A Grab Bag of Horror News, 27 Oct to 2 Nov 2024

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Horror Book Bits

Hye-young Pyun’s psychological horror book The Hole is getting a movie adaptation.
Fab Press is putting together Bringing Darkness Instead of Light: Conversations with John Carpenter. Release date and pre-order date TBA.

Horror Movie Morsels

The Wayans brothers are returning to the Scary Movie franchise.
Supernatural movie Witchboard (1986) is getting a remake.
Robert Englund will play Pinocchio and Richard Brake will play Gepetto in Pinocchio: Unstrung.
Chandler Crump, Charlie Dennis, Helena Hawkes, Jared Leaf and Ariel Zengotita are the inaugural class of Jordan Peele’s No Drama initiative. They’ll each receive $50,000 to “create proof of concept or short films that explore horror across cultures, time, environments and society”.
Ridley Scott is working on a new Alien movie.
Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegal are hosting horror movie marathons on Shout! TV and Scream Factory TV on 15 November 2024. Flanagan’s Hush will make its AVOD premiere during the marathon.
Is the secret Predator movie coming in 2025 going to be an animated one rather than live action?
Horror short Monitor by Matt Black and Ryan Polly is getting the full movie treatment. The short is about a sleep-deprived late-night store clerk who sees a masked man in his store only on security camera feed. The full-length movie will see a demonic entity following a group of social media moderators across their screens after they refuse to publish a horrifying video.
Takashi Yamazaki is writing and directing a new Godzilla movie.

Horror TV Treats

The first pictures from IT: Welcome to Derry have Will Hanlon starting to tell his adult son, Mike, a story of his work at an army base in 1962.
Following the cancellation of the Chucky TV series after 3 seasons, Don Mancini promises that Chucky will return in some form and, whether TV or movie, the story continuity will remain.

Horror Game Goodies

First person horror puzzle game Bendy and the Ink Machine is getting a movie adaptation.
Action horror game House of the Dead is getting a movie adaptation.
Psychological horror game Outlast is getting a movie adaptation.
Scream’s Ghostface has made his way into the Mortal Kombat universe.

If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.
Orson Welles

Writing Horror

Some places accepting submissions

Stanchion
Pays: $200 for initial 100-copy run, then set royalties for additional print runs
Looking for: Speculative fiction short story, flash fiction, essay, prose poem, poetry, and hybrid collections, novels, novellas, and chapbooks
Submissions close: 7 November 2024
Latin American Shared Stories (Flame Tree Fiction)
Pays: 8 cents / 6 pence per word
Looking for: Stories that concern, celebrate or give agency to Latin American characters and issues
Submissions close: 15 December 2024
Pretend You Don’t See Her (Kandisha Press 2025 Women of Horror Anthology)
Pays: Royalties
Looking for: The Invisible Woman – the one you barely notice until the moment she reveals her true self underneath that unremarkable form.
Submissions close: 15 December 2024
Dracula Beyond Stoker, Issue 6
Pays: 5 cents per word
Theme: Jonathan Harker
Submissions close: 31 December 2024

Upcoming submission calls

Plott Hound Magazine
Pays: 8 cents per word
Looking for: Animal-centric speculative fiction
Submissions open 1 December and close 15 December 2024

“Stories never really end...even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page.”
Cornelia Funke, Inkspell

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror Movie Trailers

Daft State. Psychological horror. Easton is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most. VOD, 14 Nov 2024
The Damned. Supernatural horror. Eva, a 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, in the middle of an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing post. Eva and her crew must choose to either rescue the shipwrecked or survive the winter with their last remaining food. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choice. VOD, 3 Jan 2025
Go Away. Home invasion horror. During a family gathering, dinner is interrupted by five intruders who take the guests hostage and put them through a series of sadistic games. As the night goes on, the intruders realize they also may have something to fear. VOD, 6 Dec 2024
Heart Eyes. Slasher rom-com horror. For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, is no different. Cinema, 7 Feb 2025
The Invisible Raptor. Comedy creature horror. A hyper-intelligent invisible raptor escapes a lab and begins wreaking havoc in the surrounding neighborhood. It’s up to a disgraced paleontologist, his ex-girlfriend, an unhinged amusement park security guard, and a local celebrity chicken farmer to save the town from the raptor’s ravenous rampage. VOD, 6 Dec 2024
Meanwhile on Earth. French sci-fi horror. An unknown life form contacts a woman and claims to be able to bring her older brother, who disappeared during a space mission, safely back to Earth. Cinema, 8 Nov 2024
Orang Ikan. Japanese creature horror. During WW2, a soldier and prisoner of war are stranded on a desert island and hunted by an Orang Ikan (man fish). Premieres at Tokyo International Film Festival
Presence. Haunted house horror. A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone. Cinema, 24 Jan 2025
Replicator. Supernatural horror. When the most nefarious citizens of a small town suddenly make 180-degree turns to righteousness, a young, justice-seeking public defender, embarks on a journey that reveals otherworldly forces may be responsible, and that the way to virtue is a bloody, terrifying road. Release date TBA
Rita. Psychological horror. At an institution for troubled girls in Guatemala City, Rita finds herself at the center of an uprising by the seemingly-magical groups of girls who are sick of being exploited. Shudder, 22 Nov 2024
Worst Laid Plans. Holiday horror anthology. Three tales of vacation-themed horror adapted from the bestselling book by Grindhouse Press. Release date TBA

Horror Game Trailers

Don’t Be Afraid 2. Psychological horror. Relive the darkest moments of David’s life while exploring the horrific locations, gathering clues about his past, and solving puzzles left behind by the deranged murderer toying with his life. Available now
Ritual Tides. Supernatural horror. Find yourself washed ashore on an island beach with just one goal: uncover the island’s terrifying secrets. Releases Q3 2025
Slackjaw. Serial killer horror. Use your wits and resources to escape from a deranged serial killer’s basement. Releases Q4 2024.

“It's like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.”
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

13 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, AI, and weird horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 27 Oct to 2 Nov 2024

“But how could you live and have no story to tell?”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

8 horror movies and 1 horror documentary this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, apocalypse, serial killer, slasher, and western horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 27 Oct to 2 Nov 2024

“But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking.”
Mitch Albom, For One More Day

What We Were Thinking About this Week

“Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.”
Meg Cabot

And Now For Something Completely Different

Twonk Comics 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.