'Suburban Screams' Showrunner Jordan Roberts Calls Peacock Series 'a Hell of a Ride' (Exclusive)

With Halloween right around the corner, networks are showing off their share of content to celebrate the holiday. For Peacock, a new series was recently released on the streaming service called John Carpenter's Suburban Screams, a hybrid unscripted and scripted anthology series that takes a look at some of the scarier real-life stories in recent memory. PopCulture.com spoke to Suburban Screams showrunner and director Jordan Roberts who is excited for fans to see what his team has in store for them. 

"I think the goal is that everything you experience in a really well-done horror movie is intensified by the fact that the stories are real," Roberts told PopCulture. "So, if you like good horror and that kind of storytelling, then you're going to have a hell of a ride on this."

Suburban Screams features six episodes, and each one delivers a tale of terror told by real people who lived through it. The show uses cinematic scene work along with news clips, home photos and archrival footage to give the story a boost. Roberts directed the second episode called "A Killer Homes Home" which is about a serial killer named Allan Legere who went on a murder press in his hometown. Legere then targeted the local newspaper editor and publisher who covered the story. 

"I hadn't heard the story before, and when I heard that this was someone that had murdered, escaped from prison, and then terrorized his hometown, I'm like, oh my God, that's the premise of Halloween," Roberts explained. "John [Carpenter] was like, wow, go for it, man. So, I took it on. It was important to me to be super respectful of the victims since there's a true element to this. The entry point of the story, working with the two guys that ran the local newspaper was fascinating, because they were also on the killer's list. So, we were able to create a narrative that was a personal point of view and entry point into these horrific events in suburban Canada."

One big reason Roberts wanted to work on the project is Carpenter who is known for directing the original Halloween film in 1978 and other horror films such as The Thing, Christine and Village of the Damned. Carpenter also composed most of his films' music including Halloween. He returned to the director's chair for Suburban Screams as he directed the episode called "Phone Stalker."

"It's a fascinating story," Roberts said about the episode. "I mean, this woman, Beth Spear, her life was turned upside down by being stalked through her technology, which I think we can all relate to. It's a really terrifying story and almost takes on supernatural overtones because you don't know who it, undertones because you don't know who it is. It really hit John's aesthetic to tap into it and tell that kind of story through the way he makes films."   

All six episodes of Suburban Screams are now streaming on Peacock.