I finally watched this underrated Guillermo Del Toro show on Hulu and my skin is still crawling

Corey Stoll in The Strain — (Image credit: Alamy)

At a Glance: 'The Strain'

Where to Watch: Hulu
Genre: Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Created By: Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
The Vibe: A clinical, biological reimagining of vampires that trades romance for body horror and "skin-crawling" creature design.
Why Watch: It features some of del Toro’s most terrifying practical effects and a unique "virus-style" outbreak premise set in NYC.

If you’ve been following director-writer Guillermo del Toro, you know him as the horror master behind "The Shape of Water," "Pan’s Labyrinth," "Nightmare Alley" and the recent "Frankenstein," which is earning accolades this awards season. His work is defined by richly imagined worlds, tragic monstersand a fascination with creatures lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life.

That imaginative streak has also spilled into comic-book TV adaptations like "Hellboy," but del Toro’s most unsettling creatures tend to appear when he’s free to fully reshape mythology on his own terms. Few projects demonstrate that better than "The Strain," a series that takes one of horror’s most familiar monsters and makes it feel alien again.

Adapted in 2014 from a book trilogy del Toro co-wrote with Chuck Hogan, "The Strain" is a four-season horror series set in a New York City slowly overtaken by vampires. It remains one of the most underrated genre shows of the past decade and one of the boldest reinterpretations of vampire lore ever put on television.

How 'The Strain' redefines vampire lore

"The Strain" opens with an instantly chilling image: a Boeing 777 lands at JFK with everyone onboard dead — except for four passengers. CDC epidemiologist Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) is called in to investigate, soon joined by Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley), a Holocaust survivor and pawnbroker who has spent decades hunting an ancient vampire leader. What initially appears to be a viral outbreak quickly reveals itself as something far worse.

The Strain | Official Series Trailer | FX - YouTube

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Del Toro’s vampires — known as Strigoi — don't bite with fangs. They attack using:

• Parasitic Tongues: Six-foot muscle appendages that shoot from the throat.
• Capillary Worms: A biological parasite that infects the blood and physically transforms the host.
• The Master: A towering, nightmare-inducing leader whose design showcases del Toro's legendary practical effects.

Why 'The Strain' stands out on Hulu

As the series progresses, Goodweather and Setrakian hunt for a weapon capable of stopping the vampires while deciphering an ancient tome that may hold the key to defeating the growing horde. The creature design echoes del Toro’s earlier work — "Pan’s Labyrinth" fans will recognize familiar DNA — but strips away the romance traditionally associated with vampires in favor of something cold, clinical, and predatory.

The Master Inhabits a New Body - Scene | The Strain | FX - YouTube

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That approach creates a constant sense of dread, heightened by moody lighting and shadow-heavy environments filmed in Toronto. The writing is strongest in the early seasons but consistently grounds the horror in character-driven stakes. The series also finds room for dark humor through Fet (Kevin Durand), a wisecracking rat exterminator whose knowledge of New York’s sewers and forgotten infrastructure becomes a crucial advantage for the resistance.

If "The Strain" leaves you with any lasting image, it’s the vampires themselves — especially those grotesque tongues snapping outward in moments of sudden violence. Each season escalates the tension, introducing new allies and deadlier threats. While some performances, particularly from younger actors, can feel heavy-handed, those missteps are easy to forgive when weighed against the inventive monster design, intense action, and story twists that feel more daring than cliché.

Stream "The Strain" on Hulu

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David Silverberg is a freelance journalist who covers AI and digital technology for BBC News, Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail, Princeton Alumni Weekly, and many more. For 15 years, he was editor-in-chief of online news outlet Digital Journal, and for two years he led the editorial team at B2B News Network. David is also a writing coach assisting both creative and non-fiction writers. Find out more at DavidSilverberg.ca

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