The stars of Scream — David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Neve Campbell — had a good reason to get back together for EW’s Reunions photo shoot on July 20: They were already together in Ann Arbor, Mich., filming the highly anticipated fourth film in the hit slasher franchise. Scream 4, due in theaters April 15, finds sheriff Dewey (Arquette), former tabloid newshound Gale (Cox), and newly published author Sidney (Campbell) once again targeted by the knife-wielding Ghostface. “For years now, it’s always been ‘When are you guys gonna do another one?’ ” says Campbell, 37. “And I’d say, ‘No, no.’ And here we are!”

So what can Scream fans expect from this latest installment of the horror phenomenon? Well, first of all, Sidney has written a self-help book. “She ends the book tour with going to Woodsboro and there she finds her cousin and her aunt and some friends and trouble ensues,” says Campbell. (It’s Kind of a Funny Story‘s Emma Roberts plays Sid’s cousin, Jill, and Battlestar Galactica‘s Mary McDonnell plays Sid’s aunt, Kate).

Meanwhile, Gale and Dewey have settled into a life of domestic bliss in Woodsboro, which is driving Gale nuts. (At the time of EW’s interview, the real-life couple, Cox and Arquette, were pre-separation, still enjoying domestic bliss themselves.) “We’ve been married for 10 years,” says Cox. “I kinda gave up my job as the entertainment journalist. I’ve written six books, but now I have major writer’s block. I’m bored with my life and bored with my marriage and bored with the silly small town of Woodsboro.” Sidney’s return helps get Gale’s investigative juices flowing again. Says Cox, “It’s actually the anniversary of the first killing in Woodsboro. When she arrives to promote her book, things start happening, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Scream fans are well-versed in the rules of survival, as established by Randy (Jamie Kennedy) in the first three films. Well, expect similar rules for Scream 4. “I think it has echoes to the first [film],” says director Wes Craven. “There’s been a whole decade of horror films that in one way or another followed a certain pattern. Like you had torture porn, [and] a ton of remakes. The first [Scream] was very much observing where horror had been for the last 10 to 20 years. And this is very much looking at where horror has been for the last 10 years. There’s always somebody trying to figure out what the rules are to keep from getting killed.”

For more from the cast of Scream 4, pick up the new Reunions issue of EW on newsstands now.