Fearsome Fiction

A Grab Bag of Horror News, 22 to 28 Feb 2026

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

Table of Contents

Bite-Sized Horror News

Vale

  • Condolences to family, friends, and fans of author Dan Simmons. Simmons published more than 31 books and won many awards, including the Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Locus Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award. RIP.
  • Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Robert Carradine. Carradine’s horror credits include yet-to-be-released movies Night of the Living Dead and The 3 Killer Pigs. Some of his other horror movie and TV series credit include Ghosts of Mars (2001), Lycanthrope (1999), The Tommyknockers (1993), The Hitchhiker (1989), The Twilight Zone (1986), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985). RIP.

Horror Book Bits

Horror Movie Morsels

Horror TV Treats

Horror Game Goodies

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

― Bernard M. Baruch

Writing Horror

Between 1 Mar and 30 Jun 2026, screenwriters can submit their horror screenplay to The Black List with a selected screenplay to be produced and distributed by Tubi.

Some places accepting submissions

Horror Library anthology Vol 10 (Dark Moon Books)
Pays: USD 2 cents per word
Looking for: Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Submissions close: 9 Mar 2026

Newsela original fictionPays: $1500
Looking for: Original short fiction that students want to read, stories that grab them from the first sentence and refuse to let go. Vibrant storytelling that spans Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Adventure, Love, and Contemporary Realistic Fiction.
Submissions close: 15 Mar 2026

SNAFU: Level Up (Cohesion Press)
Pays: AUD 5 cents per word
Looking for: LitRPG-style story, where characters gain skills and level up their abilities during the combat with horrendous beasts (horror, fantasy, or tech litRPG)
Submissions close: 31 Mar 2026

Surveillance horror/weird fiction anthology (Cursed Morsels)
Pays: USD 5 cents per word + physical copy
Looking for: One story that’s at least a little bit about ICE/fascist occupation
Submissions close: 31 Mar 2026

Teeth anthology (DreamPunk Press)
Pays: $200
Looking for: Eerie, creepy, or gothic horror fiction
Submissions close: 31 Mar 2026

Waxen
Pays: USD $50 + contributor copy for US contributors only
Looking for: the weird, the occult, the surreal, and the horrific

“In the light, we read the inventions of others; in the darkness we invent our own stories.”

― Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

Summer of 1985. Swedish mermaid horror. In the summer of 1985, a group of friends discovers an ancient creature on the mythical island of Svärtan. Release date TBA

Horror Movie Trailers

Backrooms, teaser. Psychological horror. A series of disturbing home videos captures supernatural events that terrorize their witnesses. Cinema, 29 May 2026

The Coming. Psychological horror. Forced to scrounge for work at the crumbling Mt. Carmel Psychiatric Hospital, psychiatrist Sam Allyn sees his salvation in curing a mysterious patient. Release date TBA

The Cure. Psychological horror. Afflicted with a mysterious illness, Ally discovers that her billionaire adoptive parents have sinister designs linked to her recovery and the surrounding community. VOD, 13 Apr 2026

Ever After. Survival horror. A group of friends at a forest lodge discover that the forest is home to bloodthirsty lunatics who perceive themselves to be characters from classic fairy tales. Release date TBA

Faces of Death. Psychological horror. A content moderator for a major video platform must determine whether the violence she’s watching is fiction or unfolding in real time. Cinema, 10 Apr 2026

Foreigner. Supernatural horror. Iranian immigrant Yasamin is desperate to fit in at her new Canadian high school. As she transforms into the perfect 2004 It Girl, something ancient and horrifying awakens. Release date TBA

In a Violent Nature 2, teaser. Slasher horror. Johnny’s violent rampage leads him to a summer camp where a young, outcast camper is forced to spend the night with his counselor sister and her friends at their annual end-of-season party. Release date TBA

Night Terror. Psychological horror. A woman’s nightly episodes of sleep paralysis worsen her mental state, and paranormal investigators suggest her condition may have supernatural origins. Release date TBA

