John Carpenter hasn’t directed anything in quite a long time. For plenty of reasons, he chose John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams to make his return to the director’s chair. He’s also an Executive Producer and did the music for the series with his son Cody Carpenter. Normally, you’d think that a series like this would just be him sticking his hand out, a check appearing out of thin air, and them slapping his name on it. In reality, Suburban Screams is much more complex than that. It’s a series that leans into the supernatural or horror aspects of real life with a true-crime frame.

There are plenty of series out there, including several on Peacock, that follow this frame. Shows like Forensic Files, Dateline, Unsolved Mysteries, and more are all doing similar things to Suburban Screams. If you love those shows, this one will be right at home. Unsolved Mysteries only leaned into the supernatural aspect at times, but this one brings a new wrinkle into it. Suburban Screams doesn’t ever focus on the killers, ghosts, or perpetrators. The focus is all on the families, victims, or people who lived through the experiences. It’s a fascinating way to go about the series that doesn’t ever feel like its glorifying the killers or evil people. Getting the story from people that were on the ground or even those who heard it, gives it more of that urban legend, small-town vibe.

As for the episodes, I saw three episodes, one about a ghostly premonition of a young woman’s murder, one about a notorious killer nicknamed The Bunnyman, and the last being John Carpenter’s episode about a stalker that went to extraordinary lengths to terrorize a woman.

One Weaker Episode, Two Strong Ones

The first episode about a man seeing visions of a woman being murdered by drowning is the weakest of the bunch. The show presents its tales through first-hand accounts, and with dramatized recreations. For this episode, because it’s so much based in the supernatural, it ends up feeling a bit hokey. The story being told is interesting, but the execution of the whole thing isn’t. This is supposed to be the scariest of the episodes, with full-on jump scares throughout. It’s not a bad episode, but it just ends up as the weakest of the ones I saw from the series.

However, the next two episodes, are both frightening in their own ways. The Bunnyman episode is familiar to anyone who grew up in a small-town with rumors and urban legends. This episode feels more real and scary, because it comes from first-hand accounts and people that grew up in the area. The dramatizations are thrilling in a slasher movie kind of way. The Bunnyman costume is absolutely terrifying. It’s like a nightmarish mix of those old style Halloween costumes and an axe-murderer.

You’ll be surprised that the John Carpenter directed episode is not one that’s based around murderers or the supernatural. He instead directs the episode that’s focused on a cyber stalker that terrorizes a woman for years. This episode is the most real of the bunch and could feasibly happen to anyone. The dramatizations go a bit over the top, but that’s really what you’d expect out of a series like this.

Does it feel like something that John Carpenter directed? It does to an extent. In the confines of this type of series, he doesn’t get to fully unleash his directing style, but it still feels Carpenter-esque. The music here is very much John Carpenter. He and Cody Carpenter saved the best for the episode he directed and the soundtrack is stunning.

If you’re in the mood for some spooky crime focused TV, John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams is for you. For fans of all things Carpenter, it makes for some good watching as well.

So, are you excited to see the return of John Carpenter to the director’s chair for Suburban Screams?

John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams releases on Peacock on October 13th.

For more on Horror, make sure to check out THS Fright-A-Thon, the Halloween content marathon.

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