Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family and friends of Suzanne Desrocher-Romero. Desrocher-Romero founded the George A. Romero Foundation after her husband’s death and has “worked tirelessly to preserve George’s work”. RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- Congratulations to all the nominees for this year’s International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) Scribe Awards, especially Tim Waggoner who received 3 nominations. Winners will be announced in July at San Diego ComicCon.
- Yehudi Mercado’s indie comic Freddy the 13th is getting an animated family-friendly movie adaptation.
- The movie adaptation of Matt and Harrison Query’s novel Old Country will now be titled Seasons instead of My Wife and I Bought a Ranch.
- If you’re a fan of Joe Hill’s King Sorrow, a limited signed edition (1000 copies only) that includes an illustrated slipcase and previously unpublished material is available for pre-order.
- Stranger Things: The Official Story behind the Legendary Series is a hardcover, Target Exclusive book releasing 30 Jun 2026, and includes a Foreword by Matt and Ross Duffer.
- The first issue of IDW Dark’s new horror comic You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive releases on 14 Oct 2026 and is a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality”.
Horror Movie Morsels
- Writing has finally begun on the script for We’re Wolves, a follow-up movie to New Zealand vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows.
- After some confusion about who’s writing the script for Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, Blumhouse confirmed that it’s Gary Dauberman with the pen, not David Robert Mitchell.
- Steven Soderbergh has developed an app called Production 02074 which is a tribute to the making of Jaws. All proceeds from sales of the app go to an animal charity.
- The Blair Witch Project reboot movie will release on 24 Sep 2027.
- Kevin Bacon has scored the lead role and will be an exorcist in Jeremy Slater’s directorial debut movie Summoner.
- Preorders are open for Criterion’s 30-disc Stanley Kubrick box set containing 13 features and 3 shorts, all restored in 4K, releasing 20 Oct 2026.
- Horror short Jason Universe: Sweet Revenge is back on YouTube after being removed 7 months ago.
- Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway will now officially open on 25 Aug 2026 rather than 15 Sep, although the first preview performance stays as 14 Aug.
- John Carpenter is curating and co-hosting The Carpenter Zone on Turner Classic Movies in Jul 2026, a 2-night programming event highlighting movies that inspired his own works.
- As part of MUBI Fest Chicago, you can attend a “scratch-and-sniff” screening of The Substance. Attendees get a numbered scent card and when numbers appear on the screen, you scratch the panel to experience the smell related to that part of the movie.
Horror TV Treats
- Animated series Ghostbusters: Night Shift releases in 2027 and is set in 1994 when “a new wave of supernatural terror hits the Big Apple”.
- The Walking Dead’s Chief Content Officer isn’t ruling out the possibility that Daryl Dixon and Rick Grimes might meet up again sometime in the future.
- 60’s supernatural TV series Dark Shadows is getting a reboot as an animated series that will “continue the saga of the Collins family”.
Horror Game Goodies
- At the Xbox 25th anniversary event, Hideo Kojima teased OD as “an enigmatic new horror gaming experience in collaboration with Jordan Peele” that uses innovative fear-based mechanics. I’m not sure what that means but it sounds impressive.
Horror Music Moments
- Part 1 of the music video Ice Nine Kills’ Dead by Daylight song Play Dead is on YouTube.
- The official movie video for Rob Zombie’s Tarantula, off his album The Great Satan, is now on YouTube.
“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Writing Horror
For just $50, you can sign up for Joe Mynhardt’s 30-Day Short Story Workshop which runs through Sep 2026.
