LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales review: The perfect new Halloween tradition

LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales released this Friday on Disney+ to open up the month of October and Halloween season. The Terrifying Tales’ trailer seemed to lean into a humorous direction, which seems to fit into previous LEGO stories.

Whether you or your kids are a fan of this particular type of animation, this story presents a fun look at what Marvel’s What If…? might look like in the Star Wars universe. There are some alterations within, which aren’t permanent to the story itself, but an interesting way to present the possibilities if another path was taken.

As a parent of two, this animated movie should resonate with such younglings simply from an entertainment perspective, especially with its 45-minute length. Though, it’s the creativity in the storytelling where I think many fans will enjoy LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales. The creators really took to their childhoods as they shared their insights into what inspired the themes within this spooky story.

In an interview with StarWars.com, director Ken Cunningham says, “I was like, a teenager in the ‘80s. At that point in my life, I was watching a lot of that stuff. Lost Boys was big for me, Poltergeist. A lot of these films. And then, from a filmmaking standpoint, to be able to open that up and play with it was really cool.”

It turns out LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales is cool. Much like many horror tales, there are brief stories within the overall story; reimagining Ben Solo’s turn to Kylo Ren, a competition between General Grievous and Darth Maul, and what it would’ve looked like if Luke found his way to his father’s side instead of cleaning up some droids at his uncle’s farm. These takes are quite interesting and they’re all blended with humorous moments where you and the kids will chuckle.

LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales review

The Terrifying Tales aren’t scary, but there are some elements where I could see kids younger than my own (ages 7 and 8) being a little creeped out. Besides the likes of zombie droids with bright red eyes or a nightmare sequence with Ben Solo, nothing else seemed too overwhelming to prevent this being accessible to most ages.

This movie does have enough fun sequences to carry through to an audience without any knowledge of the Force. If your kids do not have much Star Wars experience to this point, they might not connect the dots with the reimagined tales of what might’ve been with characters like Kylo Ren or Luke Skywalker. The ideas within Terrifying Tales are where fans might appreciate or downright prefer the direction within these “what ifs.”

Seeing a different direction in how Kylo Ren was created is a significant step in that direction, and it’s fantastic that Star Wars creators were given the flexibility to create such different stories. This includes being introduced to new characters: Dean, one with the Light of the Force, and Vanee with a very Dark Side. All of it wrapped together means that LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales gives us something the creators hoped to achieve and succeeding at it.

Executive producer Jason Cosler expressed in the same interview with Cunningham, “Knowing that this is out now and it has the possibility of becoming part of someone’s, or part of a family’s yearly Halloween tradition is something very special.”

This does check those boxes for families to revisit this as a Halloween special. There are funny elements, along with positive messages. The overall theme viewers take away from this animation is that fear does not have to dictate our motivations. Each person has the capacity to fear something, but as Poe Dameron admits in the film, “You can’t control fear, but you can choose what to do with it. Because without fear, you can’t have courage.”

Again, Star Wars sneaks in messaging that meshes well with the overarching themes of life. We do what we can, we find hope when we can and live our lives to the best of our abilities, despite it being a scary world out there sometimes.

Dork Side of the Force Grade: A

What did you think of LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales? Will you revisit this again with each passing Halloween season? Let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget to follow Dork Side of the Force for more Star Wars TV shows coverage.