A Grab Bag of Horror News, 3 to 9 Nov 2024

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

Bite-Sized Horror News

Vale

Condolences to family, friends, and fans of Japanese manga artist Kazuo Umezu. Umezu was especially known for his horror manga art. RIP.
Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Jonathan Haze. Haze played Seymour in the 1960 cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors. RIP.
Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Tony Todd. Todd played the killer in Candyman and the 2021 sequel, and had roles in several of the Final Destination RIP.

Horror Book Bits

Dennis McCarthy is allowing an English professor and his students to edit and publish an unseen piece of work written by his older brother, Cormac McCarthy.
Rumor is that Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always is getting a movie adaptation.

Horror Movie Morsels

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are making a horror comedy slasher movie called Family Movie.
Black Sheep 2 is in the works. Look out for more New Zealand vampire sheep action with the original writer-director and lead actor involved.
Development has begun on a new movie based on The Fly. It will be set in the same universe but won’t be a remake.
The Devil’s Bath is getting a second cinema run from 13 November after being chosen as Austria’s Academy Award submission.
How about a survival movie about tourists versus a hippo in Louisiana? Hungry will be just that. Release date TBA.
The Orphan franchise continues, with Orphan 3 being officially green lit. Original actor Isabelle Fuhrman returns to the role of Esther.
Silent Night, Deadly Night is getting a reimagining, slated for release in late 2025.
Paramount will let you watch the first 7 minutes of Smile 2 online, but you have to smile into your webcam for the whole time.
In case you missed it, Heretic writers, directors, producers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods did a Reddit AMA.

Horror TV Treats

Mark Duplass from The Creep Tapes is doing a Reddit AMA session on Tuesday, 12 November 2024.
Even though The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has only recently been renewed for season 3, showrunner David Zabel says he has a “very cool” long term plan for the show.

“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.”
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

Writing Horror

Some places accepting submissions

Aphrodite anthology (Flame Tree Publishing)
Pays: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints
Theme: Aphrodite
Submissions close: 24 November 2024
The Dark magazine
Pays: 5 cents per word for original fiction, 1 cent per word for reprints
Looking for: Horror and dark fantasy, 2000 to 6000 words
Apex Magazine
Pays: 8 cents per word, additional 1 cent per word if story is selected for podcast
Looking for: Fantastical fiction

Upcoming submission calls

Baffling
Pays: 8 cents per word
Looking for: Flash stories either on the theme ‘strange forms’ or unthemed
Submissions open 1 December and close 15 December 2024
Bad Hand Books
Open for novella submissions in the next 3 to 6 months.

“The more I write stories for young people, and the more young readers I meet, the more I'm struck by how much kids long to see themselves in stories. To see their identities and perspectives - their avatars - on the page.”
Paolo Bacigalupi

Trailer Horror

A taste of things to come.

Horror TV Trailers

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 3. Zombie apocalypse horror. Their journey continues. Together. In Spain. AMC, AMC+, 2025

Horror Movie Trailers

Chateau. Supernatural horror. On a French vacation funded by odd jobs, an aspiring influencer is hired to clean a reportedly haunted chateau. She sees an opportunity to covertly film a vlog, but discovers that people who die there remain trapped … and they want their story told. VOD, 6 Dec 2024
Dear Santa. Kids Christmas comedy horror. When a young boy mails his Christmas wish list to Santa with one crucial spelling error, a devilish Santa arrives to wreak havoc on the holidays. Cinema, 25 Nov 2024
Do Not Enter. Found footage horror. When two friends trespass where they shouldn’t, their adventure takes a terrifying turn. Release date TBA
Glue Trap. Psychological horror. A couple plans a last-ditch cabin trip to try and reconnect, but when an obnoxious third wheel shows up, more than their relationship may be in danger. VOD, 17 Dec 2024
How to Kill Monsters. Comedy cosmic horror. The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre teams up with a rag-tag bunch of rookie cops and lawbreakers to fight off an invasion of monsters from another dimension. VOD, 6 Dec 2024
Psychopomp. Psychological horror. An infertile couple welcome an orphan into their home, but the girl’s erratic behavior becomes increasingly more frightening when the wife becomes pregnant. Release date TBA
Super Happy Fun Clown. Comedy slasher clown horror. Jennifer combines her love of clowning, serial killers and classic movie monsters into a night of bloody horror the world will never forget. Release date TBA
Swap. Vampire horror. A 500-year-old vampire tries to persuade a young couple to swap partners and join his kind. VOD, 19 Nov 2024

Horror Game Trailers

Bye Sweet Carol. Narrative horror. Set in the early 1900s, Lana follows the last known trail of Carole, her best friend, and uncovers the dark truth behind the Bunny Hall orphanage. Releases 2025
Dark Atlas: Infernum. First-person psychological horror. Trapped in a dusty basement, barely able to remember your identity, it’s up to you to engage in a battle of wills that could open the gates of hell. Releases 2025
Kryva Hora. Found footage survival horror. Find a tape from the Chernobyl disaster of 1987. Survive the mutants and the hostile environment to finish your mission and close a portal to an alien world. Releases 2025

“At the level of the individual, the community, and the nation, people sought signs of others’ ill intentions; and everywhere they looked, they found them, for this is what looking does.”
Bernard Beckett, Genesis

A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week

6 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, ghost, space, body, and apocalypse horror

See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 3 to 9 Nov 2024

“So, in the end, above ground you must have the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the Workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour.”
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week

13 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, body, zombie, creature, serial killer, slasher, sci-fi and western horror

See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 3 to 9 Nov 2024

“People - and I’m no exception - seem capable of forgetting almost anything, much as if our island were unable to float in anything but an expanse of totally empty sea.”
Yōko Ogawa, The Memory Police

What We Were Thinking About this Week

13 Creature Feature Horror Book Recommendations
The Road of Bones by Christopher Golden (novel)
The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry (novel)
The Price of Moss by Akis Linardos (short story, Apex Magazine)

“The better you tell an old story, the more you are talking about right now.”
John Crowley, Engine Summer

And Now For Something Completely Different

Optipess 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.