Suburban Screams

For the 1999 Chinese film, see Suburban Dreams.

Suburban Screams (titled onscreen as John Carpenter's Suburban Screams) is an American documentary horror true crime anthology television series created by Jordan Roberts. The series is executive produced by Roberts, John Carpenter, Sandy King, Tony DiSanto, and Andy Portnoy.

Suburban Screams
Official release poster
Genre	Documentary Horror True crime Anthology
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	John Carpenter Jordan Roberts Sandy King Tony DiSanto Andy Portnoy
Production locations	Prague, Czech Republic
Running time	39–44 minutes
Production companies	Storm King Productions DIGA Studios
Original release
Network	Peacock
Release	October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13)

The series debuted on Peacock on October 13, 2023, with all six episodes released simultaneously.

Cast

"Kelly"

• Maria Almeida as May
• Sean Brodeur as Joey
• Jenn Kirk as Ella
• Sára Korbelová as Kelly

"A Killer Comes Home"

• Will O'Donnell as David Cadogan
• Andrew Buzzeo as Rick MacLean

"House Next Door"

• Ryan Dean as Torrence
• Crispian Belfrage as Dr. Kennedy
• Amie Maria Gorham as Fiona

"Bunny Man"

• Tyra Larsson as Gina

"Cursed Neighborhood"

• Paul A Maynard as Brian Norwood
• Sarah Priddy as Carlette Norwood
• Sharon Hinds as Irma
• Grace Venus as Deidre
• Chloe Zeitounian as Stacy Jones

"Phone Stalker"

• Julie Stevens as Beth^[1]
• Alyssa Dillard as Colette
• Cherles Doherty as Ronnie
• Dale Edwards as Hugh
• Igor Nacik as Gary

Production

In May 2023, the series was announced by John Carpenter by revealing he directed an episode, via zoom calls, from his home in Los Angeles while filming occurred in Prague, Czech Republic.^[2][3][4] The series is Carpenter's first project he directed since The Ward (2010).^[5] Other episode directors include Michelle Latimer, Jan Pavlacky, and the series writer and showrunner Jordan Roberts.^[5] Roberts also served as an executive producer, alongside Carpenter, Sandy King, Tony DiSanto, Patrick Smith, and Andy Portnoy.^[5] Carpenter also served as the composer of the series' main theme.^[5]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [5]
1	"Kelly"	Jan Pavlacky	Jordan Roberts	October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13)
After playing with a Ouija 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 killer Allan Legere returns to his suburban neighborhood of Chatham, 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 Fiona, 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 the Bunny Man in Fairfax 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.

Release

John Carpenter's Suburban Screams debuted on Peacock on October 13, 2023, with all six episodes released simultaneously.^[5][6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten 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".^[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 30 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "Generally Unfavorable" reviews.^[8]

Aramide Tinubu of Variety 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."^[9] Katie Rife of IGN 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."^[10] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com simarily felt that the series "doesn't deserve [Carpenter]'s name".^[11] Daniel Fienberg of The 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."^[12]

Future

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".^[13]