A millennial New Yorker with mental health issues discovers she was born in Hellwath, an isolated Yorkshire village, just before several grisly murders transpired – and that her father, long thought dead, was the top suspect. But the locals think a legendary beast is responsible – that is still on the loose.

SYNOPSIS:

Horror/Thriller TV series 8 eps x45mins

The year is 1991 and in Hellwath, East Yorkshire, a young heavy metal fan is pursued by an unseen menace that chokes the air with a horrible smell – after a tense game of hide and seek, the fan is slaughtered. Nearly thirty years later, after her mum suddenly dies, jobless New Yorker Jasmine Tate discovers she was born in Hellwath just before three grisly murders occurred and became headline news: first the heavy metal fan; then a farm hand in his twenties; and finally, a six-year-old boy. After hearing her father was the top suspect, Jasmine is compelled to visit Hellwath – but is warned by her aunt that her mum never wanted her to go back there. As she battles to uncover the truth, she opens old wounds, discovers a Satanist conspiracy and delves into the exploits of a secretive and well-funded paranormal physicist. In the midst of this, suddenly the murders start occurring again.

Jasmine struggles with everyday life: her anxiety causes her regular panic attacks and despite being intelligent, ambitious and capable she finds it hard to lead a normal life. Worst of all are the times she doesn’t remember: ranging from seconds to hours, she does and says awful, hurtful things almost in a trance. She comes to realise she has a literal inner demon and it’s connected to a wolf…

The show is inspired by a wealth of folklore, especially the well-documented and often sighted ‘Old Stinker’ – the legendary beast thought responsible for the deaths – an 8ft tall werewolf of sorts with terrible breath that lurks in the outskirts of Hull city, close to where the story is set. Old Stinker is often in the British papers - in 2017 rock star Alice Cooper made a fuss when wanting to investigate. Hellwath itself is fictional. Scenes with the monster will aim to rely more on suspense than flat out terror in a similar way to A Quiet Place. Moreover, the creature generally exists more as a shadow; only glimpsed and heard until a final reveal, which will build mystery (and save on visual effects).

Old Stinker is the folklore focus of season 1, but in the course of the characters unravelling the truth behind that particular legend, it becomes apparent there are numerous strange goings-on that have occurred for centuries in the area, known as the Newton Wold Triangle. Old Stinker leads them – and the audience – into a broader narrative of discovering the veil between worlds is thin in the wold, and it’s the reason behind many folklore events and creatures. ‘New Raleigh’, the company run by the paranormal physicist, is searching for this tangible afterlife that perhaps is the gateway to Hell itself. Much of the drive behind the show and the characters’ motivations is to not just experience legendary lands and beings, but to explain them scientifically and philosophically.

Hellwath contains familiar tropes but flips them on their head, leading audiences in with creatures, character types and stories they recognise – until quickly they realise they’re on new ground. This is similar to the brilliant Killing Eve. As a Yorkshireman with a macabre sense of humour, a love for haunted house horror and passion for local folklore, I the writer like to think the setting and my voice/viewpoint is what sets Hellwath apart from similar fare like Stranger Things and Truth Seekers.

Jasmine’s demon is a metaphor for mental illness. She thinks she’ll understand her ‘demon’ (illness) by finding the dad she never knew; but to control it she learns she must look within. That aspect also unites two key themes: mental health and identity. Other themes explored are disillusionment and yearning: for something better; for something that can’t be articulated; for something more than what we see… in our world currently, people all over can relate to yearning. I’ve devised 3-4 seasons.