Teacup: Everything to Know About James Wan's Peacock Horror Series

Do you hear that high-pitched whistling? It's the sound of a kettle about to boil over with unspeakable terror.

In other words, we're closing in on the October premiere date for Peacock's Teacup. Hailing from James Wan and the filmmaker's Atomic Monster banner, the new series serves as a loose adaptation of the 1988 novel Stinger by Robert McCammon, who serves as an executive producer on the series.

"Teacup defies easy labels," Wan recently said in a statement. "It's a genre-bending blend of horror, mystery, and drama, with layers that unfold like a captivating puzzle. It goes beyond chills and thrills and holds up a mirror to humanity, exploring the darkness that resides within us all. We hope you enjoy this wild ride as much as we've loved creating it!"

While an impenetrable shroud of mystery has surrounded the project since it was first announced in late 2022, here's everything we know about it so far...

What is Teacup about?

McCammon's novel takes place in the fictional town of Inferno, Texas, where the sudden arrival of an alien bounty hunter threatens the very fate of the planet. The small screen translation moves the action to rural Georgia, where "a disparate group of people ... must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive," reads the official synopsis. In order to achieve a true Southern atmosphere, principal photography took place just outside Atlanta.

"I wanted this show, this production to feel like the best summer camp ever,” showrunner and executive producer Ian McCulloch remarked at the show's San Diego Comic-Con panel last month (via The Hollywood Reporter). “You see it on the screen — the scope of the show changed because we realized what we had and what the audience could look at, which was this beautiful forest."

McCulloch refused to explain the meaning behind the show's title, but did let slip that the story takes place over a period of two days. "They did show a teacup being placed over a wasp that was on a window, trapping it in. Those who have read the story may understand this," McCammon wrote on his official blog, using information relayed to him by a fan who attended the SDCC event. "That is all I have to say about that!"

What book is Teacup based on?

Scott Speedman as James Chenoweth, Caleb Dolden as Arlo Chenoweth, Emilie Bierre as Meryl Chenoweth, and Yvonne Strahovski as Maggie Chenoweth in TEACUP. Photo: Mark Hill/Peacock

Teacup is a loose (emphasis on "loose") adaptation of the 1988 science fiction novel, Stinger, by author McCammon, who found the writing process particularly challenging. "That one almost drove me crazy, it was tough," he remarked during a 1989 interview. In bringing the book to the small screen, McCulloch stripped away many of the original plot elements and characters. The goal, he explained in a statement, was to "keep Stinger’s most effective elements."

"Take away the large ensemble. Take away the giant set pieces. Even take away the book’s crowded town setting," he continued. "The adaptation would be like an acoustic guitar version of, say, a Radiohead song. It won’t have the production value, electronic instruments, loops, or synthesized bells and whistles but it will still have the melody, the structure, the lyrics, the real magic at the core, all the stuff that makes a great song a great song."

Stinger author McCammon is an executive producer alongside Wan, showrunner McCulloch, Michael Clear, Rob Hackett, Francisca X. Hu, and Kevin Tancharoen.

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