Bite-Sized Horror News
Horror Book Bits
- Check out the final program schedule for Scares That Care AuthorCon VI, 27 Feb to 1 Mar 2026.
- Author Cullen Bunn has launched The Midnight Lantern Foundation, a nonprofit organization “focused on bringing a little spooky, nerdy, imaginative wonder to kids and families who need it most” through books, comics, games, art, and genre-inspired gifts.
- Other Worlds Than These, the 3rd novel in The Talisman trilogy by Stephen King and Peter Straub, releases on 6 Oct 2026.
- Grady Hendrix joins Eric LaRocca at a launch party for LaRocca’s upcoming book Wretch, or the Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw in Brooklyn, NY, on Wed, 25 Mar 2026. Tickets are available now.
- Mike Flanagan is writing and directing a new movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist.
- Horror author Johnny Compton has signed with Independent Artist Group for movie and TV representation.
- Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House is getting a stage adaptation, launching in the UK on 11 Sep 2026.
- The J.J. Abrams’ movie adaptation of Philip Fracassi’s short story Fail-Safe will be called Skeletons.
Horror Movie Morsels
- If you’ve got a little to spare, a GoFundMe has been set up to fund hospice care for Phantasm actor Reggie Bannister.
- Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are definitely in Universal’s The Mummy 4 movie, which now has a release date of 19 May 2028.
- Regal Cinemas will be playing Friday the 13th movies on all Friday the 13th days in 2026. That’s 13 Feb, 13 Mar, and 13 Nov.
- In a Violent Nature 2 (the sequel to the 2024 In a Violent Nature) will have “more kills, more blood” and will take place in a summer camp.
- Steven Spielberg talked about his upcoming movie Disclosure Day in a first-look trailer.
- Sam Jarvis is writing the latest animated Ghostbusters movie script.
- Sam Raimi says he has “a new hope” about making Crawl 2 and the delay has been because of management changes at the studio.
- The Silence of the Lambs will return to cinemas on 26 and 29 Apr 2026 for the movie’s 35th anniversary.
- Onset Cinema will screen The Strangers: Prey at Night on Sat, 25 Jul 2026, at Kincaid Lake State Park in Falmouth, Kentucky, one of the filming locations. Damian Maffei (Man in the Mask), Emma Bellomy (Dollface), and Lea Enslin (Pinup) will all be there as special guests.
- Disney is in trouble with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for showing a Predator: Badlands ad featuring a severed body likely to “cause fear or distress for young children”. Disney says it’s clearly a robot, while the ASA says it’s not and could be interpreted as a human.
- Scream 7 has been rated R for “strong bloody violence, gore, and language”.
- Valentine’s Day cards featuring the 2026 winner of Robert Englund’s annual A Nightmare on Elm Street fan art contest are available from his website.
- The Warner Bros. studio tour now includes a special Sinners exhibit that will run until 31 Mar 2026.
- Scary Movie 6 will include a Terrifier 3 spoof that was originally cut from the movie but has since been reinstated.
- The next Evil Dead movie might be called Evil Dead Wrath.
- Paramount has released the first 2 parts of Friday the 13th: Camp Crystal Legacy, a documentary series exploring the movie, its history, and its evolution. Watch on YouTube.
Horror TV Treats
- Mike Flanagan says Stephen King is very happy with the scripts for season 1 of his new Dark Tower TV series.
- Public performances of the Broadway show Stranger Things: The First Shadow were cancelled this week to allow the performances to be filmed with the original cast for future release. Rumor is that this documentary will be the first in a trilogy “exploring the dark underbelly of Hawkins, Indiana”.
- Apparently animated series Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will “feel like a lost season” of the main show.
Horror Music Moments
- Composer Harry Manfredini is doing the music for the upcoming Crystal Lake Tv series.
“I am wonderful, I deserve to be wonderful, and I contain multitudes.”
― Stephen King, The Life of Chuck
Writing Horror
Surf’s Up in Slop City by Lincoln Michel, Counter Craft Substack
Some places accepting submissions
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
Tales to Terrify Sci-Fi Flash Fiction ContestWinner: USD $50 + audio narration on Tales to Terrify
Looking for: Sci-fi horror
Contest closes: 28 Feb 2025
Unsettling Settings anthology (Dead Birds Publishing)
Pays: Royalties
Looking for: Dark environmental settings where the setting itself plays a significant role
Submissions close: 30 Apr 2026
Upcoming submission calls
Horror Library anthology Vol 10 (Dark Moon Books)
Pays: USD 2 cents per word
Looking for: Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Submissions open 23 Feb and close 9 Mar 2026
Earth Resists and Reclaims anthology (Tundra Swan Press)
Pays: USD $50 + contributor copy
Looking for: Climate and environmental horror stories
Submissions open 1 Apr and close 15 Jun 2026
“So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information.”
