Bite-Sized Horror News
Vale
- Condolences to family, friends, and fans of actress Sally Kirkland. Kirkland’s first lead role was in 1984 slasher movie Fatal Games. Other horror movie credits include Two Evil Eyes (1990), The Haunted (1991), Forever (1992), and Suburban Gothic (2014). RIP.
Horror Book Bits
- Congratulations to all the opening round nominees in the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Vote for your favorite horror book before 24 Nov 2025 to bump them into the final round.
- Happy birthday this week to Bram Stoker, born 8 Nov 1847 in Clontarf, Ireland.
- 1982 mystery horror movie Deadly Games is getting a novelization.
- You know you want the Official Lon Chaney Coloring Book for its coloring pages, cut-out crafts, mazes, and masks featuring Chaney in his iconic movie roles.
- Stephen King’s short story Mister Yummy is getting a movie adaptation. Mister Yummy is the first story from King’s collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams to get an adaptation.
- Daniel Kraus’s upcoming nonfiction book, Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World, releases on 10 Mar 2026 and is a deep dive into George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
- Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine’s A Banquet for the Hungry Ghosts is being adapted into an animated horror anthology movie.
- Scott Hampton’s Halloween graphic novella The Upturned Stone is getting a movie adaptation.
Horror Movie Morsels
- Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas are screening Dust Bunny on Monday, 17 Nov 2025, at selected cinemas, with the Brooklyn one including a Q&A with Bryan Fuller and Mads Mikkelsen. The movie opens nationwide on 12 Dec 2025.
- Patrick Brice says he and Mark Duplass are still planning on making Creep 3 and that The Creep Tapes TV show “is almost an incubator for what Creep 3 could be”.
- Insidious 6 has wrapped production in Australia. The current release date is 21 Aug 2026.
- 2014 body horror movie Clown is being released on Blu-ray on 13 Nov 2025. Clown started life as a fake horror movie trailer. Director Jon Watts says even though there are no current plans, a sequel is “all mapped out” and he’d like to make it a franchise of 7 movies.
- Wolf in Crown is a short horror film starring actor Elliott Fullam, from Terrifier 2 & 3. It’s the first segment in a larger story that might eventually turn into a full movie. Watch it on the Bloody Disgusting YouTube channel.
- Betty Boop is getting a horror movie adaptation.
- Orphan 3 has begun filming and will be called Orphans. No plot details yet.
- Killer Shorts, known for their short screenplay competition, has begun The Scream List, a “year-round discovery platform for horror and dark genre screenwriters”. The aim of the list is to connect writers with industry professionals year-round.
- Writer/director Charlie Schwan’s SXSW winning horror short Harvester is becoming a feature film called Bitter Bitter.
- The 7th Sharknado movie will be a prequel, origin story, possibly called Sharknado Origins.
- Jim Henson’s Labyrinth returns to cinemas from 8 to 11 Jan 2026 in celebration of its 40th anniversary. The screenings will also include footage from the Oct 2025 UK Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball cosplay event.
Horror TV Treats
- Hideo Kojima will executive produce Death Stranding Isolations, a Japanese anime series that tells a new story set in the world of the video game.
- V for Vendetta is getting a TV series adaptation.
Horror Podcast Pieces
- New podcast Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal is an audio adaptation of Tom Sniegoski’s supernatural graphic novel of the same name, illustrated by Mike Mignola.
“[Horror] captivates us because it speaks to our deepest anxieties, pulling back the veil on what we normally suppress.”
― Joe Mynhardt, Shadows & Ink: The Psychology of Horror Fiction, Vol. 3
Writing Horror
If a Famous Author Calls, Hang Up: Anatomy of an Impersonation Scam by Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware
Some places accepting submissions
BAM magazine
Pays: $50
Looking for: Pulpy short fiction with a punch
Submissions close: 21 Nov 2025
Book Worms Issue 10Pays: 8 cents per word
Theme: Apocalypse horror
Submissions close: 10 Jan 2026
Upcoming submission calls
Rotting Leaf magazine
Pays: 6 cents per word ($30 minimum) + contributor copy of annual anthology
Looking for: Eco-fiction, eco-horror, eco-gothic/anti-gothic, haunted/unhaunted landscapes, transcorporeality, eco-surrealism/existentialism/absurdism
Submissions open in Dec 2025
Dracula Beyond Stoker, Issue 9Pays: 5 cents per word + contributor copy
Theme: Bram Stoker
Submissions open 1 May and close 30 Jun 2026
“Psychological horror is a masterful game of cat and muse played with the reader’s mind. It’s an intricate dance of shadows, where what’s not shown is just as important as what is.”
― Joe Mynhardt, Shadows & Ink: Mastering the Art of Horror Writing and Publishing, Vol. 2
Trailer Horror
A taste of things to come.
