Stan Against Evil has a deep love for monsters. Willard’s Mill is an unfortunate hotbed for supernatural activity and that means that Stan, Evie, and company are going to face a spectrum of ghosts and ghouls. With the upcoming third season of Stan Against Evil promising bold new creatures like giant moths, unidentifiable demons, and of course plenty of witches (seriously, Willard’s Mill could open up a Witch Museum they’re so well-versed on the topic), let’s take a look at some of the best monsters from the show’s past that have helped pave the way for the new crop.
13. Priscilla Atherton
They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but that applies doubly if that woman is also a retail worker with too much time on her hands. Priscilla Atherton has been cursed to live forever and it’s left her awfully vindictive towards all of the happy couples out there.
Priscilla uses a haunted wedding ring to get into Evie’s head and convince her that she’s murdering people. Priscilla plagues Evie with graphic nightmares and even begins to lose faith in herself. Priscilla’s 200-year curse is finally put to an end when Priscilla is married off to Leon—an event so severe it causes the old soul to turn to dust.
12. The Wraith
The Wraith is your classic terrifying skeleton-bird type creature and it’s the intimidating beast that wreaks havoc on Stan and Evie in the show’s second season premiere. The Wraith is such a severe presence, but it’s not acting on its own volition. The creature is the trigger in a trap that Constable Eccles set up 400 years ago to stop any attempts to interrupt his evil plans.
The Black Hat Society claim that the vicious Wraith can’t be killed, yet Stan disposes of him with a freaking shovel. The Wraith’s eyes also become a crucial ingredient in Stan’s attempts at time travel and it’s always nice when a monster’s corpse can be multi-purpose.
11. Constable Eccles
Constable Eccles is the perpetual thorn in Stan’s side before he even realizes that Willard’s Mill is teeming with monsters. Eccles is the infamous sheriff who committed all of the witch burnings and turned Willard’s Mill into this cursed ground in the first place. Even though Eccles’ biggest crimes were in the past, he continually torments Stan in creative ways.
He also wields a hell of a ghost scythe that’s just as terrifying to demons as it is humans. Everyone’s frightened of this foreboding spirit. Funnily enough, Eccles has a very human goal in all of this and he just wants his daughter Constance back. She’s just in no hurry to be reunited with her father.
10. Father Donovan
On a show like Stan Against Evil, the appearance of someone like a priest should immediately come across as a big red flag. This is someone who’s either going to get killed or begin killing others as soon as people let down their guards. So sure enough, even though Father Donovan initially comes across as hokey and lame, he’s revealed to be a demon shepherd and corroborator who helps give demons their necessary human vessels.
In addition to helping out demons, he also banishes Evie back to Willard’s Mill’s past and nearly gets her burned at the stake. This brand of demon can only be defeated by stabbing him through the heart with a rod and staff, which results in a gleeful Stan who’s far too excited to ram his precious Bobby Orr hockey stick through Donovan’s heart.
9. Ida Putnam
Ida Putnam may seem like an innocent old lady, but she has a number of sinister tricks up her sleeve and she sure knows how to work an ultimatum. Ida’s a major player in Stan’s journey to save his wife’s life back in the past. Not only that, but she’s linked to the evil blossoms that grow around Willard’s Mill in a pentagram pattern and she’s even killed Stan a few times depending on which timeline you want to look at.
further reading: Stan Agaisnt Evil Season 3: Creator Talks Halloween and Horror Homages
Evie’s able to successfully gouge out Ida’s eyes and defeat her, but she still makes a strong impression (ie. grow to the size of a giant) before she’s out of the game for good.
8. The Baphomet
Denise is the perpetual well of naivety and innocence in Stan Against Evil and as endearing as these traits are, it also results in a lot of monsters taking advantage of Denise’s trusting nature. Denise brings home a charming little goat one day, but as things often go in Willard’s Mill, the goat turns into a gnarly human-sized Baphomet goat demon.
Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!
The trickster Baphomet not only looks gross, but he can also essentially be everywhere at once. Stan wants to go the Jaws route on the hairy guy and blow him to pieces, but he needs a different strategy when that proves to be unsuccessful. All of this over some blueberries…
7. The Impish Man
Stan Against Evil has brought in a number of horror legends to guest star when the moment’s right, but Jeffrey Combs’ appearance as the conniving Impish Man has to be a series highlight. Combs’ character is basically a demon grifter, which is such a fantastic, outlandish idea. He has such a jovial personality and it’s only fitting that grifts are in turn what lead to his defeat, too.
The Impish Man wages war on both Stan and Evie, both in person and via a reality television show. He sends Stan back in time to the moment that he decided to be a police officer and in the case of Evie, he even hypnotizes her to attempt to murder Denise.
