Peacock orders high school thriller series set during Satanic Panic of 1980s

NBCUniversal-owned streamer Peacock has taken a coming-of-age thriller about a group of 1980s high school misfits straight to series.

Lisa Katz

Hysteria! comes from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and will be written and executive produced by Matthew Scott Kane.

The series will follow high school students as they exploit the growing unrest around teen occult activity and explores American’s dark history of mass hysteria through the shocking story of the 1980s Satanic Panic.

Also executive producing are directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons), along with Chris Bender and Jake Weiner for Good Fear.

“Our upcoming thriller series Hysteria! will explore the complex world of the Satanic Panic, set amidst ’80s nostalgia, mystery, heavy metal and an all-American setting,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

“This nail-biting thriller dives into a mass moral panic and all the fears, desires, anger and dread that led to these dark days. Matthew’s script is original, intriguing and perfectly captures the frenetic energy of the Satanic Panic,” added Beatrice Springborn, president at UCP.