Bite-sized horror news
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Tom Skerritt. Skerritt’s horror movie credits include Alien (1979), The Dead Zone (1983), Poltergeist III (1988), and Desperation (2006). His TV credits include Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Hitchhiker, and The Twilight Zone. RIP.
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Richard Riehle. Riehle’s horror movie credits include Hatchet (2006), The Darkroom (2006), Halloween II (2009), Chillerama (2011), and Fear, Inc (2016). RIP.
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of author and filmmaker Ryū Murakami. Murakami’s 1997 novel Audition was adapted in 1999 into what became an iconic Japanese horror movie of the same name. RIP.
Horror book bits
- A special 50th anniversary edition of Stephen King’s The Shining releases on 1 Jun 2027.
- Views from the Overlook: New Stories from the World of Stephen King’s The Shining, edited by Jamie Flanagan, releases 13 Jul 2027.
- Breyden Boyd’s debut comic series The Carvers releases in Feb 2027.
- Clive Barker’s Hellraiser Omnibus, Volume 2, 500-page graphic novel includes 3 Hellraiser stories and releases on 9 Mar 2027.
- P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast’s YA vampire fantasy romance series House of Night is getting a movie adaptation.
- Christopher Golden and Amber Benson’s upcoming 5-issue comic series The Heir, based on Irish folklore, started life as a potential independent horror movie before becoming a comic series. The Heir #1 releases on 13 Jan 2027 and will also be available digitally.
- Daria Vasilev’s r/NoSleep short story I received an unsettling email from the FutureMe website is getting a movie adaptation called Future Me.
- Independent publisher Catapult Books has sold its assets and will close on 30 Oct. This includes imprints Counterpoint, Soft Skull, and Hawthorne Books. No details are available on what it means for the 16 as-yet-unpublished book titles.
- Victor Crowley’s Hatchet comic is back with a giant-sized 48-page Halloween issue. There are 6 variant covers and all purchased through ArieScope come autographed.
Horror movie morsels
- Long-lost George A. Romero short movie Expostulations has been found, restored, and will premiere on 26 Mar 2027 at A Night at the Symphony, the one-night-only event in Pittsburgh celebrating his career.
- Another Alien movie is in the works, but it “will not be a sequel to Alien: Romulus”.
- Horror short Remain Calm, starring Pauly Shore, Nick Swardson, and Doug Jones, surpassed 4,3 million views on YouTube in its first 4 days following release.
- The Ghoulies reboot might by eyeing a 2028 release date now that a lawsuit filed by the screenwriter against the franchise co-creator has been settled.
- John Carpenter says nobody has ever guessed the right ending to 1982’s The Thing even though “It’s right in the movie too. There is a big clue” and he’s not telling us what it is, either.
- Disney hasHalloweentown 5 in early development.
- Keanu Reeves is in talks to join the English remake of South Korean serial killer movie The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil.
- Glen Mazzara’s script for the unmade movie Hater, is available to read online. The screenplay was based on David Moody’s book series of the same name.
- The Stephen King story movie adaptation 1408 (2007) might be getting a sequel.
- Custom hand-painted Saw sneakers are available from Sneakcares.
- In movie ratings news, Ebenezer has received a PG-13 rating for “frightening material”.
Horror TV treats
- Carrie is getting a 2nd season.
- American Horror Story is getting a 14th season.
- Season 2 of IT: Welcome to Derry will be “very, very bloody” and “very different from Season 1”.
- Disney+’s Japanese supernatural anthology series Night Tales Club will launch in Jan 2027. The series is based on Ichi Sawamura’s short stories.
- Syfy’s series Revival, based on the comic book series of the same name, is not getting a 2nd season. If you missed Season 1, it’s recently come to Netflix.
Horror podcast pieces
- Unsolved Mysteries is returning as a video podcast on YouTube on 29 Oct 2026.
Horror game goodies
- The Headliners is getting a movie adaptation.
Horror music moments
- Rockabye Baby! Halloween is an instrumental reimagining of 13 horror movie themes and songs as “charming lullaby songs the whole family will enjoy”. You know you want it.
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
Writing horror
Some places accepting submissions
Art is Horror anthology (Flame Tree Fiction)
Pays: 8 cents per word
Looking for: Through the lens of horror, this anthology will remind us that while art can preserve beauty, it can also trap, distort, or devour.
Submissions close: 15 Nov 2026
Darkside: One Last Ride anthology (Sparkwell Publishing)
Pays: $75 + contributor copy
Looking for: Horror stories for kids aged 8 to 12 exploring the darkside of carnivals and fairs
Submissions close: 15 Dec 2026
Freak Show (Eavesdrop Magazine)
Pays: $70
Theme: The oppressors condemn us, label us freaky, perverted, immoral. Othering is alive and well, but we are still here, persevering, as we’ve always been.
