‘John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams’ Finds Terror in Safe Spaces [Exclusive]
Legendary horror filmmaker John Carpenter is the master of reminding us that there really is a monster under our bed. And once again he’s expertly about to scare the living daylights out of us with the new Peacock series, John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams.
Executive producer Sandy King told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that the six-episode series is designed to scare you where you feel safest.
“You tip-toe when you go into a place you don’t know, you tip-toe when you’re in a place that’s foreign to you or a dark tunnel,” King said. “You’re not guarded in your front lawn. You’re not guarded in the woods by your house.”
She added, “You’re not guarded where you grow up. So basically, we mess with you by saying, ‘Oh, that’s where it’s going to get you. And by the way, kids, there is a monster in your closet.'”
‘John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams’ is the horror of who is left behind
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams meticulously dissected real-life horror stories and featured the people who lived them. The series toggles between candid interviews with those who experienced the horror and a scripted story to further illustrate the event.
“The stories came from the research department who were beating the bushes for true occurrences that we could build on,” King explained. “The way that works is the balance between the interviews and then how we do scripted to make it an immersive experience for the watcher.”
“What we hope to accomplish is that they get to experience what it felt like for the victim,” she added. “The point of these shows is to focus on the victim, the survivor, the community, those who are left behind after a violent, a frightening event. I give the example of Dahmer where everybody knows about [Jeffrey] Dahmer, but how many people know about the Niecy Nash character underneath? The one who was subjected to it? What’s happened to her in the intervening years? So that’s our point. And that’s what we look for. What can we make out of the true event? Where are those people now? How are they affected years later?”
The new Peacock series also explores the supernatural but with a point
King was initially opposed to telling stories where the supernatural was involved. The first episode features what can happen if you play with a Ouija board after too many beers.
“We actually tried to avoid it, but both the network and the production company were really gung ho on the Ouija board,” she said referring to the first episode in the series. “What I tried to steer them more towards was what if I went to a beer party? What if we’re all drunk and not expecting anything? We’re just playing around with the Ouija board. And I actually do see us connect to the other side. What does that do to me for life? That I’ve actually experienced the other side. Both for the girl whose cousin has been missing and she doesn’t want to hear about it. And for the guy that is twisted forever by it.”
“I read an interesting comment recently about people’s personal truth often becomes fact to them. And I think that that’s another guiding thing in there. So the fact was that he was able to lead people to the dead girl’s body. So, it doesn’t matter what we believe about Ouija boards. This was these people’s experience,” she added.
King smiled about the fact that the series drops on Friday the 13th. And said she’d love to see this series continue into the future. “If enough people watch it, maybe we’ll get to do more,” she said. “We’d love to.”
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams begins streaming on Friday, Oct. 13 on Peacock.
