''Just Beyond'' is an American

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...

created by

Seth Grahame-Smith Seth Grahame-Smith (born Seth Jared Greenberg; January 4, 1976) is an American writer and film producer, best known as the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling novels '' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' and ''Abraham Lincoln, Vampire ...

based on

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

' graphic novels of the same name by R. L. Stine for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

. The series premiered on October 13, 2021, with all 8 episodes.

Cast

Episode 1 - Leave Them Kids Alone

Mckenna Grace Mckenna Grace (born June 25, 2006) is an American actress. She began acting professionally at the age of six, with her earliest roles including Jasmine Bernstein in the Disney XD sitcom '' Crash & Bernstein'' (2012–2014) and Faith Newman in t ...

as Veronica * Leeann Ross as Claire * Nasim Pedrad as Miss Genevieve * Lauren Lindsey Donzis as Heather

Episode 2 - Parents Are From Mars, Kids Are From Venus

* Gabriel Bateman as Jack * Arjun Athalye as Ronald *

Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. He has also appeared in films, including '' Bridesmai ...

as Dale *

Riki Lindhome Erika "Riki" Lindhome (born March 5, 1979) is an American actress, comedian, and musician. She is best known as a singer and songwriter for the comedy folk duo Garfunkel and Oates. After making her television debut in 2002 with minor roles in t ...

as Bonnie * Parvesh Cheena as Ron Sr. *

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Glob ...

as Crazy Chris * William Tokarsky as Floating Head * Rajani Nair as Gloria

Episode 3 - Which Witch

* Rachel Marsh as Fiona * Jy Prishkulnik as Luna

Episode 4 - My Monster

* Megan Stott as Olivia * Sally Pressman as Brook *

Elisha Henig Elisha Henig (born October 30, 2004) is an American actor. Personal life and career Elisha Henig grew up in Portland, Oregon, and became interested in acting after taking a Shakespeare class at the age of eight. He began acting in guest roles ...

as Graham * Marcelle LeBlanc as Jade * Camryn Jade as Chloe * Max Bickelhaup as The Squeamber

Episode 5 - Unfiltered

* Izabela Vidovic as Lilis * Christine Ko as Ms. Fausse * Jordan Sherley as Carmen * Leela Owen as Harper * Connor Christie as Ben

Episode 6 - We've Got Spirits, Yes We Do

* Lexi Underwood as Ella * Kate Baldwin as Vivian * Ben Gleib as Oscar * Jackson Geach as Raymond * Emily Marie Palmer as Rosie * Claire Andres as Zoe

Episode 7 - Standing Up For Yourself

* Cyrus Arnold as Trevor * Logan Gray as Little Trevor * Smera Chandan as Maria * Spencer Fitgerald as Hudson * Henry Shepherd as Evan Burger * Kwajalyn Brown as Principal Angela

Episode 8 - The Treehouse

* Cedric Joe as Sam * Christine Adams as Jenny * Malcolm Barrett as Andy * Jack Gore as Mason

Episodes

Production

In early May 2020,

ordered an eight-episode series based on R. L. Stine's graphic novels ''Just Beyond'' attaching

to write and serve as an executive producer. David Katzenberg,

Stephen Christy Stephen Christy (born 1985)Albert ChingNewsarama.com, August 10, 2010. is an American film and television producer, entertainment executive, and former graphic novel editor. He is the President of Development at graphic novel publisher Boom! Stu ...

and

Ross Richie Ross Richie (born May 22, 1970) is an American comic book publisher and the founder of Boom! Studios, film producer, television producer and comic book creator. Richie was a Keynote Speaker for the 2012 Harvey Awards and a judge for the "Spirit ...

also attached to executive producers and Stine as co-executive producer with KatzSmith Productions and

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Com ...

acting as studios behind the project as they have first look deal with

. That same month, the writer's room was assembled. Filming had begun in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

by March 2021, with

Marc Webb Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American music video director and filmmaker. Webb made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the romantic comedy '' 500 Days of Summer'', and went on to direct ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' ...

directing two episodes.

and Lexi Underwood were cast as the stars of one episode each in April 2021, with Nasim Pedrad to guest star in an episode. Additional casting was announced in May, with

, Gabriel Bateman and

added.

Release

The series debuted on

on October 13, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported an 88% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 8 critic reviews. Joel Keller of ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a " Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' *'' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special *Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machine th ...

'' acclaimed the sets and the

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

, stating they succeed to intensify the supernatural elements of the series, praised the performances of the cast and the humor, but claimed that the show lacks scary moments. Ashley Moulton of ''

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'' rated the series 4 out of 5 stars, found agreeable that the protagonists are positive role models, and complimented how the show approaches different themes such as dealing with grief. Dayna Eileen of '' CGMagazine'' rated the series 7 out of 10, stated that the show succeeds to introduce the horror genre to unfamiliar viewers, complimented how the series approaches adolescence and spooky themes, but found some dialogues lacking interest. Tara Bennett of '' IGN'' rated the series 6 out of 10, praised the performances of the cast, especially Rachel Marsh as a teen witch, but stated that the show focuses too much on morality than providing enough scary moments.

Accolades

The series was nominated for Children’s Episodic, Long Form and Specials at the 2022 Writers Guild of America Awards.

References

External links

* {{Disney+ original series 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American horror comedy television series 2021 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings Boom! Studios adaptations Disney+ original programming English-language television shows Television shows based on comics Television series by 20th Century Fox Television