A Grab Bag of Horror News, 21 to 27 Jan 2024

A selection of things that caught our attention in the world of horror this week

Bite-Sized Horror News

Vale Horror

Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor David Emge. Emge didn’t have a very long acting career, but his best-known role was as Stephen ‘Flyboy’ Andrews, the helicopter pilot in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). He also had minor roles in horror movies Basket Case 2 (1990) and Hellmaster (1992). RIP.

Horror Book Bits

Congratulations to all the authors who made the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot.
The Hugo Awards are under fire for excluding some books and authors that definitely had the votes to make them finalists in their categories. The Hugo Awards people are refusing to provide an explanation as to why these books and authors were deemed ineligible.
Wish you’d been there? If you’re curious about what happened at last weekend’s The House of Last Resort Weekend, Rebecca Rowland and Ginger Nuts of Horror will tell you.

Horror Movie Morsels

Netflix has reportedly spent $17 million to buy horror movie It’s What’s Inside.
The stage musical adaptation of vampire horror movie The Lost Boys is set to have an invitation-only presentation on 23 February 2024 in New York City. The actual production timeline is TBA but you can check out the teaser trailer on YouTube, which tbh doesn’t tell you anything.
The only horror movie to receive a nomination at the 2024 Oscars is Godzilla Minus One for the ‘Visual Effects’ category. But, it received 12 nominations at the Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
A new Jurassic Park movie is in development at Universal Pictures.
Another Steamboat Willie horror movie is in the works. The Return of Steamboat Willie is being created entirely in Unreal Engine by Fewture Studios. The synopsis reads “After 95 years of being locked away, Willie is free and he wants his Steamboat back”. Release date TBA.

Horror TV Treats

Wolf Pack will not get a second season. Although it hadn’t been officially renewed, the team was actively working on it but it looks like it’s been caught up in Paramount+’s cost-cutting.

“I had known early on that I wanted to be a writer. But it seemed that it wasn’t enough merely to be a writer. You had to sit down and write something.”
Lawrence Block, Telling Lies for Fun & Profit

Writing Horror

Off Limits Press will be open for Collection Pitches from 1 to 7 February 2024.
Haven Speculative will be open for general submissions from 1 to 28 February 2024.
In February 2024, Nyx Horror Collective begins a special series, Writes. Camera. Ax-tion!, for horror screenwriters to showcase their work.
Submissions are open for Slaughterhouse Press’s 80s Action/Scifi/Horror Anthology. They’re after “1980s action at its best. I’m talking explosions and gunfights and blood. I’m talking about absurd plots involving commandos and cyborgs and creatures and ninjas and warlords, a mix of all or one, etc. I’m looking for a story reflective of those cheesy 80s films that we all love and appreciate.” Submissions close 1 April 2024.

“Novels are written—as life is lived—One Day At A Time.”
Lawrence Block, Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror Movie Trailers

Somewhere Quiet. Psychological horror. A woman tries to readjusts to normalcy after a kidnapping but her sense of reality begins to deteriorate after she travels to her husband’s isolated family compound. Releases on VOD on 2 February 2024.
Gods of the Deep. Lovecraftian horror. When a daring mission leads a deep sea submarine team into a mysterious opening on the ocean floor, they uncover a lost underwater world and awaken its ancient race of otherworldly beings. Releases on VOD on 6 February 2024.
Cellphone. Psychological horror. Wynne is grieving the death of her fiancé when she starts seeing disturbing images on her cell phone about her future. Releases on VOD on 13 February 2024.
Midnight Peepshow. Dark fantasy horror anthology. A dark magical peepshow offers patrons a tailor-made experience based on their deepest fears, desires, and sins. Releases on digital and DVD on 13 February 2024.
DarkGame. Survival horror. A police detective races to save the captives of a dark web game show, where the losers are executed via live broadcast. For the sadistic masked host, this is all part of his master plan to gain ratings. Releases on VOD on 20 February 2024.
Stopmotion. Psychological horror. Ella Blake, a stop-motion animator struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother, embarks upon the creation of a film that becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her project take on a life of their own. Releases in cinemas and on digital on 23 February 2024.
Immaculate. Supernatural horror. Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarks on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors. Releases in cinemas on 22 March 2024.
You’ll Never Find Me. Survival horror. Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolated caravan park. After a violent thunderstorm erupts, a young woman appears at his door, seeking shelter from the weather. The longer the night wears on and the more the young woman discovers about Patrick, the more difficult she finds it to leave. Soon she begins to question Patrick’s intentions, while Patrick begins to question his own grip on reality. Releases on Shudder on 22 March 2024.

Horror Game Trailers

Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3. Toy survival horror-puzzle adventure. Try to survive the vengeful toys waiting for you in the abandoned toy factory. Explore the mysterious facility and don’t get caught. Releases on 30 January 2024.
Incantation. Based on the Taiwanese found footage horror movie about a mother, searching for her missing daughter, accidentally stumbling into a village filled with mysterious cults. Release date TBA.

“Write to please yourself.”
Lawrence Block, The Liar’s Companion: A Field Guide for Fiction Writers

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

6 horror books this week. Themes: Gothic, sapphic, ghost, vampire, splatter, and dystopian horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 21 to 27 Jan 2024

“Writing is a full-time job, it really is, and you never really take a vacation from it.”
Lawrence Block, The Liar’s Companion: A Field Guide for Fiction Writers

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

5 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, Frankenstein, post-apocalyptic, and survival horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 21 to 27 Jan 2024

“[The horror genre] never dies. It just keeps getting reinvented and it always will.”
John Carpenter, Interview Magazine

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Paranormal horror

See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 21 to 27 Jan 2024

“An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.”
Charles Dickens

What We Were Thinking About this Week

Great Resources on How to Write Horror
7 Small Town Horror Movies To Drop In On
7 Small Town Horror Novels You Might Like to Visit
To Be a Happy Man by Thomas Ha (short story, Lightspeed, Issue 264, January 2024)
Birds by Zin E. Rocklyn (short story, Apex Magazine)
Shadows & Ink: Mastering the Art of Horror Writing and Publishing by Joe Mynhardt (book)
Let Me Tell You A Story by Tim Waggoner (book)
Tales to Terrify Episode 626 (podcast)

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

And Now For Something Completely Different

Lilfourstudios aka Jestcomics on Instagram

Horror-Themed Shopping

See the FearSome Fiction shop for horror designs available on a wide variety of T-shirts, tanks, sweatshirts, and hoodies, as well as bags, notebooks, phone cases, pillows, duvets, blankets, bath mats, and more.