashioned, an adventure with teenagers uncovering a mystery with little to no adult interference. The running time of each episode (only 25 minutes) also kept me going. But to be fair, I was on Thanksgiving break when I watched it, and had so much time to waste.

If you liked Pretty Little Liars, you’ll probably like this. It’s spooky and a little freaky, like the best of us.