Peacock Just Released the Best New Watches of the Spooky Season

It’s hard to remember that I watched the first season Stranger Things it was similar. Years later, with its final season expected (and expected, and expected), the show has emerged as a cultural powerhouse; the way D&D terms have been brought to the forefront of culture seems to be just a gleam in the eye of a carefully marketed monster. But there was a time when Stranger Things It was just the hot new Netflix show that people were talking about that got people excited with its combination of different horror, sci-fi, and 80s influences. He weaves together a triumvirate of stories that collide in a huge battle against evil.

His What energy that seems most successfully captured in Hysteria!Peacock’s new show dropped just this week and is the perfect Halloween marathon this year.

The setting is the late 1980s; The setting is the fictional sleepy town of Happy Hollow. After the disappearance of a football player, the city is in a state of alarm – at least most of it. Dylan (Emjay Anthony) and his bandmates Spud (Kezia Curtis) and Jordi (Chiara Aurelia) are mostly concerned with getting their metal band a little more attention. A pentagram is drawn on the football player’s house; Dylan figures out that the hot girl at school thinks Satanism is cool; one thing leads to another, and suddenly they find themselves at an impasse. Satanic rock band, just in time for the Satanic Panic to begin at Happy Hollow.

In a broader sense, Hysteria! talks about the madness people will face to finally feel seen. Dylan’s desire to be liked (and I liked it liked) isn’t too far off from Bible-loving mom Tracy (Anna Camp), stoking fears of a cabal who perform ritual sacrifices in a small Michigan town to relieve anxiety and feel important, or even from his mother Linda (Julie Bowen). trying to make sure her son is a good person. Hysteria!Thankfully, he never lets these broad ideas overshadow the story. Instead, it remains focused on the comedy of errors that Dylan puts on when the Satanism frenzy sets in and the band has to decide how much they’re doubling down on it all.

It helps that showrunner Matthew Scott Kane takes advantage of the show’s ensemble cast. While Tracy is working hard, turning up the heat, Hysteria! may allow Police Chief Dandridge (Bruce Campbell) to be the voice of reason. Not every adult is a soldier of God, and the mystery of the story thrives on the freedom of that choice.

And that’s great because Hysteria! has even more mysteries. Because while the city knows the protector is missing, Faith (Nikki Hahn) was kidnapped at the same time. And for some reason no one yet knows that she is no longer there. All this And there’s actually some weird paranormal shenanigans going on; people float and trudge around the house and get weird rashes.

Letting us solve this mystery is exactly how Hysteria! it ultimately feels like a really great genre program. The story can jump between Dylan and his misguided desire for sex, or Faith’s harrowing abduction by men in creepy masks, or Linda’s worry that she has failed her son and the community, or even the police chief’s relationship with the town’s residents – all of which create a clearer sense of time. , cities and horror. Mysteries abound and anything the vile one stalks the night, and no one knows the whole story. Within the city of Happy Hollow, anything seems possible. Everyone has their own version of the story, and this influences their view of the big picture. Hysteria! all of this, just like the three factions Stranger Things In the first season, they had to team up to save a kidnapped child.

Unlike Stranger ThingsKane enjoys the story as much as he balances it out. Hysteria! there’s something of a tonal intensity to it, with splashes of thriller and drama that add fuel to the horror influences. Throughout it all, the characters feel like characters and not just half-forgotten Amblin archetypes. The choices they make determine what happens next, both for Happy Hollow and Hysteria!and the show is better for it—even if Dylan’s musical aspirations face some rocky times.

Hysteria! is now streaming in its entirety on Peacock.