“A” is creepier than ever in the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin trailer

From the twisted mind of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’s first trailer is here. And to no one’s surprise, the writer-producer behind Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina has really brought the horror to a teen classic.

Sure, the OG Pretty Little Liars had a horror bent but all under the glossy sheen of an ABC Family/Freeform production. The HBO Max reboot, however, is leaning into the dark and spooky, starting with the setting. Toto, we’re not in Philadelphia’s wealthy suburbs anymore–Millwood is a blue-collar town with a mysterious past and a new generation of Little Liars.

As the trailer proclaims, “Every town has one: The scary house across the street from the cemetery, where the girl lived alone with her mother, and something terrible happened.” Truthfully, this seems like an extremely specific problem. (Does Joe Biden have a plan to address the rising number of scary houses across the street from the cemetery where something terrible happened?)

Nevertheless, it’s clear that Imogen’s (Bailee Madison) house isn’t the only place in Millwood that’s haunted. Something tragic happened twenty years ago, and an anonymous Assailant is holding Imogen and her friends responsible for it. If it wasn’t clear from the “Original Sin” concept, the girls’ moms might have had something to do with the suicide of a classmate way back in 1999. Now, the teens have to get to the bottom of their mothers’ secrets before they become A’s next victim.

And by the way, A isn’t just hiding behind menacing text messages this time. There’s a full-on slasher movie stalker following these girls around town, and he’s genuinely creepy looking in his mask and jumpsuit. (The characters assume this A is a “he,” although veterans will probably be wary of assuming anything about A’s identity.)

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin also stars Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, Maia Reficco, Mallory Bechtel, Sharon Leal, Elena Goode, Lea Salonga, Eric Johnson, and Alex Aiono. The first three episodes hit HBO Max on July 28, 2022.