Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of author Thomas Tessier. Tessier wrote novels, short stories, and poetry. His novel Fog Heart won the 1998 International Horror Guild Award and was a finalist for the 1998 Bram Stoker Award. His short story collection Ghost Music and Other Tales won the 1998 International Horror Guild Award. RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- A special 50th anniversary edition of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire releases on 6 Oct 2026.
- Michael Gingold is writing a novelization of 1986 body comedy horror movie Spookies adapted from the original screenplay.
- Congratulations to authors who have been shortlisted for Apex Book Company’s ECO25: The Year’s Best Speculative Fiction.
Horror Movie Morsels
- Noah Hawley is directing and producing a remake of Argentinian supernatural horror movie Terrified.
- James Wan says he’s still “chipping away” at his Call of Cthulhu movie adaptation.
- Psychological horror movie I Have Proof will be shot entirely on VHS cassettes.
- 2006 slasher mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is getting a sequel and actor Robert Englund “has a more substantial role” than the cameo he had in the first movie.
- The second Undertone movie will be a prequel centred on the pregnant couple from the audio recordings.
Horror TV Treats
- Although not officially announced, work has started on Marvel Zombies, season 2.
- All 7 seasons of 90’s horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt are streaming on Shudder starting on 1 May 2026.
- Sarah Paulson returns as Cordelia Goode and Emma Roberts returns as Madison Montgomery in American Horror Story, season 13, releasing Sep 2026.
- Vampire sitcom Eternally Yours has received the go-ahead for a series.
Horror Podcast Pieces
- The first episode of new podcast John Carpenter Presents: Something Wicked is available. The podcast is about a historian and an investigator collaborating to investigate supernatural crimes in New Orleans.
Horror Game Goodies
- Monster horror game Home Safety Hotline is getting a movie adaptation.
“We lose ourselves in what we read, only to return to ourselves, transformed and part of a more expansive world.”
― Judith Butler
Writing Horror
Some places accepting submissions
Climbing High: Speculative Stories of Female Ambition (Flame Tree Publishing)
Pays: 8 cents/6 pence per word
Looking for: Stories exploring contexts where female ambition is treated differently, aspiration and achievement in the face of adversity, and ambitions that extend beyond what’s possible in our contemporary world
Submissions close: 3 May 2026
A Midnight Kind of Place anthologies
Pays: GBP £30 for originals, £10 for reprints, e-copy of final
Looking for: Horror stories about wasps, rats, or spiders
Submissions close: 31 Jul 2026
The No Sleep Podcast
Pays: $60 flash fiction (up to 1199 words), $250 short stories (1200+ words), $500 full length productions which will run more than 90 mins (approx 15,000+ words)
Looking for: All things horror
Upcoming submission calls
Missed-Fits anthology (Calendar of Fools)
Pays: USD 8 cents per word
Looking for: Stories between 1200 and 2100 words with an element of someone or something that doesn’t fit, that is missing, that is out of place
Submissions open 16 Apr and close 16 May 2026
“You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.”
― Annie Proulx
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek. Serial killer horror. Mark Hess and Naia Thulin are reunited once more. Their investigation uncovers a stalker who plays hide and seek with the victims, watching them, and taunting them with a nursery rhyme. Netflix, 7 May 2026
Horror Movie Trailers
Buffet Infinity. Comedy horror. Two restaurants battle it out in the fictional town of Westridge County. Ads for insurance, used car rivals, a local religious scholar, and a recording artist converge to tell the story of an expanding sinkhole, a cult, and an ever-growing restaurant that becomes unsettlingly sentient. VOD, 8 May 2026
Colony. South Korean zombie horror. A biotech conference descends into chaos when a rapidly mutating virus forces authorities to seal off the facility trapping the survivors inside. Release date TBA
Frankie, Maniac Woman. Slasher horror. Battling the legacy of childhood trauma, internalised misogyny, and the image-obsessed LA music industry, aspiring singer-songwriter Frankie Ramirez finally snaps. Limited release, 24 Apr 2026
Hollywood Hells. Survival horror. A struggling actress receives an invitation to an ultra-exclusive Hollywood afterparty. As the night unfolds, she begins to realize that success in this town may come with a terrifying cost. Release date TBA
The Step Daddy. Killer horror. When a seemingly charming stepfather suddenly stabs his wife and stepson, it begins a horrifying string of monstrous murders. VOD, 28 Apr 2026
Strawstalker. Found footage horror. A scarecrow appears behind the backyard hedge of a rising content creator couple. They assume it’s a viral prank and keep the cameras rolling. Then the footage changes. Release date TBA
Horror Game Trailers
D-Extinction. Dinosaur horror. Lead an investigation as a secret experiment goes awry. Release date TBA
Dreadline Express. Lovecraftian horror. Set off on the last human train and unravel a sinister mystery, meet unique strangers, and engage with deep card-based mechanics. Release date TBA
Last Summer. Survival horror. Play as a killer, stalking the shadows, or fight for survival as part of a group of campers, where teamwork, instinct, and fear are all that stand between life and a brutal end. Release date TBA
Shift at Midnight. Detective horror. Manage a gas station by keeping your shelves full, selling enough products to meet your quota each night, taking deliveries, and keeping your store clean. Oh, and make sure to interrogate each customer; some are not human and if you miss one they will return later that shift to try and kill you. Releases 28 May 2026
“Libraries raised me.”
― Ray Bradbury
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
8 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, cult, historical, coming of age, and folk horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 5 to 11 Apr 2026
“In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own.”
― Anna Quindlen, How Reading Changed My Life
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
16 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghosts, Frankenstein, survival, found footage, serial killer, creature, and shark horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 5 to 11 Apr 2026
“Do they sense it, these dead writers, when their books are read? Does a pinprick of light appear in their darkness? Is their soul stirred by the feather touch of another mind reading theirs? I do hope so.”
― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale
What We Were Thinking About this Week
What We’ve Been Reading This Week
Revisiting the Classics: The Occupant of the Room (1909) by Algernon Blackwood (short story)
Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi (novel)
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: Antarctic horror
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes
“Because I heard it then: the call of the South. I could hear my brothers.”
Ice by Kevin Tinto
“The roar grew deafening and an unnatural heat burned her skin…”
It Came From the Ice by Boris Bacic
“He didn’t need to listen to his coworkers speaking to know that something was up.”
Underneath by Robbie Dorman
“Mary Jensen didn’t expect to see the body of the person she replaced…”
It Looks Like Us by Allison Ames
“Spend your winter break in Antarctica collecting samples of snow and ice…”
Symbiote by Michael Nayak
“…because by treaty you can only come to Antarctica for scientific purposes.”
Frozen Echoes by Ed Downes
“You couldn’t shoot the weather.”
“When you read a book, you hold another’s mind in your hands.”
― James Burke
Horror Fun
Cyanide & Happiness on Instagram
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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