Netflix ‘Haunted Hotel’ Season 2 Review - Business is Dead, but the Comedy is Alive

I have a particular weakness for animated comedies that are willing to be genuinely weird without treating emotional sincerity as something embarrassing. Haunted Hotel has been good at that from the beginning, and Season 2 makes a convincing case that the Undervale has plenty of life left in it. The hotel is becoming a more legitimate business, which naturally means the family now has to deal with the usual hospitality problems: staffing, difficult guests, and supernatural creatures that would make an ordinary health-and-safety inspection an unforgettable experience.

What I appreciate most about the series is that its supernatural premise is not simply an excuse to string together unrelated horror gags. Katherine is trying to keep a business running while raising two children, Nathan is navigating his existence as a ghost, and Esther and Ben are growing up in circumstances that would make conventional parenting advice largely useless. Abaddon, meanwhile, is an ancient demonic entity whose adjustment to domestic life continues to be one of the show's funniest ideas.

Season 2 understands that the best way to continue a successful first season is to develop its characters rather than merely increase the number of monsters. The new episodes expand the show's mythology, introduce new supernatural complications, and give the central relationships more room to evolve.

Abaddon remains an absolute delight. Jimmi Simpson's performance gives him the perfect combination of menace, arrogance, and childish enthusiasm. He can be an ancient demon with terrifying abilities, but he can also behave like a deeply insecure child desperate for approval. That contradiction is the character's greatest strength. The show understands that making an immensely powerful supernatural being struggle with ordinary social interactions is often funnier than giving him another elaborate display of demonic power.

Esther continues to be one of the strongest characters, too. Natalie Palamides gives her a wonderfully unpredictable personality, balancing her fascination with the supernatural against the recognisable frustrations of growing up. Esther is not simply the strange child who exists to make disturbing observations. Her curiosity, impulsiveness and relationships with the other characters give her a genuine emotional life. Her friendship with Abaddon is particularly effective because neither character has to become conventionally well-adjusted for the relationship to matter.

Nathan receives some of the season's most interesting material. Will Forte has always brought a gentle awkwardness to the character, making him an effective counterbalance to the more chaotic personalities around him. Season 2 gives him additional attention, including a deeper examination of his life before death. The finale, “The Visit,” returns to Katherine's first visit to the Undervale and the circumstances in which Nathan offered her a home during a difficult period in her marriage. That history adds emotional context to their relationship and gives the season a more reflective conclusion than a conventional supernatural showdown might have provided.

This is where Haunted Hotel distinguishes itself from animated comedies that treat emotional development as an optional distraction. Death is built into the show's premise, but it does not automatically resolve the characters' problems. Nathan's situation allows the series to explore grief, regret, and the complicated relationships people carry with them, even when their circumstances have changed beyond recognition. These themes occasionally emerge in the middle of complete supernatural nonsense, which makes the sincere moments more effective rather than less.

Katherine remains the show's practical centre. Eliza Coupe gives her the exhausted determination of someone who has discovered that keeping a hotel operational is difficult enough without the dead refusing to behave themselves. Her frustrations are understandable, and the comedy works because the show never forgets that the hotel is also her livelihood. While everyone else can become distracted by demonic rituals or bizarre supernatural visitors, Katherine still has to think about the business. I would probably be less patient than she is. At some point, even an exceptionally cheap room rate cannot justify the risk of being eaten by a subterranean creature.

Ben brings a different energy to the ensemble. Skyler Gisondo plays his eccentricities with enough sincerity that the character rarely feels like a collection of random jokes. His interests and relationships give the family stories some variety, while his interactions with the supernatural inhabitants of the hotel repeatedly demonstrate that children can adapt to situations adults would find deeply alarming. The show is at its best when these different personalities collide naturally rather than when a character exists solely to deliver a punchline.

The horror-comedy balance is another strength. Season 2 continues to draw on familiar horror imagery while introducing witches, ghost hunters, and increasingly strange creatures. The sixth episode, “Dante Crowe,” brings a ghost hunter into the story and introduces a larger threat that broadens the show's supernatural stakes. These elements give the season variety without abandoning the show's established tone. The monsters can be disturbing, the violence can be grotesque, and the jokes can be wonderfully stupid — sometimes all within the same sequence.

The eight-episode season also feels a little short. The reduced episode count makes the story relatively tight, but it leaves less room for the show's world and supporting characters to develop. There are enough interesting ideas here for another couple of episodes, particularly given how much the series wants to explore Nathan's past and the Undervale's wider supernatural significance. The finale is affecting, but it also left me wanting more time with the characters rather than feeling that every thread had reached a satisfying stopping point.

I also think the series occasionally relies too heavily on the novelty of its own absurdity. A bizarre creature is not automatically funny simply because it is bizarre, and a grotesque visual gag can lose its impact when the show keeps escalating without allowing the joke to breathe. Fortunately, the voice performances and the characters' established relationships usually prevent these moments from becoming tedious. Even when an individual premise does not entirely work, the ensemble remains enjoyable enough to carry the episode.

Still, the season's strengths outweigh those limitations. The writing has a clear understanding of the characters, the voice cast continues to be excellent, and the show remains comfortable moving between genuine horror and surprisingly tender family drama. It is particularly good at finding emotional significance in relationships that would seem ridiculous in almost any other context. A demon, a ghost, and two children trying to get through ordinary life should not make such a coherent family unit, but here we are.

Season 2 doesn't radically reinvent Haunted Hotel, nor does it need to. It builds on the first season, develops Nathan's story, expands the supernatural world, and gives Abaddon more opportunities to be an extraordinarily powerful nuisance. The shorter season is frustrating, and a few episodes could use more breathing room, but the series retains the qualities that made it work in the first place.

The Undervale remains an objectively terrible place to stay and a thoroughly entertaining place to visit through a screen. I would not recommend booking a room there under any circumstances, but I would happily return for another season. Preferably one with more episodes, more Nathan, and an Abaddon who continues to discover that being an ancient demon does not exempt him from the indignities of living with other people.

Final Score- [7.5/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times