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50 States of Fright

50 States of Fright is an American horror anthology television series executive produced by Sam Raimi, in which each self-contained story draws on the urban legends, folklore, and regional mythology of a single U.S. state. It was created for the mobile-only streaming service Quibi, where it premiered on April 13, 2020, and later moved to The Roku Channel after Quibi shut down.1 • 2

Key factDetail
FormatHorror anthology; each story is rooted in one state's folklore, urban legends, and regional mythology3
Original platformQuibi, premiered April 13, 2020; episodes capped under 10 minutes in keeping with Quibi's "quick bites" format1 • 4
Output24 episodes across two seasons (14 in season 1, 10 in season 2), covering nine states in total4 • 5
States coveredSeason 1: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Washington; season 2: Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Washington6 • 7
Executive producersSam Raimi and Cody Zwieg1
Later homeThe Roku Channel, from October 15, 2021, as a Roku Original Series2
RatingsIMDb 6.5/10 from about 2,300 user ratings; season 1 Tomatometer 85% (13 reviews), audience Popcornmeter 53%8 • 1

Spoilers

Episodes and stories

Season 1 took on Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington.6 Season 2 visited one fewer state, covering Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, and Washington.7 Notable entries include:

  • "The Golden Arm" (Michigan). Directed by Sam Raimi and co-written with his brother Ivan Raimi, both Michigan natives, it stars Travis Fimmel as Dave, a lumberjack married to Heather (Rachel Brosnahan). After Heather loses her arm in an accident, Dave crafts her a golden prosthetic, beginning a supernatural tragedy. The tale is a folk story centuries old, made famous stateside by Mark Twain, and critics noted it could have taken place in any state.10 • 6
  • "Destino" (Florida). A found-footage story by Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale, directed by Brugués, in which police respond to a call and encounter an escalating supernatural situation; it ran as three episodes.13
  • "Grey Cloud Island" (Minnesota). Written and directed by Brian Netto and Adam Schindler; one reviewer called it the most violent story of the first season.15
  • "Almost There" (Iowa). By Beck and Woods, a harrowing story about Iowa's Banwell Bridge, known as the "Terror Bridge," opening with an Amish mother suspending herself and her children from the bridge before an oncoming train. Years later, a survivor (Taissa Farmiga), now an engineer with a fear of heights, must climb a wind turbine during a power emergency.7
  • "Red Rum" (Colorado). By Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei, a supernatural slasher centered on the famous haunted Estes Park hotel.7
  • "13 Steps to Hell" (Washington). By Lee Cronin and Sarah Conradt, in which three siblings visit Maltby Cemetery in Bothell after their mother's death; Rory Culkin narrates, with Lulu Wilson and Graham Verchere among the cast.7
  • "Dogwood-Azalea" (Missouri). The television debut as writer and director of Cate Devaney, closing season 2 with a story about seven-year-old Azalea (Erica Tremblay) whose house-flipping parents move next to a cemetery in Arcadia.7

Concept and format

The series' premise is one horror story per U.S. state, each rooted in that state's local folklore, urban legends, and regional mythology. As an anthology, it has no continuous narrative, no season-long mystery, and no character arcs carried between installments; every story is self-contained, so a viewer can drop in anywhere.3 Each episode opened with a voiceover disclaimer that "every state has its folklore, tall tales of legends — but sometimes there is a darker story, a tale not so much told, as whispered."9

The show was built for Quibi, a mobile-first streaming service whose episodes were capped at ten minutes or less and whose interface adapted to both vertical and horizontal viewing. Because no single video ran longer than ten minutes, multi-part stories were split across several installments: the premiere, "The Golden Arm," spread a runtime of nearly 24 minutes over three episodes.10 • 6 Reviewers noted that the anthology's standalone structure suited this format better than serialized thrillers did, since no story required knowledge of what came before.3

The state-by-state conceit placed the series within a well-established horror anthology tradition alongside Tales from the Crypt, Masters of Horror, and Creepshow, while giving it a distinct identity through its focus on the specific textures of American regional mythology.3