Pretty Lethal. Survival horror. Five ballerinas, on their way to a prestigious dance competition, are barely on speaking terms when their bus breaks down in a remote forest. With no other options, they reluctantly seek shelter at an unsettling roadside inn. VOD, 25 Mar 2026

The Serpent’s Skin. Supernatural horror. Anna escapes from her small, transphobic town, develops a romantic relationship with a goth tattoo artist, and the two women unwittingly unleash a demon that begins feeding on their friends. VOD, 21 Apr 2026

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, teaser. Slasher horror. After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director for resurrection. Cinema, 7 Aug 2026

Trucker. Revenge horror. Rescued from the crash that killed his family and nursed back to health by a mysterious old man, the trucker exacts brutal revenge on the teens who destroyed his life. VOD, 10 Mar 2026

Horror Game Trailers

Dark Pals: The 1st Floor. Mascot horror. Traverse the unsettling halls of an abandoned asylum to encounter a suite of different mascots, solve puzzles, and survive. Release date TBA

Deep Fog Signals. Puzzle horror. Stuck in an outpost deep in a sea of toxic fog, your crew has been decimated, you’re cut off from the outside world, and oxygen is running out. Coordinate unstable crewmates, conduct esoteric research, and interpret strange signals from the deep. Release date TBA

Flesh and Wire. Psychological horror. Angel, a hapless victim suddenly swept up in a fever dream of conspiracy and blood, seeks answers and vengeance against the crazed gunman who changed her life forever. Releases 2027

Runt. Gothic visual novel horror. Runt is the youngest of five brothers, surviving a monstrous post-apocalypse in the town of Skipclaw, cloaked in bleak darkness since the sky turned black ten years ago. Release date TBA

Senara: The Sacrament. Survival horror. Set sail aboard a haunting ship to face off against hidden cults. Release date TBA

“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”

― Mortimer J. Adler, How to Read a Book

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

8 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghosts, cosmic, serial killer, and revenge horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 22 to 28 Feb 2026

“What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.”

― Logan Pearsall Smith, All trivia

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

8 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, slasher, comedy, and cabin in the woods horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 22 to 28 Feb 2026

“For me, the imagination which so often kept me awake and in terror as a child has seen me through some terrible bouts of stark raving reality as an adult.”

― Stephen King, Nightmares and Dreamscapes

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Monster horror

See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 22 to 28 Feb 2026

“Reading is going toward something that is about to be, and no one yet knows what it will be.”

― Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler

What We Were Thinking About this Week

What We’ve Been Reading This Week

The Midnight Shift by Jon Holt (original short story, FearSome Fiction)

My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie (novel)

The Queen by Nick Cutter (novel)

What We’re Recommending This Week

Did you know I recommend one horror book every day of the year on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and Twitter?

This week’s horror book recommendations

Theme: Alien invasion horror

Overgrowth by Mira Grant
“This is a story. It can’t hurt you anymore.”

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr
“Norris and Blair agree on one thing; that animal we found was not – terrestrial in origin.”

The Border by Robert McCammon
“The boy who was running ran into the rain.”

Extinction Dream by Andrew Najberg
“In front of me, a curved bank of fourteen screens, one for each of the enemies.”

Veil by Jonathan Janz
“It’s possible he’s just run ahead or merely hiding, but I know in my gut that he’s gone.”

Black Tide by KC Jones
“It was just another day at the beach. Then the world ended.”

Emergence by JK Franks
“He squinted, trying to make out the shape in the murky water.”

“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.”

― Immanuel Kant

Horror Fun

4-panel comic from Kristian Nygård (Optipess) on Instagram. 1: Weird creatures are moving through the countryside. 2: One calls out, 'CAR!!' 3: The creature starts to wrap itself in a white bag. 4: A car is driving along a road and there are many white-covered things that look like covered hay bales in the paddocks.

Kristian Nygård (Optipess) on Instagram

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.

Jayson

Psst … If you know someone who might like these emails, tell them to sign up here. It’s free.

Published: 28 February 2026

Horror Book of the Week

These Familiar Walls

Horror Movie of the Week

The Cure

Have you read...

Subscribe