A Grab Bag of Horror News, 22 to 28 Jun 2025

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Horror Book Bits

1973 Jack Vance novel Bad Ronald is being rereleased by Fathom Press. The book is about a teenager who murders a girl and is hidden away in the family house by his mother. When she passes away, the house is sold to a family with three daughters, unaware that he is living behind a false wall in the house.
Stephen King’s The Stand is getting a movie adaptation.
AI company Anthropic won the lawsuit taken out against it by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson. The US judge ruled that Anthropic using books to train its AI software is not a violation of copyright law. But, the company will still have to stand trial over its use of pirated books.

Horror Movie Morsels

Scarlett Johansson says she’s still working on her Tower of Terror movie, based around the Disney World drop ride, but “it’s a hard nut to crack”.
Still no word on when or if The Last Train to New York will actually happen, but James Wan says it’s not actually a remake of Train to Busan, but more of a spinoff.
James Wan says SOULM8TE, slated for release on 9 Jan 2026, is “like Fatal Attraction but with robots”.
2015 psychological sci-fi horror movie Circle is getting a sequel.
The “upgrade” of 1975 spider horror movie The Giant Spider Invasion will have new scenes and characters and is expected to be released in 2026.
Filming has wrapped up on Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, which released on 17 Apr 2026.
Sweet Revenge is a shortform vignette that will be part of the Jason Universe project that will debut on the Jason Universe YouTube channel and a website hosted by Angry Orchard Hard Cider.

Horror TV Treats

An X-Files LEGO set is on the way following WetWired’s win for their The X-Files: The Truth Is Out There submission in the LEGO Ideas® Build Your Nostalgia – 90s Throwback! Challenge.
Season 4 of From has started production. It’s expected to be 10 episodes which will release in 2026.
Very Young Frankenstein is the project name of a possible new TV series based on Mel Brooks’ movie Young Frankenstein.

Horror Podcast Pieces

Darren and Josh Make a Movie is a weekly podcast from Darren Bousman and Josh Stolberg chronicling their real-time journey of developing, producing, and releasing a new horror movie. The show is touted as a bit “behind-the-scenes diary” and a bit “filmmaking 101”.

Horror Game Goodies

The Dying Light: Retouched Update released this week and is free for all Dying Light owners on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The level of changes may vary by platform.

Horror Festival Fare

Universal Orlando has added four more haunted houses for Halloween Horror Nights 2025: Dolls: Let’s Play Day, Grave of the Flesh, El Artista: A Spanish Haunting, and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters.
Chicago is the next city to get a year-round Universal Horror Unleashed entertainment experience that “goes beyond the theme parks”. The Las Vegas one opens on 14 Aug 2025.

“Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people.”
Roald Dahl

Writing Horror

Some places accepting submissions

Horrorsmith Publishing
Pays: 50/50 royalties
Looking for: Horror stories of 40,000 words or more (but no extreme horror)

Twisted Dreams Press
Pays: Royalties with a customized contract
Looking for: Horror fiction of any length, from short stories to epic sagas

Competitions

Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize
Winner: A publishing contract, a £10,000 advance, and representation by Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
Two runners-up: One-to-one editorial feedback and guidance from an editor or agent
Open to: UK or Irish residents who come from backgrounds currently deemed under-represented in the publishing industry.

Upcoming submission calls

Khōréō
Pays: 10 cents per word
Looking for: Short speculative fiction from authors who identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms
Submissions open on 1 Jul and close on 31 Jul 2025

“What is amazing is the fact that so many writers with a novel in the planning stage give little or no conscious thought to the reader’s experience.”
Sol Stein, How to Grow a Novel

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 3. Zombie apocalypse horror. The road home is brutal and the fight to survive is far from over. AMC, AMC+, 7 Sep 2025

Horror Movie Trailers

Bury Me When I’m Dead. Psychological horror. After failing to keep his wife’s dying wish, a series of tragic events leads Henry to believe she’s returned to get revenge. VOD, 18 Jul 2025

The Devil You Know. Cult horror. In 1983, a man kills his family and himself while performing an occult ritual in a secluded cabin. A cult arises and, 40 years later, a couple unknowingly rents the same cabin, unaware that their visit coincides with the anniversary of the tragic events. Release date TBA

Et Tu. Psychological horror. A director is driven to madness during a regional production of Julius Caesar. VOD, 25 Jul 2025

Ghost Killer. Japanese ghost horror. When college student Fumika stumbles upon the bullet that ended hitman Kudo’s life, his vengeful spirit takes hold of her body. Now possessed by a ruthless assassin’s rage and skills, she becomes an unstoppable force, hunting down those responsible for his death. VOD, 22 Jul 2025

