Hysteria!: Premiere Date, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far
The 1980s "Satanic panic" comes to life in Peacock's original series, Hysteria!
The post Hysteria!: Premiere Date, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far appeared first on TV Fanatic.
The devil is in the details, or in the case of Hysteria!, in a local heavy metal band.
Hysteria! is one of two original series Peacock has lined up to scare the bejesus out of viewers this Halloween.
The other is Teacup, based on Robert McCammon’s 1988 science fiction horror novel Stinger, set to premiere on October 10.
Horror icon Bruce Campbell guest stars in Hysteria! as the town’s police chief, so you know it’s going to be good.
Here’s everything else we know so far about Hysteria!
What is Hysteria About?
Set in the fictional town of Happy Hallow, Michigan, in the 1980s, Hysteria! explores the “satanic panic” of that era.
The story follows a group of high school kids who decide to put the pedal to the metal, literally, by rebranding their heavy metal band as a Satanic metal band.
Why would they do such a devilish thing?
They’re a struggling local band that hopes to propel themselves to the top by exploiting their town’s sudden interest in the occult after the disappearance of a popular varsity quarterback.
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Unfortunately for them, they also happen to be the town’s “outcasts.”
As such, all the townspeople’s eyes turn to them when strange things start happening in Happy Hallow, like murders, kidnappings, and other “supernatural activity.”
They were “devils” before, but now they’re playing the devil’s music, and they become the number one target when a witch hunt begins to stomp the evil out.
What was the Satanic Panic?
The history of the “Satanic Panic” is much too complex to detail here, but this is the short version:
During the 1980s, a whacked-out conspiracy took hold of the U.S., where people believed Satanic cults were infiltrating aspects of American life.
It was spurred by the 1980 publication of Michelle Remembers, a book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Spazder and his patient-turned-wife Michelle Smith.
Through a now-discredited practice called recovered memory therapy, Smith claimed she suffered Satanic ritual abuse as a child at the hands of the Church of Satan.
It’s kind of like the “recovered memory” of people who claim they were abducted and probed by aliens
After the book’s publication, claims of the same kind of ritualistic abuse were being reported nationwide, particularly at daycares in California.
The devil was everywhere back then, including in music, games, movies, and even in Proctor & Gamble’s original moon logo.
Those parental advisory labels (“Tipper Stickers”) often seen with certain music are a direct result of that hysteria, thanks to Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center she helped found back in 1985.
It took P&G decades (and several lawsuits) to shake off the bogus claims that the company had “Sympathy for the Devil.”
The fear was fueled by sensationalistic media coverage of the “problem,” including tabloids and talk show hosts like Geraldo Rivera, who brought the cults right into the living rooms of the American public.
More than 12,000 unsubstantiated claims of ritualistic abuse were reported during that time, but eventually, skepticism set in, the claims were proven false, and the “panic” finally died off.
Who is the Production Team Behind Hysteria?
The series was created by Matthew Scott Kane, who also serves as executive producer and showrunner.
Kane was a writer for one episode of Stitchers (2015) and worked on the sets of Annabelle Comes Home (2019) and American Horror Story (2011).
David A. Goodman, whose credits include The Orville, Futurama, and Family Guy, serves as writer and executive producer.
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Other executive producers include:
- Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer, Kong: Skull Island)
- John John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons, Game Night)
- Chris Bender and Jake Weiner for Good Fear Content (My Spy, Mulan, Under the Silver Lake)
Scott Stoops of Good Fear Content serves as supervising producer.
Who Stars in Hysteria!?
There are several familiar faces from television and film in Hysteria!, including the aforementioned Bruce Cambell who guest stars.
Campbell, of course, is best known for portraying Ash Williams in the Evil Dead film series and its television spinoff, Ash vs. Evil Dead.
In Hysteria!, Campbell plays Chief Dandridge, Happy Hallow’s police chief, whose understanding of his community is tested once the strange happenings begin in his small Midwestern town.
Will he pull out his shotgun to kill the evil? Who knows, but it would definitely be a blast if he did!
Julie Bowen, who is best known as Claire Dunphy in the long-running hit comedy series Modern Family, stars as Linda Campbell (kind of ironic, no?).
Linda is the mother of Dylan Campbell, one of the town’s “outcasts” and a member of the Satanic metal band Dethkrunch, which comes under suspicion during the “satanic panic.”
After she experiences a series of supernatural disturbances, Linda begins to question everything she knows about her son and the growing “threat” of Satanism in Happy Hallow.
Anna Camp (Creepshow, YOU, Perfect Harmony, True Blood) plays Tracy Whitehead, who appears to be the series’ “villain.”
Tracy is a crusading mother who has long been ridiculed by her community for her extreme religious beliefs
But after a string of seemingly occult crimes and disturbances, Tracy becomes a dangerous and unlikely leader of Happy Hallow.
I bet she leads the witch hunt against Dethkrunch!
Emjay Anthony (Physical, Council of Dads) plays Dylan Campbell, Chiara Aurelia (Cruel Summer, Fear Street Part Two- 1978, Tell Me Your Secrets) plays Jordy, and Kezii Curtis (Dolemite is My Name, Secret Headquarters) plays Spud.
These three are the “outcasts” who rebrand their heavy metal band Dethkrunch into a Satanic metal one after the “Satanic panic” hits Happy Hollow.
It’s a big mistake on their part once they realize they’ve become the main targets of the town’s witch hunt!
Other stars include:
- Nikki Hahn (American Horror Story, Pretty Little Liars) plays Faith, a sheltered teenage girl whose life is forever changed by a shocking, traumatic crime.
- Milly Shapiro (Hereditary) as Ingrid.
- Jessica Luza (Johnson) as Cassie Dandridge.
- Eric Tiede (Tales of the Walking Dead) as Bob.
- Jennie Paige (Love and Death) as Abigail.
- Allison Scagliotti (Stitchers, The Vampire Diaries) as Officer Olsen
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- Kevin Saunders (Atlanta) as Gilbert.
- Brogan Hall (The Goldbergs) as Isaiah.
- Ann Marie Gideon (The Resident) as Martha.
How Many Episodes of Hysteria! Will There Be?
Hysteria! will have 8 one-hour episodes, so there is plenty of time to tell a decent story and tease out the characters and the insanity of the “Satanic panic” that grips Happy Hallow.
When Will Hysteria! Premiere?
All eight episodes will drop on Peacock on Friday, October 18, perfect timing to get your Halloween binge on
The first episode will also air on USA Network and SYFY the same day. USA Network will air new episodes each Friday.
Is There a Teaser for Hysteria!?
Why, yes, there is!
You can check it out below.
The teaser doesn’t give too much away but what we do see is Linda Campbell (Julie Bowen) dancing in her kitchen to Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” before the weirdness starts.
Clearly, Happy Hallow isn’t the heaven on earth Linda might have thought, especially after she sees that reflection in the microwave!
Quite the opposite, it seems!
What say you TV Fanatics?
Will you be tuning into Hysteria! for some Halloween season hysteria?
Let us know in the comments below!
The post Hysteria!: Premiere Date, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far appeared first on TV Fanatic.