Time-Jumping Frights Abound in Netflix’s Fear Street Trilogy Trailer

Netflix has unveiled the first full trailer for its ambitious, quasi-slasher horror trilogy Fear Street, an adaptation of the R.L. Stine book series of the same name. In comparison with the better known Goosebumps, the Fear Street series was intended for an older “young adult” readership, and the stories typically had a darker and more reality grounded tone, rather than the supernatural/monster frights of Goosebumps. The film series looks to preserve that more serious horror tone, while still being accessible to the mainstream Netflix viewership, which we can only imagine is a delicate tightrope to walk. Still, the trailer appears to be pulling it off fairly well.

The Fear Street trilogy is composed of three films, titled Part 1: 1994, Part 2: 1978 and Part 3: 1666. It explores the wicked history of the town of Shadyside, which was apparently cursed by a witch hundreds of years ago and is now subject to the occasional massacre, ‘ala the town of Derry in It. Each era seems to evoke a different horror aesthetic—the skull-faced killer in 1994 feels like Ghostface from the Scream series, while the camp-based second installment is begging for a Jason Voorhees-style figure. The final installment, on the other hand, would seem to be mining more of the arthouse horror aesthetic of The Witch.

Fear Street is directed by Leigh Janiak, best known for her genuinely disturbing 2014 horror movie Honeymoon with Rose Leslie. One will note that there is a minor Stranger Things reunion happening here, as both Maya Hawke (Robin) and Sadie Sink (Max) are appearing in Fear Street, although its unclear if their characters would be interacting. The three films also star Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Gillian Jacobs, Ryan Simpkins, Ashley Zukerman and many others.

Check out the trailer below to get an idea of how the Fear Street trilogy is blending storytelling across its three timelines.