“Haunted Hotel” is freaky but heartwarming, grounding its fantastical stories in real-world issues and relationships. The sibling dynamic between Kathy and Nathan, in particular, will be familiar to anyone who yearns for a second chance with a loved one lost.

With Titmouse’s animation studio creating a nice balance between grotesque and goofy for its monsters that are genuinely creepy and absurdly funny, Haunted Hotel is the kind of series that sneaks up on you.

Haunted Hotel could be funnier, but it’s got fun characters and the capacity to create an infinite number of funny ghosts and monsters to occupy the hotel’s many rooms.

Despite a solid cast and some decent jokes, the series rarely rises above the level of pleasantly unobjectionable, much less distinctly memorable.

Haunted Hotel has a serviceable story, strong animation, and decent characters, but lacks that extra zest to elevate beyond low-key holiday entertainment.

Possibly a pilot episode was made and deemed to be too Ghosts-influenced because, once episode one has given us the setup, Haunted Hotel widens out to become a vehicle for various spoofs and homages. .... Haunted Hotel isn’t trying hard enough.