| Suburban Screams | |
|---|---|
 Official release poster | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Jordan Roberts |
| Showrunner | Jordan Roberts |
| Music by | John Carpenter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Production locations | Prague,Czech Republic |
| Running time | 39–44 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Peacock |
| Release | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) |
Suburban Screams (titled onscreen asJohn Carpenter's Suburban Screams) is an Americandocumentaryhorrortrue crimeanthology television series created by Jordan Roberts. The series is executive produced by Roberts,John Carpenter,Sandy King,Tony DiSanto, and Andy Portnoy.
The series debuted onPeacock on October 13, 2023, with all six episodes released simultaneously.
In January 2023,John Carpenter confirmed that he was working on a new project, but refused to reveal any details, adding that it was "shrouded in total mystery, likeSkull Island."[2] In May 2023, the series was announced by Carpenter by revealing he directed an episode, viazoom calls, from his home inLos Angeles while filming occurred inPrague,Czech Republic.[3][4][5] The series is Carpenter's first project he directed sinceThe Ward (2010).[6] Other episode directors includeMichelle Latimer, Jan Pavlacky, and the series writer and showrunner Jordan Roberts.[6] Roberts also served as an executive producer, alongside Carpenter,Sandy King,Tony DiSanto, Patrick Smith, and Andy Portnoy.[6] Carpenter also served as the composer of the series' main theme.[6]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Kelly" | Jan Pavlacky | Jordan Roberts | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
After playing with aOuija Board, Joey finds himself entangled in a murder mystery involving a ghost named "Kelly". | |||||
| 2 | "A Killer Comes Home" | Jordan Roberts | Amanda Deibert & Jordan Roberts | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
After escaping from prison, serial killerAllan Legere returns to his suburban neighborhood ofChatham, New Brunswick to continue his killing spree. | |||||
| 3 | "House Next Door" | Michelle Latimer | Zack Kahn | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
Torrence falls in love with Lisa, a new girl in the town, but suspects her house is haunted. | |||||
| 4 | "Bunny Man" | Jan Pavlacky | Zack Kahn | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
Various accounts from interviewees about the urban legend of theBunny Man inFairfax County, Virginia. | |||||
| 5 | "Cursed Neighborhood" | Michelle Latimer | Amanda Deibert | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
After moving into their new home, the Norwood family encounters various supernatural incidents that affect their familial bond. | |||||
| 6 | "Phone Stalker" | John Carpenter | Amanda Deibert | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
A stalker torments Beth via technology, ruining her relationships and psychological wellbeing. | |||||
John Carpenter's Suburban Screams debuted onPeacock on October 13, 2023, with all six episodes released simultaneously.[6][7]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 18% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with a critics consensus of: "Even with the welcome return of the Master of Horror,Suburban Screams is muffled by rather pedestrian execution".[8]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned a score of 30 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "Generally Unfavorable" reviews.[9]
Aramide Tinubu ofVariety gave a negative review, concluding that "unfortunately, instead of the sinister narratives that fans have come to expect from Carpenter, this series is a cheap display of ghastly crimes."[10] Katie Rife ofIGN also gave a negative review, summarzing that the series "is a typical true crime series in every way, except for the participation of John Carpenter and his family. Their contributions are minimal enough, and halfhearted enough, to not make much of a difference, however."[11] Brian Tallerico ofRogerEbert.com simarily felt that the series "doesn't deserve [Carpenter]'s name".[12] Daniel Fienberg ofThe Hollywood Reporter also commented on Carpenter's involvement with the series, elaborating that "without the attachment of Carpenter's name,Suburban Screams would just be negligible, but probably unreviewed. With his name, it's disappointingly negligible and here we are."[13]
In October 2023, executive producer Sandy King expressed interest in making further seasons, saying "I think that it would be really fun to see how deep we can go and how many weird things really happen".[14]
