A Grab Bag of Horror News, 29 Sep to 5 Oct 2024

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Horror Theater

Stage show Drunk Dracula is playing in New York and Houston over the next 4 weeks. “One actor takes five shots of whiskey and attempts an epic retelling of Transylvania’s thirstiest bachelor… DRACULA!”

Horror Festival Fare

Tis the season…

The Telluride Horror Show is back for its 15th year in Colorado. They’re showing more than 50 movies this year, including Presence, The Creep Tapes, and The Rule of Jenny Pen. It also has a great lineup of horror authors, including Daniel Kraus, Paul Tremblay, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Rachel Harrison, Stephen Graham Jones, and Grady Hendrix.
A Petrified Forest in Florida is open on select nights over the next month with 3 new haunted trails: Lifeline, Estate of DeKay, and Deadly Games.
Ominous Descent in Florida is open on select nights over the next month with a new haunted trail: Harris Lake House: Slaughtered Souls.

Horror Movie Morsels

Writer-director Gary Dauberman says his original cut of Salem’s Lot was 3 hours long and included more of the town’s backstory, but they cut it to 114 minutes.
Matthew Lillard has confirmed he’ll be in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
The original 1978 Halloween, Halloween 4, and Halloween 5 are playing at select theaters this month.
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, Coraline is playing at select theatres in 3D on 31 October and 1 November.
France has banned anyone under 18 from seeing Terrifier 3 in theaters.
Eleven people walked out of the UK premiere of Terrifier 3, nine of them before the opening title had appeared on screen.
Japanese monster movie Orang Ikan will premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Set during WW2, a soldier and prisoner of war are stranded on a desert island and hunted by an Orang Ikan (man fish).
Guillermo del Toro tweeted that shooting has been finished on his adaptation of Frankenstein.

Horror TV Treats

Ian McCulloch told Bloody Disgusting why Teacup will be”99.8% different” than Robert McCammon’s book Stinger. He thinks the book, as written, would make a really great B movie, but that’s not what he does, so he’s used it as inspiration, and pared it back to be “minimalist”.

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
Lewis Carroll

Writing Horror

Some places accepting submissions

Dust & Dark magazine
Pays: £0.07 per word
Looking for: Stylish, atmospheric horror fiction
Submissions close: 31 October 2024
Never Whistle at Night, Part II: Back for Blood anthology
Looking for: Horror stories by emerging Indigenous writers
Submissions close: 1 December 2024
Mistaken Identity (NonBinary Review)
Pays: 1 cent per word
Looking for: Weird, wonderful, bizarre, impossible stories of mistaken identity
Submissions close: 1 February 2025

An upcoming submission call

Weird Horror magazine
Pays: 2 cents per word, $25 min, $100 max
Looking for: Horror and weird fiction
Submissions open on 2 November and close on 15 November 2024

“Suddenly the day was gone, night came out from under each tree and spread.”
Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

American Horror Stories, 2nd half of Season 3. Anthology horror. Hulu, 15 October 2024
Dark Corners. Animated horror shorts for kids. Seven stories from well-known horror authors, including Stephen King, Paul Tremblay, and Heather Langenkamp. YouTube, 21 October 2024
Family Guy Halloween Special. Animated comedy horror. Peter and his friends aim to unseat the reigning champion in Quahog’s annual Pumpkin Contest by any means necessary. Hulu, 14 October 2024
Tales from the Void. Anthology horror. Episodic horror anthology series based on the most viral and haunting stories from the r/NoSleep community. Screambox, 13 October 2024
What We Do in the Shadows, Season 6. Comedy vampire horror. The vampires’ long-lost fifth roommate returns. FX, 21 October 2024

