Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Explores Identity. That’s Perfect for Halloween.

Millions of people dress up as a different person for Halloween. Given the central theme of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is identity, it’s the ideal Netflix series for the holiday. [Warning: Spoilers].

CAOS joins a long list of horror films and TV shows that employ zombies, werewolves and other monsters to tackle cultural issues. Carrie is an allegory for puberty, Get Out deals with racism, and It Follows is about sexually transmitted diseases, growing up or accepting your mortality, depending on who you ask. Indeed, early in the first episode of CAOS, protagonist Sabrina and her boyfriend Harvey listen to their friends Roz and Susie explain that ‘Night of the Living Dead’ isn’t just about zombies; it’s about the Cold War, civil rights and the collapse of the nuclear family. Their discussion foreshadows the show’s exploration of myriad issues including free will, religion, gender, patriarchy, family, justice and most importantly, identity.

Nearly all of CAOS’ characters face identity crises and undergo transformations. Sabrina is forced to choose between giving up her school friends and boyfriend or alienating her aunts and renouncing her heritage by not becoming a witch. Ros comes to terms with the fact she will become blind in a matter of months, and discovers she’s clairvoyant…