Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hysteria!’ on Peacock, A Horror-Thriller-Comedy Where A Town Thinks Its Teens Are Turning Into Satanists

In the eight-episode series Hysteria! , now streaming on Peacock , a small town in the 1980s is overtaken by rumors of Satanic cults recruiting their kids. It’s absurd, of course. But as a series of weird occurrences start to pop off, and the local football star goes missing, it’s enough for everybody in Happy Hollow to start pointing fingers. Created by Matthew Scott Kane, Hysteria! features Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, Anna Camp, Julie Bowen, Nikki Hahn, and Garret Dillahunt. Bruce Campbell is also along for the ride, for a little burst of that Evil Dead horror juice. And the ’80s heavy metal soundtrack that rocks the series is a total winner.

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Opening Shot: 1989. As a Belinda Carlisle cassette plays on the pink boombox in her bedroom, Faith (Hahn) and Ryan (Brandon Butler) are making out when they’re interrupted by a thud in the hall. Thinking it’s her upstanding Christian mother, Faith stuffs Ryan in the closet.

The Gist: It’s not like Tracy Whitehead (Camp), active in her church and the founder of Mothers Against Occult Media, would’ve condoned what her daughter was doing with the high school quarterback. But for now, let’s just say it’s not Tracy who barges in on the teenagers. And pretty soon the little Southeast Michigan town of Happy Hollow is all a-chattering about Ryan’s sudden disappearance. Just like in Ferris Bueller , it’s the lead story on the local news.

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Area nerd Dylan (Emjay Anthony) is frustrated. As he tells goth girl Jordy (Chiara Aurelia) and jokey burnout Spud and (Kezii Curtis), his best buddies and bandmates in Deathkrunch, “Ryan being missing one day has gotten more attention than me being present my entire life.” They can hand out flyers forever, but nobody’s gonna go see their shows. It’s the hierarchy of high school, and it’s a drag.

The thing about Ryan’s disappearance, though? A spray-painted pentagram was left at the scene. A pentagram? Is it Satan?! Hysteria! channels the parental panic that swept America in the 1980s, as unsubstantiated media bullshit about rituals and cult behavior combined with the popularity of  longhaired and loud heavy metal to drive people bananas. At the time, Hysteria was a huge hit for Def Leppard. Also at the time, hysteria led to the founding of Tipper Gore’s Parents Music Resource Center. And by the time this Hysteria! gets moving, the same kind of panic is growing.

His happily square parents Linda (Julie Bowen) and Gene (Nolan North) aren’t gonna like it. But Dylan’s new idea is to market Deathkrunch as exactly the kind of devil-worshiping, animal blood-drinking freaks that everyone has become convinced is totally a real thing. It’s a way to get people to hear his band’s rad, ripping cover of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast,” anyway. And if the ploy gets Dylan closer to popular girl Judith (Jessica Treska), then that’s all the better. Ryan will turn up, all the freaking out about teenage Satanic cults will blow over, and nothing crazy will happen to anybody. Right?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Ash vs Evil Dead was a classic. And just in time for Spooky Season, Teacup , which like Hysteria! also just premiered on Peacock, takes its horror feels in a direction that’s slightly less funny, but certainly more scary.

Our Take: Hysteria! sets its tone solidly right away, with a conversational sense of humor that suits both the pearl-clutching adults of Happy Hollow and the town’s teens. Panicky gossips at the hairdresser spread absurdities about pets being abducted for sacrifices, and sarcastic high schoolers start “Hail Satan!” chants at the Deathkrunch gig. But instead of letting the claustrophobic vibes of an eighties horror movie immediately take over, Hysteria! keeps running right up to that point before pausing to do a little teasing. Instead of right away hitting its storyline with a lit Bic lighter and all of the CFCs in a tall canister of Aqua Net, it throws in little visual references to stuff like The Exorcist or Nightmare on Elm Street , and has genre titan Bruce Campbell playing a town sheriff who name drops Halloween .

This isn’t to say Hysteria! won’t go full outrageous horror. It’s established that it has that potential. (An early scene where a local suddenly hovers in some kind of trance, making the silhouette of Christ on the cross, is satisfyingly creepy.) But we like how much we don’t know about its direction, and are enjoying the look and feel and laughs of it as we move along.

Sex and Skin: Coupla ‘80s movie-style makeout scenes.

Parting Shot: Tracy Whitehead – Anna Camp’s whole era-specific look is spectacular – likes to go around Happy Hollow saying things like “We are mothers in a Satanic age.” But Tracy might not be as much the wholesome church lady she purports to be.

Sleeper Star: Well, it’s gotta be Dylan’s black “Detroit Bad Boys” shirt, with the iconic skull-and-basketball logo, that dates from the Detroit Pistons’ swaggering championship teams of the era where the series is set. A nice deep cut reference from Hysteria! creator and University of Michigan grad Matthew Scott Kane.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Do you know who Beelzebub is? Satan. And do you know why I ask? Because The Smurfs, as cute as they may  appear, use black magic to evoke Beelzebub and to speak to the Devil himself.”

Our Call: Stream It! Hysteria! is funny, loves heavy metal, and does up its 1980s setting well. But it’s also having a real good time keeping us on the back foot. This town’s teens probably aren’t joining Satanic cults. But that doesn’t mean something freaky isn’t happening around these parts.

Johnny Loftus ( @glennganges ) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

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