Credit: Matoo.Studio

The gothic romance revival really does have some legs, and Netflix seems to have something dark brewing.

This time, though, the genre’s staple creepy mansions and candlelit corridors are being traded for Mississippi, with two rather fired-up teenagers dropped slap-bang in the middle of whatever sinister business is rearing its head there.

All this appears in Sid & Zoey, an eight-episode YA project that Netflix has described as a gothic romance with a dash of supernatural mystery. So this is clearly not your girl-next-door teenage love story where an unread text causes misunderstandings.

Coming to the story, Sid is a sophisticated New York teenager with a seductive streak and, by Netflix’s own description, a fairly amoral outlook on life. He is sent away to the idyllic Mississippi town where his mother grew up and ends up living with the local police chief’s family, which sounds a bit uncomfortable, right?

Then comes Zoey, the chief’s smart-ass, punk-rock daughter. Obviously, they are attracted to each other, despite trying not to be. It’s Hobson’s choice!

Their already messy relationship soon takes a back seat when they realise something strange is going on beneath the town’s perfect-looking surface. And, well, whatever is hiding there seems far more serious than the usual Netflix small-town drama, and Sid and Zoey soon get pulled into a paranormal mystery that could actually get them killed.

Jon Kasdan, known for The First Time and Willow, created the series and will also write, executive produce and serve as showrunner. Ozark veteran John Shiban is on board as an executive producer, while JJ Abrams and Rachel Rusch Rich are involved through Bad Robot.

For now, Netflix is keeping the cast under wraps, so we still don’t know who will play Sid or Zoey. A release date hasn’t been announced either, which means we may have a bit of a wait ahead, but the premise already sounds promising.