A Grab Bag of Horror News, 17 to 23 Aug 2025

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Horror Book Bits

Christian Francis is writing a novelization of 2003’s slasher horror movie Wrong Turn. It’s based on the original screenplay with “scenes that go deeper and darker than what wound up in the film”.
Jamie Nash, author of Save the Cat® Writes for TV, has 2 books coming in early Sep 2025: YA supernatural novel Haunted Girl and Save the Cat® Writes Horror.
Horrorsmith Publishing is running a Terrify Your Tablet day on 4 Oct 2025. Load up with free books, discounted reads, and dark fiction magazines.
The Twisted Spine is a new horror bookshop/cafe opening in New York City on 6 Sep 2025. Their grand opening will feature author Clay McLeod Chapman launching his new book Acquired Taste.

Horror Movie Morsels

Low-budget zombie horror movie Spawn of the Living Dead and creature horror movie Organism 46-B The Unseen will be shot at the same time in Vancouver in 2026 with the same line-up of actors.
Low-budget slasher horror movie Wicked of Oz is aiming for a Nov 2025 release. Don’t worry. There are no songs and no rainbows in this movie.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 has been rated R for bloody violence, and language.
Thailand has nominated A Useful Ghost as their international feature film Oscar nomination. The movie is about a spirit haunting a vacuum cleaner.
What is the real story behind Blumhouse ending up with the entire Saw franchise, and the non-appearance of Saw 11? Creative differences between the Twisted Pictures founders.
Stranger Things’ Duffer Brothers are leaving Netflix in Apr 2026 and will work on movies, TV shows, and streaming projects with Paramount in a new 4-year deal.
You might not want to take younger kids to see Sketch. Concerned parents are being very vocal on social media, with some calling for a boycott. If in doubt, have a listen to co-founder Jeff Harmon, who addressed some of the ‘issues’ on a livestream.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is getting a limited cinema release on 17 Oct before premiering on Netflix on 7 Nov 2025.

Horror TV Treats

Will Nicolas Cage be in True Detective, Season 5? Maybe.
Is Dexter: Original Sin really getting a Season 2? No, despite them saying in April that it had been renewed.
Is Stephen King’s The Institute getting a Season 2? Yes, it is.
South Korean game show Midnight Horror Story is getting a US version. In the show, actors tell chilling, comedic, stories which are “brought to life through immersive, cinematic reenactments”.

Horror Game Goodies

Good news if you’ve been waiting for the last 2 years for John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. The zombie horror game will release in early 2026.

Horror Music Moments

Target has a new Spooky Setlist vinyl album out on 29 Aug 2025, featuring ‘spooky’ songs by artists such as Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons, Lana Del Rey, and Danny Elfman.

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”
Philip Pullman

Writing Horror

Author Complaints, Conflicts of Interest at Fortis Publishing by Victoria Strauss (Writer Beware)

Some places accepting submissions

Tiny Terrors 2025 (Graveside Press)
Pays: 2 cents per word
Looking for: Anthology or standalone stories for their Tiny Terrors short fiction program
Submissions close: 31 Oct 2025

Extremities: Choose Your Own Death (Slashic Horror Press)
Pays: 40% royalties for both eBook and paperback
Looking for: Choose your own adventure queer adult horror
Submissions close: 1 December 2025

Upcoming submission calls

Dracula Beyond Stoker, Issue 8: Van Helsing
Pays: 5 cents per word + contributor’s copies
Theme: Van Helsing: What adventures did he have before the novel? Where did he go after? Are more monster battles in store?
Submissions open 1 Nov and close 31 Dec 2025

Open writing contests

Write Before Midnight (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Prizes: $3,000 for the winner and $500 for 4 runners-up
Theme: Existential threats with some conceivable connection to the apocalypse
Submissions close: 30 Sep 2025

“You can fix anything but a blank page.”
Nora Roberts

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

Devil May Cry, season 2. Animated supernatural horror. Dante vs. Vergil. Brother vs. brother. Netflix, 2026

Fallout, Season 2. Post-apocalyptic horror. The end of the world ain’t over yet. Prime Video, 17 Dec 2025

Wolf King, Season 2. Animated werewolf horror. As he fights for his throne, Drew learns the heavy burden of being king and the daunting task of choosing a queen. Netflix, 11 Sep 2025

