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Hysteria!: The Cast and Characters of Peacock's Satanic Panic Series Explained
A religious zealot, a suburban mother, and a heavy metal rocker walk into a Satanic ritual...
Stop us if you've heard this one before: a religious zealot, a suburban mother, and a heavy metal rocker, all walk into a Satanic ritual...
That's not the start of a classic joke, but the core premise behind Peacock's new throwback series, Hysteria! (all eight episodes debut on the streamer Thursday, October 18), which draws heavy inspiration from the real-world Satanic Panic of the late 1980s when parents across America were genuinely concerned that their children were being influenced by dark forces.
Hailing from the minds of Scott Kane and David A. Goodman, Hysteria! unfolds in Happy Hollow, a sleepy Michigan hamlet suddenly rocked by the disappearance of star high school quarterback, Ryan Hudson (Brandon Butler). The event, which appears to be the ritualistic work of a Satan-worshipping cult, sends the town into a state of spiraling panic with no end in sight.
Seeing this as an opportunity to gain notoriety for their music, a local heavy metal band comprised of three naive teenagers decides to capitalize on the occult mania with rather disastrous results. Given that there are so many players in this story of devilish debauchery, here's a quick rundown of all the Happy Hollow citizens you need to keep track of.
A guide to the cast & characters of Peacock's new Satanic Panic series, Hysteria!
Anna Camp as Tracy Whitehead
A devout Catholic and an expert on the spread of Satanic values and imagery through modern media, Tracy is also a single mother who would do anything to protect her daughter, Faith — even if that means working outside of man’s law to do God’s work.
Where you've seen Camp before: Pitch Perfect, Mad Men, True Blood
Emjay Anthony as Dylan Campbell
Dylan's a nerdy high school wallflower who spends his free time playing guitar and listening to music in his basement bedroom. Dylan and his two best friends, Jordy, and Spud, make up Dethkrunch, a heavy metal trio that no one cares about… that is until Dylan spots a chance at being seen, and seizes it. The result of his cockamamie scheme to use the town's newfound phobia of the occult to the band's advantage gives a new meaning to the term "unintended consequences."
Where you've seen Anthony before: Chef, Physical, Replicas
Julie Bowen as Linda Campbell
Dylan's kind and patient mother, the former homecoming queen struggles to fully understand her outcast son. When she becomes suspicious of Dylan’s recent extracurriculars, her nerves begin to fray, and she begins to question her once-firm grip on reality.
Where you've seen Bowen before: Happy Gilmore, Boston Legal, Modern Family,
Chiara Aurelia as Jordy
The lead vocalist of Dethkrunch and a bass player to boot, Jordy is sharp-tongued goth kid with an even sharper sense of style. But is that unique style her protective armor against the outside world… or is it just a cage, to guard herself against being truly vulnerable?
Where you've seen Aurelia before: Luckiest Girl Alive, Cruel Summer, Tell Me Your Secrets
Kezii Curtis as Spud
The resident drummer of Dethkrunch, Spud is mostly just concerned with pissing off his parents. He is often written off as a conspiracy theorist… but don’t count him out. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Where you've seen Curts before: Dolemite is My Name, Secret Headquarters, The Thundermans
Nikki Hahn as Faith Whitehead
Thanks to her mother, Faith is perceived by her peers as another tightly-wound Jesus freak. According to her own mother, however, Faith is a deviant sinner who needs to find the light of the Lord. Meanwhile, Faith is just trying her best to be a normal teenager, with all the hormones, crushes, and high school dances that come with that.
Where you've seen Hahn before: Adventures in Babysitting, American Housewife, Magnum P.I.
Bruce Campbell as Chief Dandridge
Chief Dandridge heads up the search for missing quarterback, Ryan Hudson. He's logical, compassionate, and prides himself on employing reason and a slow-to-anger mentality to his job. That level-headedness is suddenly put to the test when widespread panic throughout the town pushes the Chief to question his entire worldview.
Where you've seen Campbell before: Evil Dead, Burn Notice, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Garret Dillahunt as The Reverend
The job of a reverend is to help bring people closer to the Lord and... that's all we can say about this character at the moment. But if you remember what Dillahunt was like in the role of psychotic spy Simon Escher on Burn Notice, it might give you some indication of the vibe he gives off on this show.
Where you've seen Dillahunt before: Burn Notice, 12 Years a Slave, Deadwood
Nolan North as Gene Campbell
Gene, Dylan's all-American father, is committed to the humdrum existence of suburbia and all the trappings that come with it. He's comfortable in his little bubble and is understandably skeptical of anything outside the ordinary. Like his wife, he doesn't fully understand his outcast of a son, whom he feels should be out in the world, doing normal teenage stuff.
Where you've seen (and heard) North before: Uncharted games, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Rizzoli & Isles
Elijah Richardson as Cliff
One of the most popular kids at school and a star player player (his dad coaches the team), Cliff seems to have it made. Underneath the surface, though, he craves more beyond his reputation as the high school letterman bully in residence.
Where you've seen Richardson before: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, When They See Us, New Amsterdam
Milly Shapiro as Ingrid
One of the nerdier kids at school, Ingrid is often ridiculed by the other students for being weird, making her the Carrie White figure amongst this particular student body. The good news? Her pet goat, Cheerios, is about to land her a major boost in popularity.
Where you've seen Shapiro before: Hereditary, Splitting Up Together, JJ Villard's Fairy Tales
Allison Scagliotti as Officer Olsen
One of the cops working under Chief Dandridge, Officer Olsen is a dedicated keeper of the peace, who subscribes to the duck test method of law enforcement: "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." In other words, if someone in town appears to be the leader of a dark cult, then they probably are.
Where you've seen Scagliotti before: Drake & Josh, Warehouse 13, Stitchers
Jessica Treska as Judith
As the prettiest and most popular girl at school, Judith wields an inordinate amount of cliquey clout that gets anyone hoping to look "cool" in the eyes of their peers to fall in line with her every whim. Given the fact that Dylan has a massive crush on her, well... you can only imagine the lengths he's willing to go in order to win her affections. There's nothing more dangerous than the raging hormones of a teenager's libido, is there?
Where you've seen Treska before: Sharp Objects, Good Girls, Roswell, New Mexico
All eight episodes of Hysteria! will debut exclusively on Peacock this coming Friday — October 18. Episodes will also air weekly, every Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