Horror Movie Trailers

All You Need is Blood. Zombie comedy horror. After a meteor crash lands in his backyard and turns his deadbeat father into a brain-eating zombie, 16-year-old Bucky and his friends seize the opportunity to create the ultimate horror flick, starring his undead dad. VOD, 25 October 2024
Carved. Comedy horror. When a heartbroken teenage playwright, her younger brother, and a disparate group of survivors become trapped in a historical reenactment village on Halloween night, they must band together to survive a relentless assault by a sentient and vengeful pumpkin. Hulu, 21 October 2024
Companion. Psychological horror. A new kind of love story. Cinema, 10 January 2025
Haunted Ulster Live. Found footage horror. On Halloween night 1998, a local TV crew investigates a haunted house in Belfast, Northern Ireland. What they broadcast hasn’t been seen in 25 years. VOD, 8 October 2024
Its Name was Mormo. Found footage horror. A young family’s life unravels into chaos as a sinister presence targets each member in its own malicious way. Through the lens of police evidence, Mark, Diana, and Mia endure the torment of a demon deeply rooted in Greek mythology. Limited release, 9 November, VOD, 26 November 2024
Killer Influence. Slasher horror. Alex, a successful influencer, invites a few friends to her small, isolated country house. One evening, after streaming a live video, they are visited by a particularly insistent stalker, which is the beginning of a night they’ll never forget. VOD, 18 October 2024
MADS. Psychological horror. A teenager heads to his dealer for a wild new drug before a night of partying. But when he picks up an injured woman on the way home, things take a bizarre and surreal turn. Shudder, 18 October 2024
Members Club. Comedy horror. A middle-aged male stripper group get a booking at a lucrative but mysterious gig in rural Essex. When the group arrives at the desolate club, they find themselves tangled up in a plot to raise a murderous 16th century witch from the dead. UK VOD, 21 October 2024, US TBA
Night of the Zoopocalypse. Animated comedy horror. A wolf and mountain lion team up when a meteor unleashes a virus turning zoo animals into zombies. Cinema, 7 March 2025
Nosferatu. Vampire horror. A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him. Cinema, 25 December 2024
Presence. Supernatural horror. A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone. Limited release, 17 January 2025
Time Cut. Serial killer horror. A teenage girl travels back to the early 2000s to stop a vicious killer from murdering her sister. Netflix, 30 October 2024
Unnatural. Western vampire horror. A gunslinger on a mission from God tracks down supernatural creatures as penance for his past sins. In the peaceful town of Possum Trot, an enigmatic stranger and his grandchildren uncover a chilling secret involving vampires. VOD, 29 October 2024

Horror Game Trailers

The Bornless. Cosmic horror. Free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter game set in a Lovecraftian world in development for PC. Release date TBA
Poppy Playtime Chapter 4. Toy horror. You are pushed deeper into the undiscovered depths of the Playtime Co. factory, far below anything the world knew. Steam, release date TBA
Until Dawn. Survival horror. “What’s in the mines, Sam?” Available now on PS5 and PC

“Moonlit reflections trembled in the glass like schools of disturbed silver minnows.”
Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

15 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, werewolf, ghost, haunted house, cosmic, extreme, and Halloween horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 29 Sep to 5 Oct 2024

“In the fall, you see opportunities for change. Real change. Possibilities present themselves. None of the renewal and redemption cliches of spring. No. Something darker and more primal and more important than that.”
Alice LaPlante

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

24 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, slasher, comedy, serial killer, food, vampire, dark fantasy, sci-fi, monster, werewolf, dystopian, and anthology horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 29 Sep to 5 Oct 2024

“Most people will tell you growing up means you stop believing in Halloween things – I’m telling you the reverse. You start to grow up when you understand that the stuff that scares you is part of the air you breathe.”
Peter Straub

A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week

5 horror TV shows this week. Themes: Zombie apocalypse, anime, and reality horror

See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 29 Sep to 5 Oct 2024

“People think that ghosts only come out at night, or on Halloween, when the world is dark and the walls are thin. But the truth is, ghosts are everywhere. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.”
Victoria Schwab, City of Ghosts

And Now For Something Completely Different

Nathan W. Pyle on Facebook

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.