Great White Waters. Shark horror. When millions in cartel cocaine go missing off Florida’s coast, the search turns savage as vicious sharks close in on anyone daring to claim the stash. Tubi, 4 Jul 2025

I Don’t Like it Here. Small town horror. A parolee returns to his bleak hometown and discovers a dark force gripping the community. While confronting his past and the town’s hidden evils, he’s suspected of committing brutal murders. Release date TBA

Monster Island (Orang Ikan). Japanese creature horror. After being torpedoed by allied submarines, a Japanese soldier and a British POW are stranded on a deserted island and soon discover that they’re being hunted by a ferocious mythological creature, the Orang Ikan. Shudder, 25 Jul 2025

Never Blink. Supernatural horror. A team of medical students capture images of the world we don’t see when we blink, and the results are beyond terrifying. VOD, 29 Jul 2025

The Protos Experiment. Psychological horror. Kyra and John wake in a strange environment where they are plunged into a terrifying struggle where they can trust no one, not even their own fragmented memories. VOD, 15 Jul 2025

Shaman. Supernatural horror. A missionary family travels to rural Ecuador to convert the indigenous population. All is going well until their son ventures into a forbidden local cave and comes back with a demonic spirit in tow. VOD, 8 Aug 2025

Strange Harvest. Found footage horror. A routine welfare check in the San Bernardino suburbs leads to the discovery of a family bound, bled, and posed below a strange symbol written in blood on the ceiling. The symbol is the calling card of a killer from 15 years earlier calling himself Mr. Shiny. Cinema, 8 Aug 2025

The Strangers: Chapter 2. Slasher horror. When the Strangers learn that one of their victims is still alive, they return to finish what they’ve started. Cinema, 26 Sep 2025

Swipe. Survival horror. A young woman must save her younger brother from a family of sadistic-mute women after he matches with the wrong person online. Release date TBA

The Twin. Folk horror. After the tragic loss of his son, a man begins experiencing terrifying visions of a shadowy figure that looks like himself. VOD, 1 Jul 2025

Weapons, trailer 2. Psychological horror. When all but one child from the same class vanishes on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance. Cinema, 8 Aug 2025

Witchboard. Supernatural horror. Emily discovers an ancient pendulum board, once used to summon spirits. Her fiancé seeks help from occult expert, but the expert has secrets of his own, knowing the fateful bloodlines that binds them all to the Witchboard. Cinema, 15 Aug 2025

Horror Game Trailers

Flock Off. Zombie sheep horror. Take on waves of undead sheep, acquire unorthodox weapons, and master abilities to control the chaos. Release Q4 2025

Hellmart. Supernatural horror. From the bizarre customers and the boxes of Drain Clown cereal to the terrifying monster roaming the aisles, this is no ordinary shopping mart. Release date TBA

One-Eyed Likho. Slavic folk horror. Explore an unsettling and twisted land set in 19th-century Russia in your endeavor to escape your own evil fate. Releases 28 Jul 2025

“Fiction was invented the day Jonah arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale..”
Gabriel García Márquez

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

9 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, apocalyptic, werewolf, haunted house, western, and movie horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 22 to 28 Jun 2025

“If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always.”
Henry Rollins

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

13 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, slasher, comedy, dinosaur, cult, post-apocalyptic, doll, and survival horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 22 to 28 Jun 2025

“You can't blame a writer for what the characters say.”
Truman Capote

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Psychological horror

See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 22 to 28 Jun 2025

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
Elmore Leonard, Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

What We Were Thinking About this Week

13 Shark Horror Book Recommendations (that aren’t Jaws)

How to Grow a Novel by Sol Stein (nonfiction)

Draw You In, Volume 1 by Jasper Bark (novel)

The Troop by Nick Cutter (novel)

This week’s book recommendations

Theme: Abandoned places horror

The Harvest by Alex Hunter – Abandoned orphanage horror
“The orphanage was like a bruise as you turned onto the street.”

Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J.W. Ocker – Abandoned house horror
“It was towering and dark, asymmetrical and multistoried.”

Abandon by Blake Crouch – Abandoned town horror
“Now Abandon looms listless before him in the gloom of late afternoon…”

A Cold Night for Alligators by Viggy Parr Hampton – Abandoned amusement park horror
“Even after years as a security guard at the park, he’d never felt comfortable there after the sun went down.”

The Eatonv by John K. Addis – Abandoned hotel horror
“The ancient door creaked, lightly trembled as it cleared the molding, and opened.”

Fulcrum by Jason Alan Patterson – Abandoned mall horror
“A rectangle of strip mall sat askew with the road, half-tucked in a shaggy growth of woods.”

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman – Abandoned plantation horror
“I kept my memory. Especially the parts I didn’t want.”

“Words bounce. Words, if you let them, will do what they want to do and what they have to do.”
Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

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.