After the massacre at the Shawshank Penitentiary, the prison authorities reason that by releasing the mysterious kid they can rid themselves of a problem, but just what have they unleashed?

Things are getting very tasty in Hulu’s 10-part drama based on the characters and situations of horror master Stephen King. While he was incarcerated there was still a sense that the devil in the basement was contained, but now he’s free to wreak havoc. In a powerful scene he creeps into a birthday party and just his very presence in the property makes everyone turn on one another.

Henry Deaver (Andre Holland) is suffering from tinnitus following the shotgun blast in the prison, a condition that we discover is not new. It’s beginning to dawn on him that his client has a lot of secrets and needs to be looked after until he can be shown to Juniper Hill psychiatric home (one of King’s recurring domiciles) after the weekend. But a lot of damage can be caused by Monday, and it may be that he is already the cause of the wildfires ravaging Castle County.

We finally get acknowledgement that Jackie Torrance is related to The Shining’s Jack (‘I had an uncle who flipped his lid one winter’) and can it be a coincidence that Pangborn last saw the devil in the trunk 27 years ago (the same time gap between Pennywise’s appearances?) But ultimately this is Alan Pangborn’s show, and Scott Glenn is excellent at portraying the loving partner and the town drunk, and everyone in between.

Verdict: ‘You have no idea what’s happening here, do you?’ mocks the evil kid. And, in truth, neither do we, but what fun it is in watching Stephen King’s beleaguered town unravel as it fights another crisis after the previous traumas of the serial killer and the rabid dog. 8/10

Nick Joy