Riverdale is a lot more than your average teen drama, and that's what makes it so popular. It's campy, indulgent, dramatic, and has a distinct sense of style. However, at some point we have to admit that Riverdale is lowkey creepy. Maybe that's what keeps you watching, but it's a lot to swallow when you're already scared for the character's safety. How much of the creepiness is supposed to be normal?
A show about a town plagued with wannabe serial killers, sugary drug rings, and family secrets is sure to make the audience hide under a blanket once in a while. Even some of the music is a little creepy, and not just because every duet on this show is a major conflict between characters. The cover songs that Josie and the Pussycats sing on the show aren't that different from the slowed-down popular tunes that grace every scary movie trailer these days.
Sure, Riverdale will ultimately give rise to an even-spookier reboot of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, but the show is plenty creepy all by itself. There's a certain vibe on the show that just keeps you on edge. The characters may be relatable, but Riverdale is not a normal town and normal people do not live there for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the spookier and weirder elements that probably seem normal to Betty, Archie, and Veronica.
1The Mist
Let's start with the basics. The woods, river, and mist around town would give anybody the heebie jeebies.
2Miss Grundy's Relationships
Sure, the students that the music teacher engages in affairs with are consenting, but in most states this is still considered statutory or third degree rape.
3The Cooper/Blossom Incest
Again, Jason and Polly were in a consenting and loving relationship, but it's still lowkey creepy that they are blood relations.
4The Overall Aesthetic
Riverdale's timeless look, which borrows from multiple retro styles, can be unsettling at times.
5Cheryl's Whole Demeanor
Everyone on Riverdale has a pretty good handle on their personal brand, but Cheryl's cold formality can be unsettling. The spider brooch doesn't help.
6Jingle Jangle
It's less quirky and more creepy that the town is hopped up on some kind of upper/aphrodisiac contained in pixy stix.
7Jason & Cheryl's Relationship
There's siblings, and then there's co-dependency. Cheryl repeatedly refers to her late brother as her soulmate, and that's as lowkey creepy as it gets.
8That Time Hermione Got Sent A Snake
Must the Southside Serpents be so literal?
9Dark Betty
Betty Cooper is the stereotypical "Girl Next Door," and every time that glint of evil appears it's a touch creepy.
10All That Murder
For a town that seems so shocked to have been corrupted, it sure corrupts easily.
12Thornhill
RIP to the Gothic chic Blossom residence. Their new vine-covered abde honestly isn't that much better.
13Grandma Blossom
Sure, most of the creep factor comes from one particular family and their maple syrup empire. But this geriatric lurker is beyond.
14Hiram's Portrait Of Veronica
Nobody needed to see that. Everything about Hiram Lodge is suspect, but that awkward painting of his daughter above his desk is just too much.
15Actually, Every Parent On This Show
Except maybe Fred Andrews. He's just doing his best. But all of the adults are creepily controlling or creepily involved in some kind of plot.
16Pop's Ominous Warnings
Jughead was right, he does tend to sound like the old man warning the kids to turn back in the horror movie.
17The Red Circle
Good job Archie, you turned a neighborhood watch into a creepy gang of hyper-masculine masked teenagers.
18That Throwback Dream Sequence
Sure, it's a homage to the comics, but there's something about the '50s Americana aesthetic that makes this show even spookier.
19Jughead's Stupid Hat
Have you ever seen him without it? It's weird.
All in all, Riverdale is an eerie show. From the gothic architecture to the gothic plots and the way it seems like the show exists out of time and space, it'll raise your hairs even when it's warming your heart.
