“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

By the mid 1990s, the horror genre was struggling to survive after a decade of cheesy sequels and rip-offs. By the time Scream debuted in theaters in 1996, there had been 22 (!!!) Halloween, Nightmare on Elm St, and Friday the 13th movies combined, and dozens of lazy slasher retreads. But it’s genre icon director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who reinvented the horror genre with Scream, a self referential, homage to the classics of the 70s and early 80s, all the while making fun of itself and its genre’s tired cliches. When top line star, Drew Barrymore was killed off mere minutes in, audiences knew all bets were off. The film series which expanded to a fourth installment in 2011, help make its stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette household names. Writer Williamson went to write many other teen-focused horror films and TV series (The Following just wrapped after 3 seasons).

Horror made a triumphant return to TV in recent years thanks to shows like The Walking Dead on AMC, True Blood on HBO, and American Horror Story on FX. While many dabbled in vampires and zombies, the slasher genre was seemingly left for “dead.” Now 4 years after the last Scream film, and nearly two decades since Craven’s classic, MTV is bringing Scream back with a series starting Tuesday night, June 30th, at 10:00pm ET. The show will run ten episodes over the summer, and is written by TV veterans Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie, Jill E. Blotevogel, and Jaime Paglia.

If you’d like to relive the rebirth of the horror genre in the mid 90s, then enjoy this Sunday on the couch with the lights off, and some popcorn on the stove. MTV is having a Scream movie marathon this afternoon starting at 12:45pm ET, with Scream 2 at 3:40 pm, and Scream 3 & 4 going from 7:08pm – 12:25am. If you’re more curious about the upcoming slasher series, check in at 7:00 this evening for an 8-minute preview.

MTV’s synopsis:

What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town’s troubled past. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game. Don’t miss MTV’s new scripted series ‘Scream’ coming June 30th.

MTV

Videos

Scream (TV Series) | Official Trailer | MTV

Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game. Don’t miss MTV’s new series ‘Scream’ coming June 30th.

Scream | Official Trailer #2 | MTV

Scream the TV series premieres June 30th on MTV.

Scream (1996) “” Official Trailer

A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the “Rules” of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.