― George Orwell, Why I Write
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, teaser. Wedding horror. Follows a bride and groom during the week before their wedding. Netflix, 26 Mar 2026
Horror Movie Trailers
Dark Distortion. Psychological horror. A group of adult models steals a camcorder containing the restless spirit of a murdered child. VOD, 3 Mar 2026
Deep Water. Shark horror. A flight goes down in the middle of the Pacific in shark infested waters. Cinema, 1 May 2026
Didn’t Die. Zombie apocalypse comedy horror. As the zombie apocalypse unfolds, a podcast host struggles to maintain her dwindling audience amidst the chaos. Cinema, 3 Mar 2026
Forbidden Fruits. Witch comedy horror. At a mall store, Apple leads a secret witch cult with coworkers Cherry and Fig. New hire Pumpkin questions their sisterhood, forcing them to confront inner darkness. Cinema, 20 Mar 2026
I Live Here Now. Psychological horror. A struggling actress flees to a crumbling motel where time fractures and reality bends. Limited, 24 Feb 2026
The Inn. Slasher horror. Spring break turns deadly when a masked killer unleashes a night of terror. Release date TBA
Monster Mia. Kids monster horror. A rebellious young girl is expelled from her local school and sent to the mysterious Rotwood Academy, where her classmates are monsters. Release date TBA
Obsession, teaser trailer 2. Psychological horror. After breaking the mysterious ‘One Wish Willow’ to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Cinema, 15 May 2026
Project Hail Mary, final trailer. Sci-fi horror. An astronaut tries to save Earth while alone in outer space. Cinema, 20 Mar 2026
Psycho Killer, new teaser trailer. Serial killer horror. A police officer tracks a killer after her husband becomes one of his victims. Cinema, 20 Feb 2026
Rose of Nevada. Psychological horror. A ship that vanished thirty years ago reappears and two men take it out, only to return to a harbor that’s not as they remember it. Cinema, 19 Jun 2026
The Shark that Roared. Jaws documentary. A documentary on Jaws: The Revenge (1987) that celebrates the film’s 40th anniversary and its achieved fandom since its release. Cinema, 17 Jul 2027
Horror Game Trailers
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. Lovecraftian horror. A mining station in the Pacific abyss is no longer responding. As an investigator of the occult, unravel the mysteries of the deep. Releases 16 Apr 2026
Hellraiser: Revival. Survival horror. Wield the powers of the Genesis Configuration puzzle box to survive your bargain with the infamous Pinhead. Release date TBA
Pilgrim of Darkness. Survival horror. Explore cursed lands as an eternal night takes shape. Commit to the call to gather crystals as a pilgrim-monk to bring them to the sun. Releases 6 Mar 2026
Silent Hill: Townfall. Supernatural horror. Simon Ordell is called back to the island of St. Amelia in Scotland to ‘put things right’. Release date TBA
Warrens of Random. Maze horror. Escape 20 mazes that vary in difficulty. Every time you exit, there’s a chance that you’ll spawn in a random maze and must survive a previous or future maze twice. Release date TBA
“If you want him to do it, you’ve got to change the picture of the world inside his head.”
― Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
22 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, slasher, dark fantasy, cosmic, survival, gothic vampire, serial killer, and ghost horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 8 to 14 Feb 2026
“The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
14 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, curse, haunted house, serial killer, vampire, dark fantasy, sci-fic, Halloween, cult, parasocial, and body horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 8 to 14 Feb 2026
“Luck was a joke. Even good luck was just bad luck with its hair combed.”
― Stephen King, Everything’s Eventual
A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week
1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Sci-fi horror
See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 8 to 14 Feb 2026
“Human life is fiction’s only theme.”
― Eudora Welty, On Writing
What We Were Thinking About this Week
What We’ve Been Reading This Week
Into the Mangrove Forest by Galman Ferguson (original short story, FearSome Fiction)
The Queen by Nick Cutter (novel)
King Sorrow by Joe Hill (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: Valentine’s Day horror
14 Nights in February by KH Johnakin & Ben Farthing
“…we stay in each room, one per night, up until Valentine’s Day.”
Valentine’s Slay by Matt Shaw
“It’s a thin line between love and hate”
Dark Valentines by Mark Onspaugh
“She was starting to succumb to the blood fever…”
Our Black Hearts Beat as One by Brian Asman
“Hearts don’t just break, they explode. Destroying everything around them.”
You’re Mine by Somer Canon
“That year, things were going to be much different for her. She just knew it.”
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
“Who says romance is dead?”
Love is a Crematorium by Mercedes M. Yardley
“Silva’s lover was built of bones she scavenged from the Killing Fields.”
“I can lend you my money not my books.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words
Horror Fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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