Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of Josh Becker. Becker was one of the original crew members on Evil Dead, working on lighting and sound, amongst other things. The detailed journal he kept throughout the production of the movie can be read on Evil Dead Archives. RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- If you’re attending Scares That Care’s Authorcon VI as a professional, make sure you fill out the form before 16 Dec 2025 if you want to be involved in the programming of the event.
- Predator: Bloodshed is a 5-issue comic book series which will see an alien Predator competing in an underground martial arts tournament. The first issue comes out on 25 Feb 2026.
- Event Horizon: Inferno is a comic book series coming out in 2026 that will be a sequel to the 1997 sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon.
- Frieda McFadden, author of The Housemaid, saw a sneak preview of the movie and thinks it was better than the book.
- Frieda McFadden’s psychological thriller The Teacher is getting a movie adaptation.
- Graphic true-crime serial killer novel Torso, by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, is getting a movie adaptation. The novel is about America’s first serial killer.
Horror Movie Morsels
- The short Jason Universe vignette Sweet Revenge is no longer available on YouTube.
- The Conjuring franchise producer Peter Safran says The Conjuring: Last Rites was the end of that particular version of the story, but that there’s “so much more to it that we haven’t dug into yet” and “I think that there’ll be more to come”.
- 28 Years Later III is “moving forward” and Cillian Murphy is in talks to be in it.
- A billboard for Steven Spielberg’s new UFO movie appeared in Times Square this week, saying “All will be disclosed. 06.12.26”.
- The Ford Brothers’ The Dead franchise – The Dead (2010) and The Dead 2: India (2013) – is getting a third and final chapter, The Dead 3.
- We might see a Willy’s Wonderland 2 in the near future in which Nicolas Cage gets to beatdown animatronics again.
- Sinners scored 7 nominations for the 2026 Golden Globes. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein got 5, KPop Demon Hunters 3, Weapons 1, Bugonia 2.
- Weapons, Sinners, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein made it into IMDB’s 10 Most Popular Movies of 2025 list.
- Plex has created a special Ol’ Saint Nic collection of Nicolas Cage movies for Christmas, including many of his horror movies, such as Willy’s Wonderland, Season of the Witch, Pay the Ghost, Mom and Dad, Between Worlds, and Mandy.
- Markiplier’s movie Iron Lung has been rated R for “language, bloody images, and some gore”.
- Japanese horror comedy sequel Hot Spring Shark Attack 2 is looking at a Summer 2026 release date. If you’re really keen, you can throw them some money on their Kickstarter.
Horror TV Treats
- Crystal Lake TV series producer Brad Caleb Kane says to be prepared for “rivers of blood” and that the show “has all the DNA of a slasher without quite being a slasher”.
- Black Mirror received 3 nomination for the 2026 Golden Globes. The Last of Us, Wednesday, and Monster: The Ed Gein Story each received 1.
- The Boys, Season 5, will see a Supernatural reunion of a sort, with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles both in it.
- The Last of Us, Wednesday, Squid Game, Dexter: Resurrection, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, and Black Mirror made it into IMDB’s 10 Most Popular Series of 2025 list.
- Noah Hawley says there aren’t any Predator tie-ins planned for Alien: Earth, Season 2.
- The Last of Us, Season 2 won Best Adaptation at the 2025 Game Awards.
Horror Podcast Pieces
- Don’t miss the Dead Meat podcast’s spooky Christmas variety show on 14 Dec 2025. Attend in-person at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery or livestream on Kiswe.
Horror Game Goodies
- Survival horror game The House of the Dead has two separate movie projects underway. Director Uwe Boll’s one will be called Return to Zombie Island and will be a sequel to his 2003 movie with all the original cast returning.
Horror Festival Fare
- The Midnight lineup for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival includes Buddy (kids’ TV show horror), Leviticus (psychological horror), Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant (alien comedy horror), Rock Springs (grief horror), Saccharine (ghost horror), and The Undertone (paranormal podcaster horror).
“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.”