Some places accepting submissions
Phobos Magazine
Pays: 8 cents per word or $25, whichever is greater, plus a print copy of the magazine
Theme: The Uncanny States of America
Submissions close: 31 Jul 2026
Spoon Knife 11 (Autonomous Press)
Pays: $30 plus 1 cent per word
Theme: Remnants
Submissions close: 31 Jul 2026
The Quiet Ones anthology
Pays: $25
Theme: Quiet horror and intimate-scale dystopian fiction
Submissions close: 31 Jul 2026
Waxen
Pays: $50 plus contributor copy for US authors
Winter theme: Labor
Submissions close: 15 Dec 2026
Upcoming submission calls
Novels/Novellas – Timber Ghost Press
Pays: 50% net royalties on eBooks, 30% net royalties on paperbacks, plus $50 advance on novellas and $75 advance on novels
Looking for: High-quality horror fiction
Submissions open 3 Aug and close 17 Aug 2026
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
― Mark Twain
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror Movie Trailers
The Bay. Shark horror. Emma and Lani attend a wedding in Thailand but find themselves trapped on a sinking tour boat in the heart of a tiger shark sanctuary. VOD, 17 Jul 2026
Cruel Hands. Psychological horror. A mother and her young son escape from an abusive husband to an isolated farmhouse, only to find themselves trapped between him and a raging bushfire. VOD, 24 Jul 2026
Evil Dead Burn, final trailer. Supernatural horror. After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As they are transformed into Deadites, she discovers that the vows she took in life live on even in death. Cinema, 10 Jul 2026
Ghosts: The Possession of the Button House. Ghost comedy horror. A group of teenagers breaks into the abandoned Button House and attempt a séance. UK Cinema, 23 Oct 2026
Halloween Store. Halloween horror. People are trapped inside a costume store on Halloween night with a mysterious killer on the loose. Release date TBA
Los Vampires. Historical vampire horror. In 1930 Hollywood a Spanish actor cast in the night shoot of a soon-to-be-legendary vampire film is forced to imitate the English-speaking star who performs the same role by day. The two actors regularly meet at the transitory hours of their shoots, and a rivalry stirs between them while murders are occurring on and around the soundstage. Premieres at Fantasia International Film Festival
The Treehouse. Spanish psychological horror. A romantic weekend getaway in a treehouse suspended more than 20 meters above the ground in a forest turns tragic for a couple when one of them falls and dies. Ale returns a year later, convinced her partner’s death was not an accident. Release date TBA
Horror Game Trailers
BloodState. Zombie horror. Embody a lone survivor after a military operation to secure a vital specimen goes awry. Release date TBA
Last Summer. Survival horror. At a summer camp, the legend of a masked killer, said to arrive aboard a ghostly train and leave nothing but blood and silence in his wake, proves to be more than just a story. Release date TBA
Scream Note. Psychological horror. You and your friends are trapped in a haunted neighborhood. Get jump-scared three times and you’re out. Last friend not crying wins. Releases Q3 2026
Unhinged. Psychological horror. An immersive horror game that feels a lot like ‘playing’ a show or movie. Netflix, 30 Jun 2026
“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Diggers
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
7 horror books this week. Themes: Psychological, slasher, creature, sci-fi, and haunted house horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 21 to 27 Jun 2026
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
8 horror movies this week. Themes: Psychological, comedy, animal, creature, monster, witch, and clown slasher horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 21 to 27 Jun 2026
“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.”
― Lemony Snicket
A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week
1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Animated supernatural horror
See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 21 to 27 Jun 2026
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
― Steve Martin
What We Were Thinking About this Week
What We’ve Been Reading This Week
Endless is the Night by Shawn Brooks (novel)
The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth (writing and language nonfiction)
Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (novel)
Books of Blood, Vols 1 to 3 by Clive Barker (collection)
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: Bram Stoker Award® winners
Everything Endless by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge
“Darkness vomits light…”
Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman
“What’s in my drink?”
Bowling With Corpses and Other Tales from Lands Unknown by Mike Mignola
“It’s time for me to go out into the world to seek my fortune.”
Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction edited by Becky Siegel Spratford
“Why” may be the most loaded word in the English language. Why?
The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste
“You’re here to talk about ghosts, right?”
The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim
“Umma tells me that the eyes are the best part.”
Coup de Grace by Sofia Ajram
“I’ve decided that’s how, and the time is now.”
“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”
― Henry Ward Beecher
Horror Fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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