Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. A huge loss to the world. RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- Grady Hendrix’s sci-fi comedy novella BadAsstronauts is getting a movie adaptation.
- Stranger Things: The Official Story Behind the Legendary Series, coming 30 Jun 2026, is a companion book to all 5 seasons of the TV show and will be available exclusively through Target.
- Suntup Editions has fancy, signed, limited editions of Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart available for preorder. There’s a Classic Edition, and Numbered Edition, and a Lettered Edition. They all look really nice.
- Joe R. Lansdale is contributing a new story to EC Comics issue 9 of Catacomb of Torment which releases on 18 Mar 2026.
Horror Movie Morsels
- Romania is building a Dracula-themed entertainment park, Dracula Land with an ambitious launch date is 2026-2027. There’ll be 6 different districts, over 40 attractions, combined with storytelling and technology. It will also have accommodation, retail, dining, entertainment options, a water park, a race track, and a technology hub.
- Not really horror, but YouTube will start hosting the Academy Awards from 2029.
- Erotic sci-fi horror movie Soulm8te has been removed from the move release date calendar with no explanation.
- 1959 sci-fi horror movie The Wasp Woman is getting a “comedic reimagining”.
- It appears that Space Godzilla might be a part of 2027’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.
- Sinners scored 8 Academy Award 2026 nominations. Other horror movies that made the shortlist: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein x 6, Bugonia x 2, Weapons x 1, KPop Demon Hunters x 1.
- Popeye sequel Shiver Me Timbers 2: Chainsaws are for Children will add Tarzan and Betty Boop into the character mix.
- Apparently the sequel to 2018’s Freaks, Freaks Underground, has wrapped production even though no one seems to have known it was even a thing.
- If you’re interested, you can read the Sinners script on Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series.
- Full Moon recently ran a poll asking fans to select their next productions for 2026 and the results are in. Winners include Models vs. Werewolves, The Grim Rapper, and Terror Express, plus another 6 titles.
- Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death is getting a movie adaptation.
- Egypt’s first official giant monster movie , Oscar: The Return of the Mammoth, is screening in cinemas in Egypt but there’s no word on international release dates yet.
Horror TV Treats
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is getting a prequel series about young Lee Shaw.
- IT: Welcome to Derry, Season 1, is available for preorder as a Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD Steelbook, Blu-ray, or DVD with a release date of 5 May 2026.
- Stranger Things will “light up the sky” in Las Vegas on the evening of Sun, 28 Dec 2025. The show is an outdoor event and will include surprise giveaways.
- 4K Blu-ray restorations of the 1979 Salem’s Lot miniseries and the shorter theatrical cut will be released at the end of Mar 2026.
- The 1st episode of Better Noise Films’ anthology web series You’re History streams for free on Mon, 22 Dec 2025, on YouTube. This episode features heavy metal band Sabaton and their single Crossing the Rubicon reimagined as a slasher. Not sure when further episodes of the series will debut.
Horror Game Goodies
- Rumor is that there’s a new Alien video game in development.
- The developers of Horses, which was banned from Steam and the Epic Games store, say they sold over 18,000 copies of the game which allowed them to break even but it’s not enough to keep the studio open.
Horror Music Moments
- Ice Nine Kills teased a collaboration with Scream 7.