― Albert Camus
Writing Horror
Kindle’s New Gen AI-Powered “Ask This Book” Feature Raises Rights Concerns by Victoria Strauss (Writer Beware)
Some places accepting submissions
The Dark magazine
Pays: US 5 cents per word for original fiction, 1 cent per word for reprints
Looking for: Horror and dark fantasy (but no graphic, violent horror)
The Deadlands
Pays: US 10 cents per word original fiction, 1 cent per word reprints
Looking for: Speculative fiction that concerns itself with death, but also everything death may involve
Upcoming submission calls
The Orange and Bee
Pays: AUD 8 cents per word short fiction/non-fiction, $80 flash fiction/non-fiction, $50 poem
Looking for: Fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales
Submissions open 1 Jan and close 14 Jan 2026
“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
School Spirits, Season 3. Supernatural horror. After clawing her way back to life, Maddie struggles with terrifying visions and the weight of protecting both the living and the dead while Simon, trapped in the afterlife, becomes obsessed with the secrets buried in Split River High’s scars. Paramount+, 28 Jan 2026
Horror Movie Trailers
The Confession. Supernatural horror. A woman finds her late father’s tape confessing to murder tied to an evil force, and her son begins showing the same darkness. VOD, 16 Jan 2026
Killer Whale. Animal horror. A peaceful retreat to a private lagoon becomes a terrifying fight to stay alive when a killer whale seeks vengeance for a brutal life in captivity. VOD, 16 Jan 2026
Mother of Flies. Witch horror. When a young woman faces a deadly diagnosis, she seeks dark magic from a witch in the woods – but every cure has costs. Shudder, 23 Jan 2026
Relentless. Home invasion horror. A homeless man targets a well-off elite in a home invasion. But it will take an unhinged level of brutality to find out his true motive. Release date TBA
The Strange Dark. Sci-fi horror. With her family’s safety on the line, Susan must choose who to trust: her husband, who claims he can see the future, or the mysterious strangers at her door. VOD, 16 Jan 2026
Horror Game Trailers
Lucid Falls. Psychological horror. Trapped inside a lucid dream, fight to survive in surreal, horrifying worlds, uncovering the dark secrets of Lucid Falls. Releases 2026
Silent Road. Psychological horror. Drive through a Japanese forest in your night-shift taxi. Pick up strange passengers, fulfill their unsettling requests and follow the silent road as their stories make each ride darker than the last. Release date TBA
Stupid Never Dies. Zombie horror. Set in a world where monsters are part of everyday life, take on the role of Davy, a lowly zombie who must brave a dungeon to bring back Julia, a frozen human he loved. Release date TBA
UN:Me. Psychological horror. Awaken as a young girl lost in an enigmatic maze and discover four human souls dwelling within your consciousness. Each soul carries unique trauma and abilities, unpredictably seizing control of the girl’s body as she explores the twisted corridors. Uncover the truth behind each soul’s past, the labyrinth’s dark purpose, and the girl’s true identity. Release date TBA
“Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved.”
― David Foster Wallace
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
9 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, witch, dark fantasy, and post-apocalyptic horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 7 to 13 Dec 2025
“I shall try to tell the truth, but the result will be fiction.”
― Katherine Anne Porter
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
13 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, creature, western, slasher, serial killer, survival, monster, and cabin in the woods horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 7 to 13 Dec 2025
“Fiction, because it is not about someone who lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about oneself.
― Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game (introduction)
What We Were Thinking About this Week
25 Christmas Horror Book Recommendations for 2025
King Sorrow by Joe Hill (novel)
Blanquitos by Karlo Yeager Rodríguez (short story, Typebar Magazine)
This week’s horror book recommendations
Theme: Christmas horror
The Christmas Massacre by John A. Russo
“Albert was wearing a Santa hat, black instead of red…”
The Horror Collection: Christmas Edition presented by Kevin J. Kennedy
“Tell us the story about the Ghostly Peddler!”
Silent Night, Deadly Night by Armando Muñoz
“It was a shame that for many locals, the song ‘Santa’s Watching’ would bring a chill instead of cheer.”
Carols for the Dead compiled by Desiree Horton
“Lupa watched from the alley, the torches reflecting off the blood already flowing through the streets.”
The Very Naughty List by Michael D.A. Clarke
“The heart of Merryvale Shopping Mall pulsed with chaotic festivity.”
To Hell with Hallmark by Brad Ricks
“As the librarian for the Hallmark Public Library, she had her pick of whatever she wanted to read.”
The Dead of Christmas by Tory Favro
“This had been his second year on station, every day he thought it wouldn’t get weirder.”
“One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
Horror Fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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