Production and creative team

Sam Raimi, the director of The Evil Dead and the Spider-Man trilogy, executive produced the series with Cody Zwieg and directed the premiere himself.10 • 1 Raimi also introduced episodes such as "The Golden Arm" and "Almost There" at a press screening, a framing that reviewers read as a genuine creative signature on the project rather than a marketing credit.3

The directing roster mixed established horror names with emerging filmmakers: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Alejandro Brugués, Daniel Goldhaber, Brian Netto, Adam Schindler, Yoko Okumura, Lee Cronin, Cate Devaney, Ryan Spindell, and Raimi.11 Beck and Woods, the writers of A Quiet Place and directors of Haunt, contributed the Iowa story; both are from Iowa and described telling a story from their home state as a full-circle experience.12 The Cuban-American filmmakers Eduardo Sánchez (The Blair Witch Project) and Alejandro Brugués developed the Florida entry together, wanting a story with a Latino angle set in a state familiar to them both.13

The cast included Rachel Brosnahan, Travis Fimmel, Christina Ricci, Jacob Batalon, Ming-Na Wen, Taissa Farmiga, Asa Butterfield, Ron Livingston, Karen Allen, Colin Ford, Danay García, and Victoria Justice, each appearing in a separate story.14

Reception

Season 1 holds an 85% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 13 reviews, with a critics consensus noting the series had "a long road ahead of it" but had made an effectively scary start; the audience Popcornmeter stood at 53% from fewer than 50 ratings.1 On IMDb the series rates 6.5/10 from about 2,300 users.8 Critics singled out the tension between ambition and format: Bloody Disgusting's review of the premiere found much to enjoy in Raimi's episodes but judged that splitting a 24-minute story across three installments hindered the narrative flow, while a later review of season 2 called it "one of the better" horror anthology series of recent years despite inconsistent runtimes.6 • 7 A retrospective at 25 Years Later argued the anthology format fit Quibi's short episodes remarkably well and that the series was one of the service's most compelling arguments for short-form episodic content.3

Quibi's collapse and the Roku move

Quibi launched in April 2020 on a mobile-only model, having raised $1.75 billion before debut, and shut down in December 2020, six months after launching. Before it folded, 50 States of Fright had emerged as one of its flagship titles.3 Roku purchased a number of Quibi's original programs, and on October 15, 2021, all episodes from both seasons became available on The Roku Channel as a Roku Original Series, launched as part of the platform's Halloween "Freakout Friday" lineup.2

Because Quibi folded before the series could continue, only nine of the fifty states were covered, and the title's promise of a story for every state went unfulfilled.4 As of late 2026, streaming aggregators reported no current offer for the series on any service.5

References

  1. 50 States of Fright: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes
  2. Sam Raimi's Horror Anthology Series "50 States of Fright" is Now Streaming on The Roku Channel, Bloody Disgusting (October 15, 2021)
  3. 50 States of Fright is a Fun Anthology on the Wrong Platform, 25 Years Later (October 9, 2020)
  4. 50 States of Fright Now Available Through Roku Channel, ComicBook.com (October 15, 2021)
  5. 50 States of Fright, JustWatch
  6. Quibi's "50 States of Fright" Premieres With Middling Tale Directed By Sam Raimi, Bloody Disgusting (April 13, 2020)
  7. "50 States of Fright" Season 2 Continues Streak of First-Rate, Short-Form Horror, Bloody Disgusting (October 7, 2020)
  8. 50 States of Fright (2020) Ratings, IMDb
  9. 50 States of Fright review, Ready Steady Cut (April 23, 2020)
  10. 50 States Of Fright Episodes 1-3 Review, GameSpot (April 13, 2020)
  11. 50 States of Fright (2020) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb
  12. Bryan Woods and Scott Beck on Collaborating with Sam Raimi in '50 States of Fright', DiscussingFilm (October 15, 2020)
  13. Quibi's 50 States of Fright director explains struggle of making television for smartphones, SYFY WIRE (April 23, 2020)
  14. 50 States of Fright, Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide
  15. 50 States of Fright: MI, KS, OR, MN, FL, J.B. Spins (October 2021)

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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50 States of Fright

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