A Grab Bag of Horror News, 21 to 27 Jul 2024

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

We hope everyone is having fun at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

Horror Book Bits

Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2024 Ignyte Awards. Public voting is now open, so get your votes in now. Winners will be announced in November 2024.
377 fraudulent votes have been disqualified from the 2024 Hugo Awards ballot.
Marvel Comics is releasing a one-shot Alien: Romulus comic in October that “tackles one of the film’s lingering mysteries”.
Dark Matter Magazine ended in 2023 but they still have some print copies they need to sell. Print copies, EPUB/PDFs, and variant editions are available from 33% to 60% off.
If you like free books like we do, StoryGraph has some interesting giveaways, including The Woodcutter by Stephanie Ellis and The Wolf and the Favour by Catherine McCarthy.
The Boulet Brothers will be creating issues for the upcoming anthology horror comics DC Horror Presents…#1.
KillerCon 2024 is open for registration. The event happens from 9 to 11 August 2024 in Austin, Texas. Guests of Honor include CV Hunt, Kristopher Triana, Daniel Volpe and our 2024 J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award winners Ray Garton and Craig Spector. The winners of the Seventh Annual Splatterpunk Awards will also be announced.

Horror Movie Morsels

Production of Liongate’s movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk is underway and they’ve added Mark Hamill and Judy Greer to the cast, along with seven other actors.
Somebody stole a statue of the Tales from the Crypt Crypt Keeper from the Mystic Museum in Burbank. The museum is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the return of the statue.
On a recent episode of the Talking Scared podcast, Mike Flanagan said that his new Exorcist movie will not get in the way of his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. There’s no hint of when production might start or what a realistic release date might be.
Jason Blum and Todd McFarlane have shared a picture of a script cover for King Spawn.
Neve Campbell says that filming for Scream 7 will begin in December.
In a Violent Nature 2 is officially confirmed to be a thing.
Netflix’s Bioshock movie will be much smaller than originally planned due to budget cuts.

Horror TV Treats

Previously in development at Amazon, the comedy series based on Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is now at HBO.
Jordan Peele is rebooting comedy-horror prank show Scare Tactics. The series will screen on USA Network and promises to “turn unsuspecting individuals into the main characters of their very own horror movies”.
Michael C. Hall is returning for Dexter: Resurrection, a Dexter sequel series, in summer 2025.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been renewed for a third season and will take place in Spain.

Horror Festival Fare

Popcorn Frights announced its second wave of programming, which will honor Tony Todd at a special presentation of Candyman. The festival runs from 8 to 18 August 2024 and access to the in-theater experience is free and open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis. The closing night marathon features all seven Elm Street
Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines is the latest haunted house attraction announced for Halloween Horror Nights. The house will feature an all-female cast including the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula’s daughter, She-Wolf of London, and mummified Egyptian princess Anck-Su-Namun.
The Chucky popcorn bucket is back for Halloween Horror Nights with a new look and new phrases.

“...reading is arguably a far more creative and imaginative process than writing; when the reader creates emotion in their head, or the colors of the sky during the setting sun, or the smell of a warm summer's breeze on their face, they should reserve as much praise for themselves as they do for the writer - perhaps more.”
Jasper Fforde, The Well of Lost Plots

Writing Horror

Evaluating Publishing Contracts: Six Ways You May Be Sabotaging Yourself by Victoria Strauss (Publisher Beware)
Authors Beware of This Scam Macmillian Website by Jonathan Bailey (PlagiarismToday)

Some places accepting submissions

LatineLit fall issue
Pays: $100
Looking for: Fiction by and about Latinx people
Submissions close: 12 August 2024
Uncage Your Dread: Microfiction contest (Dark Holme Publishing)
Pays: Monthly winner receives £25.00 cash prize and publication in yearly horror anthology
Looking for: 250-500 words
Submissions close: 25th of each month

Some places with upcoming submission calls

You, Human anthology (Written Backwards)
Pays: 10 cents a word + contributor’s copy
Looking for: What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity
Submissions accepted between 1 and 30 September 2024

“A thousand moments that I had just taken for granted - mostly because I had assumed that there would be a thousand more.”
Morgan Matson, Second Chance Summer

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

Dexter: Original Sin. Serial killer horror. In 1991 Miami, Dexter transitions from student to avenging serial killer. When his bloodthirsty urges can’t be ignored any longer, he must learn to channel his inner darkness. Premieres ‘soon’ on Paramount+.
From, Season 3. Supernatural horror. Escape will become a very real possibility as the true nature of the town comes into focus, and the townspeople go on offense against the myriad horrors surrounding them. Premieres on MGM+ on 22 September 2024.
Teacup, Season 1. Supernatural horror. Trapped on a farm in rural Georgia, a group of neighbors must put aside their differences and unite in the face of a mysterious and deadly threat. Premieres on Peacock on 10 October 2024.
Terror Tuesday: Extreme. Thai anthology horror. Eight horror tales based on true stories. Premieres on Netflix on 20 August 2024.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol. Zombie apocalypse horror. The next chapter of Daryl and Carol’s friendship begins. Premieres on AMC and AMC+ on 29 September 2024.
The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 2. Zombie apocalypse horror. It looks like Lucille is back. Premieres on AMC in 2025.

