Review: Monster High “Creepover Party/Creature Clash”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Creepover Party

Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Frankie meet Twyla, a boogey monster, while having a sleepover in the library.

Creature Clash

Frankie, fascinated by Kuta’s scaritage, does a ritual unsupervised, causing trouble for all Monster High’s undead students.

Our Take:

The first episode has Draculaura and the others planning a sleepover party in the school library. This is due to a bet they made with Toralei to sit at the new lunch table. If the Boo Crew leaves the library before nightfall, they’ll have to sit at the broken table forever. They then meet an autistic boogey monster named Twyla, who isn’t a massive fan of loud noises, which explains why she was stealing the radio from them. While learning about Clawdeen’s moonclaw, the crew also encounters a bookworm sent by Toralei to ensure she wins the bet and gets Draculaura expelled.

The show is usually known for providing relatable messages for young audiences. However, “Creepover Party” shows that Monster High can also showcase representation on television, both for the characters and its cast, with Twyla being another example. Not only is Twyla’s disability displayed respectfully, especially her intolerance toward loud noises, but she is also voiced by Kayla Cromer, who’s also on the spectrum. This further represents television’s push for diversity and inclusion, not just for older audiences but for kids as well.

In the second episode, “Creature Clash”, Frankie attends a scaritage event at Monster High. There, she discovers Kuma’s scaritage and is intrigued with his Onikuma traditions, including lifting giant rocks and a sacred ritual, the Rest in Peace feast. Unfortunately, Frankie’s attempt to perform the ritual to surprise Kuma transformed the undead students like Ghoulia and Spectra into zombies. So Frankie, along with Kuma and Lagoona, set out to ease the hungry spirits possessing the students by lighting the lanterns.

This episode showcased Frankie’s experience performing different traditions for the first time and the reality of others’ heritages. She initially thought learning other people’s heritages would be fun, but that wasn’t the case when she performed Kuma’s ritual without his assistance. It represents that learning people’s traditions is more complex than they seem, as they take a lot of responsibility and experience to perform these annual tasks. Frankie learned that the hard way when she turned her friends into hungry zombies.

Overall, both episodes continue the series’s success with their enjoyable and thoughtful plots involving creepovers and scaritages. “Creepover Party” is very relatable to me as someone who’s also on the spectrum regarding Twyla. It’s also a fun creepover depicting the importance of inclusion, mainly the Boo Crew inviting Twyla to hang with them without playing loud music to make her feel included. It also shows the girls allowing Twyla to handle the bookworm problem herself, showcasing the importance of friends over winning Toralei’s bet. “Creature Clash” is an amusing Frankie-focused episode involving her learning the importance of handling other people’s traditions responsibly. Because of these episodes and their intentions, I now consider myself a new follower of this admirable iteration of the Monster High franchise.