Horror TV Trailers
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Season 2. Monster horror. Something new is lurking. Apple TV+, 27 Feb 2026
Fallout, Season 2. Post-apocalyptic horror. The end of the world ain’t over yet. Prime Video, 17 Dec 2025
Horror Movie Trailers
Dracula. Vampire horror. When a 15th-century prince denounces God after the loss of his wife he inherits an eternal curse and becomes Dracula. Condemned to wander the centuries, he defies fate and death, guided by a single hope: to be reunited with his lost love. VOD, 1 Dec 2025
The Housemaid, trailer 2, Psychological horror. A struggling woman is happy to start over as a housemaid for an affluent, elite couple, but what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous. Cinema, 19 Dec 2025
Influencers. Psychological horror. In Southern France, a young woman’s chilling fascination with murder and identity theft sends her life into a whirlwind of chaos. Shudder, 12 Dec 2025
Killer Rental. Slasher horror. A group of friends rent a vacation home, unaware of hidden cameras recording their every move. Screambox, 18 Nov 2025
The Mother, the Menacer, and Me. Comedy horror. Stuck in a dead-end job and forced to move in with his disapproving mother-in-law, Eddie sets out to make his Hollywood dream come true, urged on by his imaginary villainous companion, who wants to be brought to life. VOD, 11 Dec 2025
The Pitchfork Retreat. Survival horror. Hell-bent on winning a life-changing competition, Matt, Mandy and Nikolai journey to a secluded island for a high-stakes horror retreat. Release date TBA
Stone Creek Killer. Serial killer horror. A small-town police chief pursues a serial killer with help from a psychic, while fighting to prove his own innocence and facing his demons both past and present. Release date TBA
The Wizard of Oz: The Dead Walk. Monster horror. Dorothy, haunted by Oz nightmares, unleashes evil at rehab. As bodies pile up, she must survive, uncover dark truths, and stop heart-hungry monsters before it’s too late. Release date TBA
Horror Game Trailers
BrokenLore: ASCEND. Psychological horror. Two renowned rooftop climbers attempt a forbidden nighttime ascent of Japan’s tallest building, but a supernatural entity emerges to haunt them. Release date TBA
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW. Psychological horror. Anne, a victim of bullying, is trapped in a surreal nightmare where she must solve a dark mystery and confront sinister creatures. Releases 16 Jan 2026
Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake. Survival horror. Follows twin sisters lost in an abandoned village haunted by evil spirits. Releases 12 Mar 2026
“The function of suspense is to put the reader in danger of an overfull bladder.”
― Sol Stein, Stein on Writing
A Selection of Horror Books Released this Week
14 horror books this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, serial killer, monster, apocalypse, Christmas, food, and folk horror
See: A Selection of Horror Books Released, 9 to 15 Nov 2025
“Any word or group of words that makes the reader ask “Why?” or “How?” also serves as an inducement for the reader to go on.”
― Sol Stein, Stein on Writing
A Selection of Horror Movies Released this Week
8 horror movies this week. Themes: Supernatural, psychological, werewolf, dystopian, zombie, and cabin in the woods horror
See: A Selection of Horror Movies Released, 9 to 15 Nov 2025
“It’s like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released this Week
1 horror TV show this week. Theme: Serial killer horror
See: A Selection of Horror TV Shows Released, 9 to 15 Nov 2025
“I discovered that what most people call creepy, scary, and spooky, I call comfy, cozy, and home.”
― Zak Bagans, Dark World: Into the Shadows with the Lead Investigator of The Ghost Adventures Crew
What We Were Thinking About this Week
The Running Man by Stephen King (novel)
The Long Walk by Stephen King (novel)
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (novel)
This week’s horror book recommendations
Theme: Western horror
Nightmares of Buzzard Hill by Cory Andrews
“A cold desert wind blew, and the fire died down to hot embers. And that’s when the monsters came.”
Noose by Brennan LaFaro
“Noose pulled up alongside the passenger car on a sleek black stallion with glowing red eyes.”
The Saga of Dead-Eye by Ronald Kelly
“The dead man slowly opened his right eye – steel gray and bloodshot – and looked straight at them.”
A Thing Immortal by Barry K Gregory
“The giant wolf lowered its head, a submissive gesture inviting the girl’s touch.”
Skull Moon by Tim Curran
“With a sound like dry lips parting, the eyes open.”
In the Land of Dead Horses by Bruce McCandless III
“The bony figures were arrayed to suggest a set of sentinels left to guard the tomb.”
Skinning the Coyote by Nick McAnulty
“…he made the final mistake of his life by running back to the house to tell Pa.”
“It takes many sheep to satisfy one wolf.”
― Nenia Campbell, Horrorscape
Horror Fun
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the other side.
Jayson
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