Horror Movie Trailers

The Chapel. Spanish supernatural horror. A young girl tries to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, and she tries to persuade a skeptical medium to help her. Release date TBA.
Cuckoo trailer 2. Supernatural horror. 17-year-old Gretchen reluctantly leaves her American home to live with her father and his new family in the German Alps. On arrival, they are greeted by her father’s boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma. Releases in cinemas on 9 August 2024.
From Darkness. Swedish creature feature horror. A park ranger and her ex-boyfriend search for a missing woman in a Swedish nature reserve. They explore haunted caves, face their past, and uncover dark secrets while battling a mythical creature. Release date TBA.
Hostile Dimensions. Cosmic horror. Two documentary filmmakers investigating the mysterious disappearance of a graffiti artist, encounter a freestanding door which leads them on a dark journey through the dimensions behind it. Releases on VOD on 23 August 2024.
Last Straw. Survival horror. A young waitress working the overnight shift alone at a rural, roadside diner finds herself in a fight for her life when she’s terrorized by a group of masked assailants. Releases on VOD on 20 September 2024.
Lore. Anthology campfire horror. Four young friends venture out on a horror-themed camping excursion led by a strange and eccentric guide who encourages them to tell stories around a fire. The group soon realizes that these stories will have very real consequences for them all. Release date TBA.
The Monster Beneath Us. Creature feature horror. In 1898 Yorkshire, a grieving woman and her son move back to the unoccupied house of her ex-husband, who was recently found dead. They discover that they are not alone inside the house. Release date TBA.
Mutilator 2. Slasher horror. Sequel to The Mutilator (1984). Release date TBA.
The Night is Young. Found footage LGBTQ vampire horror. Nora is an influencer who, along with her brother, is filming her failed dates for a video blog. She ends up on a date with a female vampire and they find themselves in the crosshairs of a group of vampire hunters. Premieres at Popcorn Frights Festival on 10 August 2024.
Round the Decay. Psychological horror. A young woman returns to the site of her broken engagement, Newport’s Valley, a sleepy tourist town with an all-consuming secret. Release date TBA.
Shark Warning. Shark horror. Twenty years after his brother was killed by a shark, a man returns to the town when the shark begins killing again. Releases on VOD on 30 July 2024.
Speak No Evil trailer 2. Psychological horror. When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. Releases in cinemas on 13 September 2024.
Test Screening. Psychological horror. Four teens find out that a test screening is coming to their little cinema, but the film is actually a mind-control experiment that has terrifying effects. Release date TBA.
Terrifier 3. Slasher horror. Art the Clown is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County on Christmas Eve. Releases in cinemas on 11 October 2024.

Horror Game Trailers

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. First person shooter survival horror. The Zone is calling for stalkers, who are ready to delve into the non-linear journey through a sinister open world in the Eastern European post-apocalyptic setting. Release date 20 November 2024.
Zoochosis. Creature horror. It’s your first night shift as a zookeeper and you discover that some animals are mysteriously turning into mutants. Unravel the secrets of the zoo to save them and yourself. Releases on Steam on 23 September 2024.

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

12 horror books this week. Themes: Psychological, ghosts, noir, body, cult, dystopian, dark fantasy, and vigilante horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 21 to 27 Jul 2024

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
John Lubbock, The Use Of Life

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

4 horror movies this week. Themes: Psychological, werewolf, survival, and folklore horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 21 to 27 Jul 2024

“If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boy and his dog and his friends. And a summer that never ends.”
Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Post-apocalyptic horror

See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 21 to 27 Jul 2024

“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”
Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

What We Were Thinking About this Week

Big List of Summer Camp Horror Books
The Yellow Chalice by C.J. Subko (short story, Crow & Cross Keys)
Window Boy by Thomas Ha (short story, Clarkesworld)
Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds (novel)
Swan Song by Robert McCammon (novel)

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”
George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

And Now For Something Completely Different

Safely Endangered Comics 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.