Is Something Very Bad is Going to Happen Based on a True Story?

• Primary Subject: The real-life inspiration behind Something Very Bad is Going to Happen
• Key Update: The series is an original story created by Haley Z. Boston, heavily inspired by the "domestic horror" of the 1968 classic Rosemary's Baby.
• Status: Released March 26, 2026 (All 8 episodes streaming)
• Last Verified: April 6, 2026
• Quick Answer: Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is an original creation by Haley Z. Boston, drawing thematic and tonal inspiration from horror classics like Rosemary's Baby and Stephen King's Carrie.

As the internet is buzzing with theories about whether the twisted tale of matrimonial dread in Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is based on a true story or a hidden novel, the realistic inspiration and depiction are even more fascinating. Find out where show creator Haley Z. Boston's light bulb clicked.

Where Did the Inspiration for Something Very Bad is Going to Happen Come From?

Credit: Upside Down Pictures

Show Haley Z. Boston first took inspiration from modern horror classics like 1968's Rosemary's Baby and Stephen King's Carrie for the miniseries, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen.

"The overall tone lives in this unsettling, 'getting under your skin,' dread territory rather than jump scares," Boston said in a Tudum interview, referencing Carrie and Rosemary's Baby when it comes to the visuals and tone. "There's humor and absurdity, but there's also a lot of paranoia and tension and singular POV."

Just as Mia Farrow's Rosemary Woodhouse found herself alienated and taken advantage of by having been cursed with the birth of a child worshipped by satanists, Camila Morrone's Rachel Harkin is left seeing her fiancé as a stranger as their wedding approaches, rather than a partner she's about to explore a new aspect of life with.

While it's true that the show was inspired by cult classics, it's also somewhat a mix of reality, as the series also unfolded what women of today fear and dread the most: the horrifying reality of what lies beyond saying "I do."

What the True Horror Behind the Netflix Mini-Series Really Is

"When I was a kid, my mom said to me, 'You just need to make sure you don't marry the wrong person,'" Boston told Tudum, "The show is about the fear of marrying the wrong person."

Boston's own parents had been "together for 37 years or something," and yet, as Boston told the Los Angeles Times, it made the feeling worse.

"I felt all this pressure knowing that exists," Boston explained, "It always felt like a curse. You have this great example of what a marriage is, and I always found myself weighing every little romantic tryst against this 30-year marriage—which was unhelpful."

In truth, Boston was only 27 when she came up with the idea for the show. She told Variety about her fascination as to why and how "so many people she knew" were getting married as she was "approaching 30", even though it felt like "we were all too young to be doing that. The idea of making that lifelong commitment and the fear associated with that made natural sense to me to explore in a horror lens."

"It just felt like something I hadn't really seen before, a horror show about a fear of commitment," Boston told The Wrap, "It was something I was going through, so it was personal to me. [The genre] allows you to take all these internal feelings and externalize them."

For now, fans can watch all eight episodes of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen on Netflix.

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