Submissions close: 10 Jan 2027
After the Fire anthology (The Ray Bradbury Center)
Pays: 10 cents per word
Looking for: Stories that grapple with the kinds of big, human questions Bradbury wrote about: censorship, surveillance, climate, otherness, wonder, and what it means to remain human in inhumane systems
Submissions close: 31 Jan 2027
“Alone. Yes, that’s the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn’t hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.”
― Stephen King
Trailer horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror movie trailers
Buried Secrets. Supernatural. When a girl goes missing on a treasure hunt, her sister and a group of friends discover a centuries old demon with sinister plans. Release date TBA
The Devil You Become. Post-apocalypse. Following the deaths of billions from a super virus, an isolated man must come to grips with his newfound purpose, as well as his fractured psyche. Release date TBA
Island of the Minotaur. Creature. Beneath a forbidden island, an archaeologist discovers a vast, living labyrinth built around an ancient gateway. And something is still guarding it. Release date TBA
The Last Temptation of Becky, trailer 2. Comedy. Now working as CIA field agent, Becky goes undercover in Poland to infiltrate a family of innkeepers running a tourist venture at Hitler’s WWII bunker. Cinema, 4 Nov 2026
Mittens, teaser. Psychological. As a child, Alice was captivated by Country Stuart’s Fun Fun House. Thirty years later, the stress of a custody battle brings Mittens, a stuffed cat, back into Alice’s life, forcing her to confront the disturbing connection between her old friend, Country Stuart, and a past that may not have been imaginary after all. Release date TBA
The Relic | Dragon. Cosmic. A cursed Viking treasure tied to ancient madness and destruction. A lost manuscript connected to Spanish conquistador Francisco Coronado. A relic that feeds on human greed and chaos, threatening global catastrophe. Wide release date TBA
Slayground. Psychological. A scare-actor wakes up in a haunted attraction surrounded by the dead bodies of his co-workers. As a state-wide manhunt closes in, the trail leads straight back to him. Cinema, 29 Jan 2027
Uncle Fred’s Monster Problem. Creature. Adam and his friends are staying in his late uncle’s camper for the weekend when they become hunted by a 7-foot creature. Release date TBA
Horror game trailers
10 Calls. Halloween. Death has shown up at the office. With a scythe. And a pumpkin on its head. Now it’s chasing your colleagues through meeting rooms, storage closets, and open-plan offices. To escape, all you have to do is answer a phone call. Release date TBA
Days of the Dead. Zombie. Explore abandoned locations, scavenge for resources, craft weapons, and build your shelter. Release date TBA
Generations Deep. Survival. Your grandfather summons you to a mansion full of bizarre puzzles, grotesque experiments, and questionable engineering. Release date TBA
Hellxorcist. Survival. Fight through a hell-ridden world to explore the lines of faith and damnation. Demo available on Steam
Hookeye. Psychological. It’s the end of the line. Resist the madness and use questionable bait to just keep fishing. Sacrifice everything for a bigger catch. Demo available on Steam
“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
A selection of horror books released this week
9 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, killer, cult, western, creature, and haunted house horror
See: A selection of horror books released, 18 to 24 Oct 2026
“Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we’re opened, we’re red.”
― Clive Barker, Books of Blood: Volumes One to Three
A selection of horror movies released this week
12 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, body, ghost, survival, found footage, puppet, slasher, and animated fantasy horror
See: A selection of horror movies released, 18 to 24 Oct 2026
“[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.”
― Clive Barker
A selection of horror TV shows released this week
1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Supernatural horror
See: A selection of horror TV shows released, 18 to 24 Oct 2026
“And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.”
― Stephen King, Pet Sematary
What we were thinking about this week
What we’ve been reading this week
Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker (novel)
The Buried City by Boris Bacic (novel)
The Returned by Jason Mott (novel)
What we’ve been 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: Halloween horror
Stitchface by Dr. Stuart Knott
“Stitchface, Stitchface, comin’ to get’cha!”
Samhain Screams by Greg Chapman & Cameron Trost (editors)
“…the lost are hungry, and if they get ahold of you, well, then you’ll be lost as well.”
Halloween Fiend by C.V. Hunt
“No one knew where Halloween came from. It had always lived in the town as long as anyone could remember.”
The Sleepover Mummy Massacre by Kristopher Rufty
“…we’re transporting a golden coffin packed with a rotted corpse in the back of our truck!”
The Patch by Mark C. Scioneaux
“Sharp feet kicked dirt on the seed, laid to rest in its makeshift grave. The raven’s task was complete.”
The Pumpkin Man by John Everson
“She could not wait another year until it came around again.”
All Hallows Eve by Michael Penning
“Alice Jacobs stood at the edge of the wharf and stared at the sea in horror.”
“To learn what we fear is to learn who we are. Horror defies our boundaries and illuminates our souls.”
― Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
Horror fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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