A new television show debuting in a few weeks involves horror in the suburbs:

It is an evocative image: the pleasant suburban cul-de-sac has been replaced by a street and driveways shaped like a hand with blood flowing from the homes.

Here is a description of the show from the Peacock website:

Peacock has shared the official trailer for John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, a six-episode horror anthology series from the mind of the legendary namesake director, writer, and producer, exploring true tales of terror in suburbia. 

Each episode will delve into the monstrous evil that lurks beneath the surface of friendly suburbia through the lens of one frightful tale. In addition to firsthand accounts, the episodes will include cinematic reenactments, personal archives, and historic town press coverage.

Many cultural products in the last one hundred or so years have endeavored to tell the dark truths of suburbia. Behind the smiling nuclear family or the facade of the new suburban single-family home are less desirable practices and relationships. These stories suggest the suburbs put on a particular face but they are actually something else.

Placing horror in the middle of the suburbs builds on this. Not only might viewers or readers want to learn about the dirtier parts of suburbia; they might want scares and terror.

“Terror” is not typically a term used to describe the suburbs nor is the idea of “monstrous evil.” But that both are “lurking beneath the surface of friendly suburbia” continues an ongoing narrative that the suburbs are not what they seem.