Upamanyu Biswas
Peacock’s thriller show ‘Hysteria!‘ revolves around the abduction of Ryan Hudson, a high school quarterback in the small town of Happy Hollow in Michigan. After his disappearance, the townsfolk are gripped by a moral panic surrounding occult and Satanic influences. However, for high schooler Dylan Campbell, it presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on the fears of people by rebranding his struggling metal band Dethkrunch as a Satanic music group. Although it helps him gain recognition in the halls of Wallace High School, it soon becomes a terrible curse as a local witch hunt targets him as the main instigator behind the inexplicable events in Happy Hollow.
Happy Hollow: A Fictional Town in the Throes of Satanic Panic
Happy Hollow is the sleepy Michigan town where ‘Hysteria!’ takes place. It is a fictional town created by Matthew Scott Kane and his co-writers Jamie Flanagan and David Goodman. In the story, it becomes the epicenter of a series of mysterious crimes, ranging from abductions to murder and even so-called supernatural incidents. Subsequently, the inhabitants are left with a severe case of anxiety and panic as their streets get flooded with Satanic symbology and fear surrounding any sort of demonic influence. However, as the narrative progresses, a much darker conspiracy rears its head as the town’s peace and tranquility are slowly transformed into a descent into madness.
Overall, the town’s isolated nature helps elevate the central themes of Satanic panic even further. Bruce Campbell, who stars as Chief Dandridge, was particularly excited about the setting of the town as its detachment from any dense urban environments was pivotal to the suspense it seeds in the viewer. He explained, “When I saw it, I’m like, great – Michigan, small town Michigan in the 80s? Oh, hell yeah! They won’t be ready for any of this. Like they couldn’t handle it. You don’t want to give it to a city that can handle it, like a big city. They’d be like, ‘Ah, just another freaky day in Los Angeles.’ No, no, no. In Happy Hollow, Michigan, this is a problem. This is their only problem.”
Although the town is said to be in Michigan, the actual filming for the show’s first season took place in the state of Georgia, specifically Atlanta and Covington. The production crew also utilized the facilities of Cinelease Studios – Three Ring at 11642 GA-142 Bungalow 10 in Covington to shoot some of its pivotal sequences. Therefore, a blend of outdoor locations and studio-controlled environments helped weave together the reality of Happy Hollow. The state of Georgia also hosted the production for the sci-fi show ‘Stranger Things‘ which also features an 80s retro-themed fictional town named Hawkins, Indiana. There are some parallels between both locales, but they are mostly superficial, as neither exists in real life.
Wallace High School is a School With No Ties From Reality
Another prominent location in ‘Hysteria!’ is the school attended by Dylan and his friends, Jordy and Spud. Much of the narrative takes place in the social circles created within the halls of Wallace High School. However, just like the town it is set in, it is a fictional establishment conceived by the scriptwriters. As a high school outcast, Dylan spends most of his time trying to promote his band, Dethkrunch, to his classmates or trying to get closer to his crush, Judith. However, he is mostly battling an inner need to be seen and adored by his peers. Having lived most of his high school life in obscurity, he wants to make it big, a desire that pushes him to take extreme measures by embracing Satanism.
An actual Wallace High School does exist in reality. However, it is situated in Wallace, Nebraska, which separates it from the fictional school at the heart of ‘Hysteria!,’ which is narratively set in Michigan. Although the show takes an overarching approach while depicting the various locations in and around the town of Happy Hollow, the school is one of its more prominent recurring sites, as much of the central drama stems from the adolescent interactions between the various characters. As such, the school offers a multitude of heightened relationships, but ultimately, it cannot be found in reality.
