A Grab Bag of Horror News, 20 to 26 Jul 2025

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Vale

Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Jimmy Hunt. At just 6-years-old, Hunt was scouted for a role in 1953 sci-fi horror movie Invaders from Mars. He retired from acting at the age of 14. RIP.

Horror Book Bits

Author Eric LaRocca is touring the US in Sep 2025 and the UK in Oct 2025 to celebrate the release of We Are Always Tender With Our Dead
Congratulations to author Tim Waggoner for two 2025 Scribe Awards nominations: Terrifier 2: The Official Novelization for Adapted Novel and short story Here There Be Monsters for Short Story.
Congratulations to author Jonathan Maberry for Godzilla vs. Cthulu being a finalist for Graphic Novel in the 2025 Scribe Awards.
The scripts for the first 2 The Last of Us video games will be published in book form in Dec 2025.
Stephen King’s psychological horror novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is getting a movie adaptation that might actually happen this time.
Ghostface voice actor Roger L. Jackson will narrate the audiobook version of Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror by Ashley Cullins, releasing on 19 Aug 2025.
Comic book Return to Sleepy Hollow is a sequel to the 1999 Tim Burton Sleepy Hollow movie set 15 years after the events in the movie. The comic releases in Oct 2025.
Algernon Blackwood’s ghost horror story The Occupant of the Room is getting a movie adaptation.

Horror Movie Morsels

A remake of 1922 ‘lost’ Lon Chaney psychological horror movie, A Blind Bargain, will premiere at FrightFest in August.
Director Renny Harlin describes The Strangers: Chapter 2 as “a town invasion” on a much bigger scale and says Chapter 3 won’t be too far behind.
The 8th V/H/S found footage anthology movie, V/H/S/Halloween, releases on Shudder on 3 Oct 2025.
Production will start in Sep 2025 on slasher sequel In a Violent Nature 2.
Marvel Studio’s chief Kevin Forge said the Blade reboot “is still in the works”, but didn’t say when we can expect it.

Horror TV Treats

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been renewed for a 4th (and final) season.
CBS has ordered a pilot of a vampire comedy series called Eternally Yours.
Anne Rice’s dark fantasy horror series Talamasca: The Secret Order is coming to AMC and AMC+ in Oct 2025.
Season 2 of South Korean zombie series All of Us are Dead has begun production.
Wednesday has been renewed for season 3 and a “top secret” spinoff is also in the works.
We won’t be seeing The Last of Us, Season 3, until 2027The first 2 episodes of unscripted horror-based competition show Guts & Glory premiere on Shudder and AMC+ on 9 Sep 2025.

Horror Game Goodies

Shudder has acquired the movie adaptation of The Mortuary Assistant, which will release in 2026.
Fortnite has added integrations from upcoming horror movie Weapons.
Wolfenstein is getting a TV series adaption.
Preorders are open for board game Stranger Things Welcome to the Hellfire Club. The game officially releases on 7 Oct 2025.

Horror Music Moments

Slash is creating an original score for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Scarecrow haunted house. There will also be a themed “Slash Bar” with cocktails inspired by Slash’s music.

“There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.”
P.G. Wodehouse

Writing Horror

Contract Controversy (and Change) at Must Read Magazines by Victoria Strauss (Writer Beware)

Some places accepting submissions

No Gods No Masters anthology (Sans Press)
Pays: €200
Looking for: Stories inspired by the title and/or the cover artwork
Submissions close: 31 Aug 2025

Upcoming submission calls

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
Pays: 8 cents per word for new fiction, 2 cents per word for reprints
Looking for: Science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form
Submissions open 1 Aug and close 2 Aug 2025

The Fabulist
Pays: $100
Looking for: Fantastical and speculative flash fiction
Submissions open 5 Aug and close 6 Aug 2025

“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 3. Zombie apocalypse horror. Danger lurks in new places. And this time its headed to Spain. AMC, AMC+, 7 Sep 2025

Horror Movie Trailers

The Balconettes. French comedy horror. In the middle of a Marseille heatwave, three roommates meddle in their neighbors’ lives from their balcony, until a late-night drink spirals into a bloody confrontation. Limited, 22 Aug 2025

Death Letter Blues. Psychological horror. A mysterious death rattles a small town, and a troubled priest discovers haunting parallels between the tragedy and his recurring nightmares. Limited release, 7 Aug 2025

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Animatronic horror. One year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. When Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, it sets into motion a terrifying series of events, revealing dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy’s. Cinema, 5 Dec 2025

Keeper. Supernatural horror. A romantic anniversary trip to a secluded cabin turns sinister when a dark presence forces a couple to confront the property’s haunting past. Cinema, 14 Nov 2025

The Long Walk. Dystopian horror. A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot. Cinema, 12 Sep 2025

Night of Violence. Survival horror. A group becomes trapped in their office after scoring a win against the public in a high-stakes class action lawsuit. But the townspeople decide to don masks and seek out bloody vengeance. Release date TBA

Predator: Badlands. Alien horror. A young Predator outcast from his clan finds an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary. Cinema, 7 Nov 2025

Primitive War. Dinosaur horror. In 1968 Vietnam, a recon unit is sent to an isolated jungle valley to look for a missing platoon but soon discover they are not alone. Cinema, 21 Aug 2025

The Rows. Home invasion horror. Seven-year-old Lucy wakes up in a cornfield, wounded, confused, and hunted by masked killers. With the sun fading fast, Lucy relies on her instincts, a loyal family dog, and an otherworldly golden creature to survive. Release date TBA

Silent Night, Deadly Night. Slasher horror. A child witnesses his parents’ murder by a man in a Santa suit. Years later, as an adult, he dons a Santa costume himself and embarks on a violent quest for retribution. Cinema, 12 Dec 2025

Sweet Revenge. Short Jason Universe horror. Jason Universe YouTube, 13 Aug 2025

The Undertone. Supernatural horror. When a podcast host receives 10 audio recordings of a young pregnant couple experiencing paranormal noises, she realizes the woman’s story is a mirror of her own. Release date TBA

War of the Worlds. Sci-fi horror. A grounded sci-fi film in the vein of District 9, that touches on themes of privacy versus surveillance. VOD, 30 Jul 2025

We’re Not Safe Here. Psychological horror. After vanishing, a woman returns with a chilling tale. Now, she and her friend are hunted by a dark force that twists fear into reality. VOD, 22 Aug 2025

Horror Game Trailers

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival. Survival horror. Aidan must unlock the dark powers of a mysterious puzzle box to help his girlfriend from a hellish abyss. Harness the box’s infernal abilities to survive your pact with Pinhead and battle against the twisted cult that worships him and the Cenobites. Release date TBA

Eclipsium. Lovecraftian horror. Embark on a perilous journey into the supernatural as the landscape shifts beneath you. Releases Fall 2025

Engraving. Adventure horror. Your only weapons are ink, paper, and will. Explore shifting paths, chart them by hand, and uncover ancient secrets buried beneath root and stone. Release date TBA

“A good book is an event in my life.”
Stendhal, The Red and the Black

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

10 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, technology, haunted house, dark academia, monster, dark fantasy, and zombie apocalypse horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 20 to 26 July 2025

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.”
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

9 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, post-apocalyptic, creature, serial killer, and slasher horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 20 to 26 July 2025

“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”
G.K. Chesterton

And Now For Something Completely Different

TheOdd1sOut 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.