Horror Movie Trailers

213 Bones. Slasher horror. Anthropology students find human bones and personal property scattered around their campus, and are targeted by a masked maniac. Release date TBA

Beast of War. Shark horror. A group of soldiers is stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean after their ship is sunk and they must battle for their lives against a giant hungry great white shark. VOD, 10 Oct 2025

Bitter Taste. Vampire horror. A former athlete is caught in the clutches of an undead countess and her cursed fellowship and has to fall back on her skills to survive a cannibalistic manhunt. VOD, 21 Oct 2025

Chain Reactions. Horror documentary. Charts the Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s impact on 5 artists – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama – through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, and psyche from childhood trauma. Cinema, 19 Sep 2025

Good Boy. Supernatural horror. A loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner. As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup fights to protect the one he loves most. Cinema, 3 Oct 2025

Portal to Hell. Supernatural comedy horror. A debt collector lives a life of routine until a portal to Hell opens in his local laundromat, followed by a demon sent to drag his neighbor to Hell for an unpaid debt. Release date TBA

Scared Shitless. Creature horror. A plumber and his germophobic son go on a routine house call where they encounter a killer creature in the pipes. VOD, 3 Oct 2025

Self-help. Psychological horror. A young woman infiltrates a self-actualization community after her mother becomes entangled with its enigmatic leader. Release date TBA

Sweetest Day. Slasher horror. Mindy prepares for the battle of her life against the undead confederate soldier who nearly killed her once before. Release date TBA

Your Host. Serial killer horror. Four friends are trapped in a sadistic game show, forced to outwit a twisted serial killer while racing against time. Release date TBA

Horror Game Trailers

Bye Sweet Carole. Narrative horror. Follow the last known whereabouts of Carole Simmons to uncover the dark truth behind the Bunny Hall orphanage. Releases 9 Oct 2025

Call of the Elder Gods. Lovecraftian horror. Explore a suite of different environments to solve puzzles and seek secrets beyond the human mind. Release date TBA

Dark Hours. Survival horror. Your heist has been disrupted by a supernatural event, and your team of robbers is now trapped with an evil entity. Forget your plan, your mission is to survive. Releases Fall 2025

Halloween. Stealth horror. Put on the iconic mask to become the ultimate slasher, Michael Myers, stalking and executing the citizens of Haddonfield one by one, or striving to thwart Myers’ plans as civilians determined to save the unaware townsfolk. Releases 2026

Prop Haunt. Psychological horror. Four ghosts haunt everyday objects to expand their influence in the physical world, while one lone investigator races to uncover and report the hauntings before they spiral out of control. Steam early access, 29 Aug 2025

“The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in.”
Henry Green

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

10 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, apocalypse, fairy tale, and robot horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 17 to 23 Aug 2025

“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”
Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

9 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, creature, and witch horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 17 to 23 Aug 2025

“A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.”
Graham Greene, The End of the Affair

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

0 horror TV shows this week.

“A story is based on what people think is important, so when we live a story, we are telling people around us what we think is important.”
Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

What We Were Thinking About this Week

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Draw You In: Collector’s Item by Jasper Bark – Book 1 of Draw You In Trilogy

This week’s horror book recommendations

No theme this week. Just good books.

Mean Spirited by Nick Roberts – Supernatural horror
“She listened as it got closer, and then she felt its breath on the side of her face.”

These Things Linger by Dan Franklin – Supernatural horror
“For not just one hunter lurks, but two. One the killer, and one the prey that thought itself a killer too.”

Haunted by Tamara Thorne – Haunted house horror
“Guess you think you’re some kind of expert. They all do, when they first show up.”

The Bleeding Season by Greg F. Gifune – Psychological horror
“…it was impossible to survive the darkest corners of his mind without first surviving the darkest corners of my own.”

The Wicked by James Newman – Supernatural horror
“The Great Fire of ’02 was the worst tragedy Morganville had ever witnessed.”

The Morningstar Confession by Matthew Lutton – Supernatural horror
“When you were first created, he looked at you in ways he never looked at me…”

A Shadow’s Wraith by J.B. Arnold – Psychological horror
“Either the old man would die in his hospital room or the comfort of a loved one’s home.”

“History isn't about dates and places and wars. It's about the people who fill the spaces between them.”
Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller

Horror Fun

The Lemon Sandwich 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.