A Grab Bag of Horror News, 18 to 24 May 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 actress Ella Mae Smith. Smith played one of the zombies in Night of the Living Dead (1968) and always made “time to meet with visiting fans and escort them around her property and the adjacent filming location where the farmhouse originally stood”. RIP.
Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actress Kathleen Hughes. Hughes’s horror credits include It Came From Outer Space (1953), Cult of the Cobra (1955), and 2 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. RIP.

Horror Book Bits

Bill Wood’s YA horror novel Let’s Split Up is getting a TV series.
Adam Cesare is writing the official movie novelization of The Toxic Avenger.
Marvel Comics’ Black, White & Blood is publishing four Venom comics, beginning on 20 Aug 2025.
A special hardcover version of Richard Corben’s Lovecraftian comic Rat God is available for pre-order with a release date of 18 Nov 2025.

Horror Movie Morsels

Lotte World Adventure, Seoul, South Korea, is building Kong X Godzilla: The Ride, an immersive experience that opens in Dec 2025.
Guillermo del Toro says his Frankenstein movie is emotional but is not a horror movie.
Kane Parsons’ found-footage The Backrooms videos are being adapted into a movie.

Horror TV Treats

Yellowjackets is getting a 4th season.
Blumhouse Television has bought the rights to Clémence Michallon’s psychological thriller novel Our Last Resort.
Simon Pegg says he’s not interested in a sequel or reboot of Shaun of the Dead.
The Bondsman is not getting a 2nd season.

Horror Game Goodies

Blumhouse Horrorverse is an immersive virtual horror experience now available in Meta Horizon. Play as M3GAN, Babyface, and more and experience terrifying mini-games and experiences.

Horror Music Moments

Ice Nine Kills’ Hell of a Summer Tour kicks off on 8 Aug and concludes at Silver Scream Con 4 on 13 Sep 2025.

Horror Festival Fare

Chattanooga Film Festival, 20-28 Jun 2025, released its final wave of movie scheduling. This latest list includes plague horror Itch!, cult horror Pater Noster and the Mission of Light, supernatural horror Solvent, psychological horror The Only Ones, and witch horror They Were Witches.

“We writers have an obligation to use all five senses in our work if we are to enrich the laymen’s experience.”
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers

Writing Horror

Check out the Horror University classes being offered at StokerCon® 2025 (12-15 Jun 2025).

Some places accepting submissions

Tales of Galactic Pest Control anthology (Amazing Stories)
Pays: $100, possibly higher depending on Kickstarter
Theme: Pest control – the crucial element is the struggle against some form of infestation, nuisance, or destructive force.

Yay! all queer: Free and Queer anthology (Inkd Publishing)
Pays: Royalties
Theme: LGBTQ+ characters who have a central position within the story
Submissions close: 30 Jun 2025

Upcoming submission calls

Plott Hound Magazine
Pays: 8 cents per word for fiction, $50 per poem, $100 per essay
Looking for: Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists in any realm of speculative fiction
Submissions open 1 Jun and close 15 Jun 2025

“The success of a book is measured by the satisfaction of readers.”
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

IT: Welcome to Derry. Supernatural horror. Follows the events in the 1960s, the time leading up to the events of the first film in the Stephen King It series. HBO Max, Release date TBA

Horror Movie Trailers

Alma and the Wolf. Werewolf horror. After a violent animal attack, paranoia spreads through Spiral Creek. But when Deputy Ren Accord gets too close, his son vanishes, and reality begins to fracture. VOD, 20 Jun 2025

Bark. Psychological horror. Nolan Bentley wakes up bound to a tree in a forest, memory blank. As time ticks away, a cryptic figure emerges. Facing his inner demons, Nolan struggles to escape his dire predicament and unravel the mystery of his surroundings. VOD, 13 Jun 2025

Best Wishes to All. Japanese psychological horror. A young woman’s visit to her grandparents’ home leads to the discovery of what’s brought them happiness, a revelation that makes her question her choices, sanity and reality itself. Shudder, 13 Jun 2025

The Exit 8. Japanese psychological horror. A man gets lost in an underground passage. He follows the ‘guide’ through the passage but, one after another, strange things happen to him. Release date TBA

Jurassic World Rebirth, trailer 2. Dinosaur horror. Five years post-Jurassic World Dominion, an expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough. Cinema, 2 Jul 2025

The Killing Cove. Supernatural horror. After a traumatic encounter at a college party, two sisters plot revenge against a rich jock, only to find something darker is already hunting them. Tubi, 30 May 2025

The Matriarch. Psychological horror. A thirteen year old girl kills her addict mother’s boyfriend in self defense and is subsequently terrorized by her own mother. VOD, 10 Jun 2025

Pins and Needles. Psychological horror. What should have been an uneventful ride back to campus unexpectedly becomes a nightmare as Max, a diabetic biology grad student, is entrapped in a diabolical new-age wellness experiment. With her insulin supply dwindling, Max is forced into a deadly game of cat and mouse where she must escape at all costs or risk becoming the next test subject to extend the lives of the rich and privileged. VOD, 20 Jun 2025

Horror Game Trailers

Bad Cheese. Psychological horror. Step into the tiny paws of a mouse spending the weekend at home with a dysfunctional Dad while Mom’s away. Be on your best behavior and keep Daddy happy. Release date TBA

Displacement. Survival horror. A psychologist finds themselves at a polar station where the staff have fallen victim to a mysterious madness. Keep your sanity or lose your mind. Release date TBA

Out of Sight. Haunted house horror. A young blind girl navigates a haunted mansion with the help of her beloved teddy bear. Solve puzzles and overcome terrifying obstacles using only sound, feel, and instinct. Available now

“Ideally, all fiction should seem to be happening now.”
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

12 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghosts, medieval, and gothic horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 18 to 24 May 2025

“One of the best ways of accustoming yourself to the idea of continued suspense is to study novels that you have found difficult to put down.”
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

5 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, slasher, creature, and survival horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 18 to 24 May 2025

“Each point of view available to the writer influences the emotions of the reader differently.”
Sol Stein, Solutions for Writers

What We Were Thinking About this Week

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven (novel)

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (novel)

Why You Must Keep Writing Even When The World Is Crumbling Around You by Sarah Lewis (Writers’ HQ)

I encourage you to write today by Gabino Iglesias (Substack)

“Writing is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big.”
Kate Braverman

And Now For Something Completely Different

twonks 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.