As our world becomes increasingly horrifying in new and unfathomable ways, there is no better time than now for horror to help us seek out a distraction from them. Unfortunately, this January’s releases have not provided as helpful of a distraction as I had hoped for — except for one film from one of my favorite directors that presented a fresh take on the traditional haunted house story.

I can’t blame anyone for crushing on fictional boys, but I advise them to step back into reality.

Netflix’s highly-anticipated supernatural Arabic drama “Paranormal,” directed by Amr Salama, was released Thursday. The six-episode series is set in 1960s Egypt and is based on a bestselling...