WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
A single mom, a friendly ghost, and a hotel full of high-maintenance spooks—it’s basically Schitt’s Creek but with more ectoplasm.
77%
77%View →Haunted Hotel is a rare win for Netflix animation that manages to be weird without being gross or 'brain rot.' It captures that 'family against the world' vibe while leaning into the absurdity of running a business for the dead.
It’s funny, visually sharp, and doesn't feel like it was written by an algorithm. Just maybe don't put it on for the 7-year-old right before bedtime unless you want to be checking under the bed for high-maintenance spirits all night.
Common Sense suggests 14, but if your kid is 11 or 12 and has a taste for slightly 'edgy' animation like Gravity Falls or The Owl House, they’ll be totally fine here.
It’s a solid story about a family trying to make a go of a business together, modeling perseverance and teamwork despite the literal ghosts in the closet.
The 'Rick and Morty' creative DNA shines through in the absurd character designs and the creative ways they handle the supernatural hospitality industry.
While generally light-hearted, the visuals can get genuinely spooky for younger kids, and the humor has a sharp, slightly cynical edge typical of its creators.
Offers decent insights into entrepreneurial grit and navigating grief, all wrapped in a package that's actually entertaining enough to pay attention to.
The show’s pedigree—coming from a Rick and Morty writer—is obvious from the first five minutes. It has that same frenetic energy where the plot moves at a million miles an hour and the background details are just as funny as the main dialogue. Critics were a bit split, but the massive gap between the Metacritic score and the audience rating suggests this is a "fan's show." It’s built for people who want their animation to have a bit of a bite rather than just serving as colorful wallpaper.
Most ghost stories are about getting the spirits out. This show works because it treats them like Karens. They aren't there to haunt the family; they’re there to complain about the thread count of the sheets and the quality of the ectoplasm buffet. It turns the "inherited a spooky mansion" trope into a survival story about small business ownership. Watching the mom navigate the bureaucracy of the afterlife is where the show finds its heart. It’s less about jump scares and more about the horror of a one-star review from a Victorian child.
The "ghost brother" element could have been a real downer, but the show plays it for absurdity instead of grief. He isn't a tragic figure; he’s a partner who just happens to be translucent. It gives the family a weird, functional core that keeps the show from spiraling into total cynicism. If you’ve got a kid who usually finds "family shows" too sappy, they’ll appreciate how this one substitutes sarcasm for sentimentality while still making you care if the hotel actually succeeds.
The age rating feels like a bit of a hedge. While there’s some genuine creepiness in the character designs, the rating likely stems from the tone. It’s fast and occasionally dark. If your kid is in that middle-school sweet spot where they’ve outgrown "kiddie" cartoons but aren't quite ready for full-blown adult sitcoms, this is the natural next step. It treats the audience like they can handle a joke about existential dread without needing a hug afterward.
This isn't a show you put on in the background while you fold laundry. You’ll miss the best visual gags. It’s a binge-ready series that actually rewards you for paying attention to the lore of the hotel itself. If you have a kid who loves pausing frames to find hidden details or "Easter eggs," they’ll be obsessed with the various entities that pop up in the background of the hallway scenes. It’s a rare Netflix win that feels like it was made by people who actually love the medium of animation.
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