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
― Jorge Luis Borges
Writing Horror
Some places accepting submissions
Black Horror, Then & Next (Flame Tree Fiction)
Pays: 8 cents/6 pence per word
Looking for: Submissions from Black authors who are engaged with the genre’s history and also eager to reimagine it
Submissions close: 14 Jan 2026
Summer in the City anthology (Ruadán Books)
Pays: USD 10 cents per word
Looking for: Dark speculative fiction stories in which the city isn’t just a setting, it’s a character
Submissions close: 31 Jan 2026
Upcoming submission calls
Inner Worlds
Pays: £0.02 per word
Looking for: Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus
Submissions open 1 Jan and close 14 Jan for marginalised groups, open 15 Jan and close 31 Jan for general submissions
Short Story Substack, Jan 2026
Pays: USD $100 + 50% of subscription revenue
Looking for: Any genre, 6 to 10,000 words
Submissions open 1 Jan and close 31 Jan 2026
“Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
Stranger Things, Season 5, Volume 2. Paranormal horror. As the anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance approaches, the group must unite for a final battle against a new deadly threat. Netflix, 25 Dec 2025
Horror Movie Trailers
Amityvillenado. Comedy horror. In the wake of a devastating storm that destroys the infamous DeFeo house, a paranormal entity merges with a malevolent tornado, unleashing an otherworldly force upon the town of Amityville. Release date TBA
Disclosure Day, teaser. Sci-fi horror. If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. Cinema, 12 Jun 2026
Dooba Dooba. Found footage horror. In-home security cameras watch as an awkward 16-year-old girl terrorizes her well-meaning babysitter. VOD, 23 Jan 2026
Grizzly Night. Animal horror. A rookie park ranger must lead a group of frightened strangers when Glacier National Park becomes the scene of deadly grizzly attacks. VOD, 30 Jan 2026
Hokum, teaser. Witch horror. When a reclusive novelist retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Cinema, 1 May 2026
In the Name of God. Swedish psychological horror. A priest gains popularity after his wife miraculously survives a deadly illness. But when the authenticity of the miracle is questioned, he has to prove it was God’s power that saved her, which plunges him into the depths of the occult. Screambox, 23 Dec 2025
The Observance. Cult horror. After five years in a coma, Madison Neubauer awakens to discover that her home and family are ensnared by a ruthless religious cult hell-bent on preserving its darkest secrets. Limited AMC Theatres, 13 Feb 2026
Omukade, new teaser. Thai creature horror. In WW2, trapped in a mine, Japanese soldiers and their captives are forced to confront a terrifying, ancient monster lurking in the shadows. Release date TBA
The Plague. Psychological horror. At an all-boys’ water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real. Limited release, 24 Dec 2025
Send Help, trailer 2. Survival horror. Two colleagues are stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. They must overcome past grievances and work together to survive. Cinema, 30 Jan 2026
Horror Game Trailers
Holstin. Psychological horror. In an eerie, isolated 90’s Polish town where everyone seems possessed, explore the festering town, interrogate locals and fight ungodly manifestations to get to the truth. Release date TBA
Horripilant. Psychological horror. Kill your god. Become worthy. Releases 13 Feb 2026
Inkblood. Mystery horror. Wicked sorcery abounds, rotting the minds of people and the very fabric of reality itself. Prove your worth as the Inquisitor, figure out what is happening, and don’t fail the Inquisition as your predecessor did. Release date TBA
Mourning Tide. Fishing horror. A guilt-ridden fisherman sails into forbidden waters. With every catch, the echoes of his life rise to the surface. Unravel the past, seek redemption’s light, or be consumed by the Mourning Tide. Releases 30 Apr 2026
World War Z x The Walking Dead. Zombie horror. Includes a new campaign featuring three stories, starring characters from AMC’s The Walking Dead, including Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Negan, and Michonne, with the voices of Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus reprising their characters. Releases Jan 2026
“He never went out without a book under his arm, and he often came back with two.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
7 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, creature, apocalypse, and home invasion horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 14 to 20 Dec 2025
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
― Cicero
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
7 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, survival, and dystopian horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 14 to 20 Dec 2025
“They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to middle Earth.”
― George R.R. Martin
A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week
2 horror TV shows this week. Themes: Post-apocalyptic and anthology horror
See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 14 to 20 Dec 2025
“When I am dead, I hope it may be said: “His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.”
― Hilaire Belloc
What We Were Thinking About this Week
25 Christmas Horror Book Recommendations for 2025
Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow (anthology)
The Ones at the Top Didn’t Fall There by Joule K. Zelman (short story, Cosmic Horror Monthly)
This week’s horror book recommendations
Theme: Christmas horror
Hail Santa! by John McNee
“Today I think I’d like to tell you a different story.”
I Killed a Vampire For My Christmas Break by Sam Whittaker
“Nineteen-ninety-four was on its way out when it happened.”
I’ll Be Alone For Christmas by Kristin Mulligan
“I didn’t plan on being alone on Christmas. It just kind of happened.”
Humbug by Luciano Marano
“He had no patience for the concept of forgiveness.”
The Dark Days of Christmas by Graham Masterton & Karolina Mogielska
“…the blood…looked like an action painting of a leaping reindeer, complete with antlers.”
Krampus’ Tree Farm by Shawn Winchell
“I started hating Christmas out of necessity.”
The Christmas Killer by J.R. Mitchell Fletcher
“It was the Christmas season, and everyone knew that the crime rate would spike upward.”
“When you read a book, you hold another’s mind in your hands.”
― James Burke
Horror Fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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Oh, hey … We may be taking a break next week since we’ll be trapped in the liminal space that is the void between Christmas and New Year. If we don’t make it out while it’s still 2025, we’ll be back in 2026. Stay safe. Stay healthy. And we hope your 2026 is filled to overflowing with horror fiction in all its forms and glory.
