Peacock recognises the continued popularity of ’80s nostalgia and is capitalising on it. Hysteria has been handed a straight-to-series order by the streaming service. The high school misfits in this “coming of age” thriller supposedly take advantage of the satanic scare of the 1980s in their little town. Director duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who previously worked on “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” were also named for the project. The 1980s saw the rise of a moral panic known as the “satanic panic” in the United States. Anxiety erupted from claims that outcasts were engaging in satanic rites, including cannibalism and human sacrifice.
Things like Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal music were branded as demonic recruiting tactics during the panic. Recent episodes of Stranger Things have included the satanic panic, with the entire town convinced that Eddie Munson’s (Joesph Quinn) Dungeons & Dragons group is a satanic cult. The plot of Hysteria! supposedly centres around a bunch of high school misfits who establish a heavy metal band. They aim to capitalise on the town’s widespread satanic hysteria when one of their classmates goes missing by “creating a reputation as a Satanic metal band.”
The band, however, gets more than they bargained for as further murders and kidnappings afflict the town and turn them into the prime suspects in a witch hunt. Matthew Scott Kane writes and creates Hysteria! He has written for shows like American Horror Story and Stitchers in the past. Daley and Goldstein, the filmmaking duo, are perhaps best known for helming the highly praised comedy Game Night in 2018. In addition, the duo directed the much-anticipated Dungeons & Dragons adaption, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Scott Stoops will serve as supervising producer on Hysteria!, with executive producers Daley, Goldstein, Kane, Chris Bender, and Jake Weiner. Lisa Katz, president of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming’s scripted content, had this to say about the new series: Hysteria!, a planned American drama series, would “delve into the layered world of the Satanic Panic among ’80s nostalgia, intrigue, heavy metal, and an all-American backdrop.
We’re thrilled to be working with writer Matthew Scott Kane, executive producers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, and filmmakers Good Fear and UCP to create an original series that will resonate with Peacock fans with its unique take on the coming-of-age genre.
The Official Synopsis
After the disappearance of the varsity quarterback during the “Satanic Panic” of the late 1980s, the members of a struggling high school heavy metal band of social outcasts realise they can capitalise on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band. However, a series of bizarre murders, kidnappings, and reported: “supernatural activity” soon leads to a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them.