A Grab Bag of Horror News, 18 to 24 Feb 2024
A selection of things that caught our attention in the world of horror this week
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Table of Contents
Bite-Sized Horror News
Horror Book Bits
- Congratulations to all the nominees who made it into the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards final ballot.
- Congratulations to all the finalists in the inaugural Libby Awards.
- Congratulations to all the finalists in the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
- A BookTok influencer has called out Tor Books for using AI-generated images as part of the cover design for dark academia novel Gothikana by RuNyx.
- Look out for Archie Comics: Judgment Day on 22 March 2024. The comic will be a three-issue series setting the lovable Archie Comics characters in a supernatural world where demons have overrun Riverdale.
- EC Comics is relaunching in Summer 2024. In 1956, EC Comics stopped publishing all their titles except Mad after a censorship spat with the Comics Code Authority. Tales from the Crypt was one of those discontinued. The first two new titles will be Epitaphs from the Abyss, launching in June, and Cruel Universe, launching in August 2024.
Horror Movie Morsels
- The remake of The Crow, starring Bill Skarsgård, is set for release on 7 June 2024.
- Stephen King isn’t happy that WB is still sitting on the new Salem’s Lot It was originally supposed to be released in 2022, then it was moved to 2023, but [looks at calendar] it’s now 2024 and it’s still locked away.
- Sony has bought the movie rights to unpublished Joe Hill short story Ushers. Don’t know what it’s about.
Horror TV Treats
- True Detective has been renewed for Season 5 and will be overseen by Issa López, the showrunner for Season 4. True Detective, Season 4, was the most-watched season of the series, with 12.7 million viewers across platforms.
- Ryan Murphy posted an audio teaser on Instagram for a new horror TV show called Grotesquerie coming to FX in the fall. FX is not commenting.
Horror Festival Fare
- Horror, thriller, sci-fi festival Panic Fest is back for its 11th year from 4 to 10 April 2024 in Kansas City, MO, with both in-person and online events. This year’s festival has over 150 films, as well as some “retro programming and horror icons”.
- This year’s Chattanooga Film Festival, 21–24 June 2024, has both in-person and online programs. The films and special events include a salute to The Twilight Zone and Anne Serling will be there for a special 100th birthday celebration for her father.
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers“Showing means having characters do things that excite our interest, making those pages visual, letting us see what happens firsthand.”
Writing Horror
Some places to submit your horror stories.
- At the Edge of Darkness anthology (Shotgun Honey)
Theme: Crime and horror
Submissions close: 29 February 2024 - Monstrous magazine (Monstrous Books)
Theme: A horror story dealing with time travel
Submissions open on 1 March and close on 15 March 2024 - Book Worms Horror Zine Issue #5
Theme: Rock ‘n Roll. “From hair-raising riffs to head-banging oblivion, horror and rock n roll are a match made in Hell!”
Submissions close 30 April 2024 - Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell anthology (Tundra Swan Press)
Theme: Strong, character-driven stories where your main characters struggle in some way with their ghosts, or the ghosts of others, against truths being either suppressed or exposed
Submissions open on 1 March and close on 30 April 2024 - Story Unlikely
“We like stories that cross genres, experiment, and push the boundaries of literature while maintaining the utmost quality in literary technique and storytelling, which is why we’re open to just about anything.”
Submissions close: 29 September 2024
Elmore Leonard, Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing“When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.”
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror Movie Trailers
- T-Blockers. Supernatural horror. Sophie is a young filmmaker obsessed with finding a long-lost film. An earthquake unleashes ancient parasites that thrive on hatred, causing outbursts of violence. Now Sophie and her friends, struggling with dating and their undesirable jobs, must also face off against an ancient evil that spreads like wildfire. Releases on VOD on 5 March 2024.
- Boy Kills World. Dystopian post-apocalyptic horror. Deaf, voiceless, and orphaned ‘Boy’ vows revenge after his family is murdered by a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty. Boy trains to become an instrument of death and is set loose on the eve of the annual culling of dissidents. He falls in with a desperate resistance group, all the while bickering with the apparent ghost of his rebellious little sister. Releases in cinemas on 26 April 2024.
- Peter Rabid. Slasher horror. A group of former school friends reunite in a secluded mansion after the death of one of their former classmates. However, their mourning is cut short as masked maniacs, controlled by a deranged cult, arrive with murderous intent. Release date TBA.
- Something in the Water. Shark horror. Five friends fight for their lives in open water after a dream wedding turns into a nightmare. Releases in the UK on 5 July 2024. USA release date TBA.
Horror Game Trailers
- Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Sci-fi clown horror. In the battle between the Killer Klowns and the citizens of Crescent Cove, team up and use your wits to harvest humans or save them from the alien invasion. Releases on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on 5 June 2024.
- Silent Breath. Survival horror. Unpredictable horrors lurk around every corner, forcing you to find missing people while desperately clinging to survival. Even your own mind can become your enemy. Stay vigilant and keep your voice hushed, or risk becoming another victim of the forest’s darkness. Release date TBA.
Ernest Hemingway“Never confuse movement with action.”
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
10 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, haunted house, dark fantasy, folklore, erotic, urban legend, and Frankenstein horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 18 to 24 Feb 2024
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers“Our instinct as human beings is to provide answers, to ease tension. As writers our job is the opposite, to create tension and not dispel it immediately.”
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
5 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, cosmic, and survival horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 18 to 24 Feb 2024
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers“A writer cannot be a Pollyanna. He is in the business of writing what other people think but don’t say….”
What We Were Thinking About this Week
- 8 More Horror Novels Based on Urban Legends
- Evan: A Remainder by Jordan Kurella (short story, Reactor)
- Threads for Flies by Jacob Steven Mohr (short story, Story Unlikely)
- Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror (anthology)
- Solutions for Writers by Sol Stein (writing advice)
- “Calling Cards” Ep 240 Chilling Tales for Dark Nights (Horror Fiction Podcast) Creepypastas
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers“All storytelling from the beginning of recorded time is based on somebody wanting something, facing obstacles, not getting it, trying to get it, trying to overcome obstacles, and finally getting or not getting what he wanted.”
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Published: 24 February 2024
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