Peacock has teamed with legendary horror content producer John Carpenter to launch on October 13 a new anthology series that looks at terrifying true stories from suburbia.
The six-part John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams blends cinematic re-enactments with first-hand accounts of people who have experienced horrible incidents of suburban life, according to the streaming service.
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams executive producer Jordan Roberts says the series is a unique genre-coupling show from Carpenter, who has produced iconic films like Halloween and The Thing and directs one of the six episodes.
In an edited Multichannel News interview with Roberts, here’s what he and Peacock want you to know about John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams.
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams offers a scary portrayal of real-life incidents: It's about true horror set in suburbia, so it looks at what evil lurks in your neighbor’s house. This is primal stuff, and it really hearkens back to John [Carpenter’s] Halloween film. We didn't shy away from true crime stories and we didn't shy away from supernatural stories. We're creating a horror experience that gives viewers visceral emotions, but the horror is real, which intensifies the whole thing.
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams looks to combine scripted and reality/documentary genres: It’s kind of a new genre — We’re creating an experience that is as terrifying and scary and entertaining as a horror movie or horror television show through actors as well as with dialogue from those who experienced it When it's real, it even makes it more terrifying and more profound, and that's the goal. Then we add in all kinds of cinematic techniques in order to achieve that goal.
The series reflects the growing appeal of the horror genre on television: I think fear is a primal emotion, and I think it reveals a profoundness of the human condition. I also think the genre gives filmmakers a lot of creativity to explore other worldly things and use cinematic techniques to elicit emotion. I think ultimately it's all about emotion, so when people are placed in a situation where they can relate to the fear and it's out of their control, you get the human condition. So I think horror resonates with people at a deeper level than just jump scares and thrills, even when you use those tricks.