6. Gerard DuQuette
Gerard DuQuette is essentially Constable Eccles 2.0. They have entirely different sources of power, but the former takes over as the show’s main threat when the Eccles leaves the picture. Eccles’ had a pivotal hand in the history of Willard’s Mill, but Gerard DuQuette is a super sorcerer with a short fuse. He’s another individual that has the power to send Stan back in time, but he’s much more cryptic than the majority of the monsters in the series.
He speaks in riddles that would even leave the Impish Man flummoxed. Gerard DuQuette is still out there causing problems for Stan and it seems like he’ll continue to be until the good guys can get someone even stronger—like a demon—to take him out.
5. Baby Aiden Braiden
Evil demon babies can be dangerous territory because they’re either a brilliant practical effect or they just feel incredibly sloppy. It’s risky ground to explore and even though Stan Against Evil has a solid track record with their monster effects, their demonic baby, Aiden Braiden, is especially disturbing. The trusting Denise takes a mild babysitting gig for her friend, which quickly gets out of control.
It turns out this baby is an Emotional Cluster Feeding Demon, which feeds off of their caregiver’s empathy, which Denise is dripping in. Aiden is a lot to look at, but his hive lair is also super creepy, yet comfy, which is a delicate balance. Aiden’s defeat ultimately comes down to a magic baby rattle, which is pretty much as ridiculous as it gets on this show.
4. Andrew Butch, Man-Spider
When Andrew Butch first appears in Willard’s Mill he comes across as a caring, albeit a little obsessive, historian. However, it’s a fairly safe rule of thumb on Stan Against Evil to not judge a book by its cover, lest you end up corpsified.
further reading: Stan Against Evil: The Best Horror and Monster Movie Easter Eggs
In Andrew Butch’s case he’s actually a hideous man-spider beast that marks some of the best effects work that the show has ever done. This Man-Spider takes Evie and Stan into the Land of Shadows where Eccles finishes him off, but the eternally disturbing décor of his cave still makes a very strong impression.
3. Murgatroyd, The Pot-Bellied Pig
Denise definitely seems to have the worst luck when it comes to demons that moonlight as animals. At this point she should just come to terms that maybe it’d be safer for her to be a plant person. In Denise’s defense, both her and Evie bring home succubi from their date night that’s gone wrong, but Denise gets the worse lot of the pair.
Evie’s handsome boyfriend shows his true colors, but in Denise’s case it’s her adorable pot-bellied companion that becomes all humongous and gross. Murgatroyd is one of the first monsters that the show’s entire cast has to tackle as a team and it remains as one of the most disgusting beasts to invade Willard’s Mill. It goes to show that scary monsters don’t need to have frightening names.
2. Evil Stan
Evil twins and demonic dopplegangers are a classic horror trope, but Stan Against Evil finds a lot of life in the premise of throwing an evil version of Stan into the mix. This complication works so well because Stan is already such an ornery individual that most people don’t even notice that something’s off in his evil twin until the murders get started.
This doppleganger is a complication of DuQuette’s black magic and he will continue to cause more havoc and kill people until Stan can figure out the answer to DuQuette’s riddle. Evil Stan provides a great manic energy from Stan and it’s easily John C. McGinley’s best work in the series.
1. Daffodil The Werepony
It’s hard to top something that’s as simultaneously as cute and vicious as a werepony. Stan Against Evil takes the typical werewolf cliché and turns it on its head in such a twisted way. Everything about Daffodil is just ridiculous and the episode doesn’t squander this unusual foe.
There’s a lengthy, disturbing transformation sequence that shows off plenty of pony-human hybrid material. There’s also a sequence where this beast attempts to operate basic tools and it’s such a mess. Stan eventually blows Daffodil’s head off with a shotgun, so no, Denise doesn’t learn how to tame this creature and turn him into a show werepony.
Stan Against Evil season 3 premieres on Halloween night at 10 p.m. (ET) on IFC with back-to-back episodes
Latest TV reviews
The Ark Review: A Welcome Space Sci-Fi Throwback
What Happens When Quantum Leap Meets a Time Loop?
Happy Valley Series 3 Episode 5 Review: James Norton Kills It As Tommy Lee Royce
Daniel Kurland is a published writer, comedian, and critic whose work can be read on Den of Geek, Vulture, Bloody Disgusting, and ScreenRant. Daniel knows that the owls are not what they seem, that Psycho II is better than the original, and he’s always game to discuss Space Dandy. His perma-neurotic thought process can be followed at @DanielKurlansky.
Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine right here!
