Pretty Little Liars: Summer School images reveal masked slasher, creators talk Friday the 13th & Halloween inspiration

The television franchise that began with Pretty Little Liars on Freeform (starting back when the channel was known as ABC Family) and continued with two short-lived spin-offs on Freeform – Ravenswood and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists – moved over to the Max streaming service in 2022 with a new series called Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, which leaned further into horror territory. A second season of the new series, now titled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, is set to reach Max sometime in spring 2024, and now Cosmopolitan has unveiled a batch of images from the season (including a shot of a masked slasher) that the creators say was inspired by classic sequels Friday the 13th Part 2, Halloween II, and Scream 2!

This take on the Pretty Little Liars concept was created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring. It focuses on “new characters in the new fictional town of Millwood, PA and with multiple references to iconic horror movies (think Carrie and the original Halloween).” Season 1 had the following synopsis: Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in present day, a disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago… as well as their own.

The cast includes Bailee Madison as Imogen Adams, Chandler Kinney as Tabby Haworthe, Zaria as Faran Bryant, Maia Reficco as Noa Olivar, Bechtel as Karen/Kelly Beasley, Sharon Leal as Sidney Haworthe, Elena Goode as Marjorie Olivar, Eric Johnson as Sheriff Tom Beasley, Alex Aiono as Shawn Noble, Lea Salonga as Elodie Honrada, and Annabeth Gish as Dr. Sullivan. Jordan Gonzalez plays Ash Romero, who has been promoted from a recurring character to a series regular.

Aguirre-Sacasa and Bring told Cosmopolitan that Pretty Little Liars: Summer School will have “bigger, badder, and bolder” scares than Original Sin had, with Aguirre-Sacasa saying this about the masked slasher Bloody Rose: “We wanted our villain to feel quite apocalyptic and terrifying. And because most of our season is set during summer—besides taking inspiration from from our favorite slashers—we wanted it to feel a little more apocalyptic, like something like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or even Midsommar. There’s a lot of really horrific imagery tied to movies like that and we wanted to tap into those a little bit.“

When asked which three horror films viewers should watch before Pretty Little Liars: Summer School premieres, the creators answered:

Bring: Friday the 13th Part 2.

Aguirre-Sacasa: When a Stranger Calls.

Bring: I want to say Hellraiser, but that’s more atmospheric and less the summer horror.

Aguirre-Sacasa: One thing we’re having with is that this is a slasher sequel. So we reference part twos throughout. There’s a big set piece in episode five that’s really inspired by Friday the 13th Part 2. When we pick up right where the first season left off is Halloween II—we’re talking, of course, about the Jaime Lee Curtis OG Halloween.

Bring: I’d also say Scream 2 is a fun one! Our phone calls are Scream 2. We have a lot of iconography from Friday the 13th Part 2 with summer. Halloween II definitely picks up, especially with our with our A lore. It feels very John Carpenter.

Aguirre-Sacasa and Bring serve as executive producers with I. Marlene King, Michael Grassi, Leslie Morgenstein, and Gina Girolamo. Aguirre-Sacasa’s company Muckle Man Productions is producing Pretty Little Liars: Summer School with Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television. Muckle Man’s Jimmy Gibbons also receives a producing credit.

Will you be watching Pretty Little Liars: Summer School? Take a look at the images, then let us know by leaving a comment below. The fact that Friday the 13th Part 2 was a source of inspiration definitely has me interested in checking it out.