A Grab Bag of Horror News, 4 to 10 Aug 2024
A selection of things that caught our attention in the world of horror this week
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Table of Contents
Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actor Charles Cyphers. Cyphers played Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), and Halloween Kills (2021). He also had roles in The Fog (1980) and Escape from New York (1981). RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- X, Pearl, and MaXXine are all getting novelizations written by Tim Waggoner.
- Stay in the Light, A.M. Shine’s sequel to The Watchers, releases on 10 October 2024.
- The first four guests announced for Scarelastic Book Fair 3 are CJ Leede, Chuck Wendig, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Keith Rosson. The event happens on 5 April 2025 at Scarlet Lane Brewing Company in McCordsville, Indiana.
- Author Felix Blackwell announced his retirement from writing horror a few weeks ago. His final signed book sale is on now for US buyers only. We thank Felix for all his work and wish him all the best for the future.
- Don’t forget to buy your ticket for Scares That Care AuthorConTM 4 which takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, from 4 to 6 October 2024.
Horror Movie Morsels
- Lego Jaws is finally available for purchase.
- Severin Films is hosting their annual Super-Shock Pop-Up Film Festival in Los Angeles on Saturday, 24 August 2024.
- The Babadook is returning to cinemas from Thursday, 19 September 2024 to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
- The Victory International Film Festival is presenting a 25th anniversary screening of The Blair Witch Project on Friday, 13 September 2024, in Evansville, Indiana.
- Reebok is releasing Alien Stomper sneakers on 27 August 2024, which are replicas of the shoes worn by Ripley and Bishop in Aliens.
- Fanta is producing limited edition cans to celebrate Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Astrid = Orange, Lydia = Strawberry, Delia Deetz = Pineapple, Delores = Grape, Wolf Jackson = Lemon, and Bob = Strawberry Kiwi. There will also be a new Beetlejuice flavor showcasing Beetlejuice himself. The products will be available from 12 August 2024 and QR codes will also grant access to a range of other Beetlejuice experiences.
- Canadian director Xavier Dolan is re-writing a screenplay for a horror movie set in 1880s France.
- Filmmaker David Lynch says that even though he’s been diagnosed with emphysema and can no longer leave his house, he’ll never retire.
- Living Dead Media LLC filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles claiming it owns the copyright of the original screenplay and underlying script, as well as other trademarks, of the 1985 horror movie The Return of the Living Dead.
- Alligator movie Crawl is getting a sequel. Crawl 2 will take place in New York City with a new cast of characters.
Horror TV Treats
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow is coming to Broadway in March 2025. Sign-up for presale ends on 12 September, Presale starts on 13 September, General sale starts on 17 September 2024.
Horror Festival Fare
- Mad Monster Expo 2024 is a horror, sci-fi, fantasy themed convention from 23 to 25 August 2024 in Concord, North Carolina.
- Universal Studios announced its final three attractions for Halloween Horror Nights: The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy haunted house, the Terror Tram: Enter the Blumhouse, and The Purge: Dangerous Waters.
- Hometown Haunts & Hops: Horror Convention 2024 is happening on Saturday, 21 September 2024, at Mayflower Brewing Co., Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness“It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.”
Writing Horror
- Storyknife women writers retreat in Homer, Alaska, is open for 2025 residency applications. Applications close on 31 August 2024.
- Listen to Brian Keene, John Skipp, Chet Williamson, Douglas E. Winter, and David J. Schow chat about what’s change in publishing and horror fiction over the years: Halloween in July: Back in the Day (Part 1) on the Horror Writers Association YouTube channel.
- Author Steve Stred spoke up about his experience with DarkLit Press.
- Caitlin Marceau issued a statement about DarkLit Press.
Some places accepting submissions
- Strange Behavior microfiction competition (Weird Wide Web)
Pays: 10 winners receive $10 and publication on the website
Theme: Strange behavior that makes you feel like you’ve entered the Twilight Zone
Length: 600 words or less
Submissions close: 15 September 2024 - Wyrd West Volume 2 (Raconteur Press)
Pays: Royalties share
Theme: Monsters and magic in the Old West
Length: 5,000 to 8,000 words
Submissions close: 6 September 2024 - Coffee Stories Volume 2 (Raconteur Press)
Pays: Royalties share
Theme: Finding the perfect coffee bean
Length: 5,000 to 8,000 words
Submissions close: 27 September 2024 - Brave Knights: Heroic Courage (Three Ravens Publishing)
Pays: Royalties share
Theme: Bravery and courage still matter
Length: 5,000 to 10,000 words
Submissions close: 1 March 2025
Jorge Luis Borges“Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I'd rather boast about the ones I've read.”
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
- Welcome to Derry teaser footage. Supernatural horror. IT prequel series. Coming in 2025 to HBO and Max.
- The Last of Us, Season 2, teaser footage. Apocalypse horror. Coming in 2025 to Max.
Horror Movie Trailers
- Believer. Cult horror. A struggling writer finds herself at the center of the story she is covering when she’s brutally attacked by a notorious cult leader and mass murderer, a man who exerts an inexplicable control over his followers. Limited release on 13 September 2024.
- Death Streamer. Vampire horror. A modern-age vampire employs technologically advanced glasses that enable him to not only hunt his victims in and out of the virtual world, but also live stream his bloody feasts! His internet-based cult of personality expands, but when a trio of young supernatural investigators lock-down on the trail of the “Death Streamer”, the fiend turns the tables and begins stalking them. Releases on Full Moon Features on 27 September 2024.
- Out Come the Wolves. Animal horror. At her family’s secluded cabin in the woods, Ashley brings her best friend to meet her fiancé. As tensions between the two men begin to simmer, the three of them set off on a deer hunt but find themselves stalked by a pack of ravenous wolves. Releases on VOD on 20 August 2024.
- Presence. Supernatural horror. A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone. Limited release on 17 January 2025.
- The Red. Animal zombie horror. The courage of a young police officer is put to the test when locals are found brutally ripped to shreds by a zombie kangaroo. Release date TBA.
- Scared Shitless. Comedy horror. A plumber and his germophobic son are forced to get their hands dirty to save the residents of an apartment building, when a genetically engineered, blood-thirsty creature escapes into the plumbing system. Release date TBA.
- Succubus. Psychological horror. A new father joins the StarCrossed dating app, and matches with a seductive young woman with a mysterious past. He finds himself getting sucked into her world even as his own life falls apart. Releases on VOD on 24 September 2024.
- Winter Island. Supernatural horror. When a young girl is found dead on a small, wooded island, her teenage brother’s visions point to an evil presence within their own family. Release date TBA.
Horror Game Trailers
- Hunger. First-person slasher horror. Choose a survivor and venture out into a plague-ravaged Napoleonic Europe. Early access release 2025.
- The Occultist. First-person single-player horror. Alan Rebels embarks on a harrowing journey to the enigmatic island of Godstone, determined to uncover the truth behind his father’s mysterious disappearance. Releases 2025.
Voltaire, Candide“Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.”
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
22 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghosts, serial killer, cosmic, space, revenge, haunted house, technology, crime, coming of age, dark fantasy, body, vampire, and slasher horror
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
4 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, killer, and fairy tale horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 4 to 10 Aug 2024
Paulo Coelho“Tears are words that need to be written.”
What We Were Thinking About this Week
- 13 Demonic Possession Horror Book Recommendations
- No Matter Which Way We Turned by Brian Evenson (microfiction, Tyrant Books)
- Caught by Sara Lippmann (microfiction, Tyrant Books)
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“We can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it.”
And Now For Something Completely Different
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.
Published: 10 August 2024
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