News

Best known to horror fans for playing iconic proto-final girl Jess Bradford in the late Bob Clark’s slasher classic Black Christmas, Olivia Hussey has passed away at the age of 73.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Olivia Hussey Eisley, who went peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on December 27th,” a statement posted on the actress’ official Instagram page reads this weekend. “Olivia was a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her.”

The statement continues, “Born on April 17th, 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals.

Olivia leaves behind a loving family— her children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson, and a legacy of love that will forever be cherished in our hearts.

The horror genre, particularly in a miniseries format, continues to rise in popularity year after year. The best of these produce jaw-dropping and heart-pounding moments that are hard to match with other genres. Rather than a traditional film, where the build-up, middle, and climax have to play out in a brisk feature-length time, in a series, there are no such constraints. This allows creators and directors time to let their storyline develop fully. This freedom allows the intense payoffs of intricate, layered stories, character development, and horrifying elements that make the best of these horror shows so unforgettable.

Though many talented hands go into each and every production, two stand above the rest, with horror stalwarts author Stephen King and filmmaker Mike Flanagan helping create many of the best horror shows of all time. Shows like It and the first part of one of the best horror anthologies, The Haunting of Hill House,...

While the horror genre has traditionally been intended for a more mature audience, numerous 'gateway' movies are targeted towards younger viewers and have a lower MPAA rating. Goosebumps is a great example, as are Coraline, The Corpse Bride, and the TV show Wednesday. However, young people will find a way to watch content that's not suitable for their age range, regardless of the censors.

Horror movies are designed to terrify, disgust, and thrill audiences in equal measure, and there's no fun in sticking to PG-13 horror movies forever. As such, it's no surprise that millennials have been brought up on more extreme films from the genre. Some of the best gateway horror movies may have been R-rated upon release, but would likely get a lower rating in some cases now. However, that's not to say they're appropriate for fans who experienced them way too young.

Arachnophobia Directed By Frank Marshall...

Unfortunately, we recently lost an absolute legend with the passing of Tony Todd. His voice and presence are unmatched in the horror genre and has been a wonderful constant for over 30 years. Whenever an iconic actor passes, I think a great way to remember them is to look back on some of their greatest performances/movies. After all, this is their life’s work and clearly something they were very passionate about. But when it comes to Tony Todd, where do you even start?

Looking at his filmography can be overwhelming, given the sheer volume of films that the man starred in. One of the main traits of his roles is that he may hardly get any screen time in them, yet he manages to be the most intriguing character around. And while it’s not horror, I want to make sure to shout out his many wonderful TV appearances over the years,...

If you’ve visited Salem, Massachusetts, in the last decade or so, you’re probably well aware that the Disney movie Hocus Pocus was shot there. During spooky season, which now starts in the middle of August and runs through Halloween, the historic coastal city known for being the site of the 1692 witch trials is inundated by fans of the 1993 family film, which stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as 17th-century sister witches who are accidentally resurrected by a Grateful Dead-loving high schooler and, lest we forget,...

Although Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film "The Shining" is frequently cited as one of the scariest films of all time, it's widely known that Stephen King — who wrote the 1977 novel on which it's based — hates it. Kubrick famously altered several details of King's book, and the author felt that the changes were arbitrary at best and insulting at worst. King wrote his story as the tale of an ordinary man who was gradually driven to madness. King expressed interest in gentler actors like Martin Sheen or Michael Moriarty for the role of Jack Torrance, feeling they would be sympathetic immediately. Kubrick, however, cast Jack Nicholson in the role, and King felt that Nicholson was already unstable from the jump. With Nicholson, it wasn't a tale of a sane man going insane, but an already-insane man cracking open.

Kubrick, however, was already granted permission by Warner Bros., so he went ahead...

Kenny Ortega is now a name associated with some of Disneys biggest hits aimed at children and teenagers, and back in 1993, he brought the story of the Sanderson Sisters to life in Hocus Pocus. Ortega began his career as a choreographer, working in movies like Xanadu, St. Elmos Fire, and Dirty Dancing. In 1992, Ortega made his directorial debut with Newsies, a historical musical drama based on the New York City newsboys strike of 1899. For his second movie, Ortega left musicals aside and focused on a Halloween story with witches, magical books, zombies, and more.

Hocus Pocus

Release Date July 16, 1993Cast Omri Katz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Thora Birch, Bette Midler, Vinessa ShawGenres Family, Comedy, Horror, FantasyRating PGDirector Kenny OrtegaWriters Neil Cuthbert, Mick Garris, David KirschnerDistributor(s) Disney

Hocus Pocus takes us to Salem, Massachusetts, where, on October 31, 1693, the Sanderson Sisters Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy), and Sarah (Sarah...

Funko Pop! expands its Hocus Pocus line just in time for Halloween. Fans of the Disney Halloween classic can round out their collection with protagonists Max and Allison, along with Binx, joining the line.

Funko launches preorders for Pop! Max and Pop! Allison with Binx beginning today through November 1. Preorder here.

Kenny Ortega directed the 1993 film that inspired the Pop! collection, co-written by Mick Garris.

“After three centuries, three witch sisters are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night, and it is up to two teenagers, a young girl, and an immortal cat to put an end to their reign of terror once and for all.”

While the witchy Sanderson sisters have long joined the Funko Pop! ranks, it’s about time for Hocus Pocus heroes Max, Allison (with Binx) get their own figures.

The new figures Msrp for $15, with details and images below.

Pop! Max Description:

The Sanderson Sisters are running amok!

The cast of Hocus Pocus returned to Salem, Massachusetts for the second annual It’s Just a Buncha Halloween on October 11-13.

Actors Omri Katz (Max), Vinessa Shaw (Allison), Jason Marsden (Binx), Larry Bagby (Ice), and Tobias Jelinek (Jay) helped organize the fan-focused celebration of Disney’s Halloween classic.

Following a Samhain celebration, a meet and greet, a burlesque show, and a trolley tour, the magical weekend concluded with the actors providing live commentary to a screening of the film at The Cabot in nearby Beverly.

Here are 10 things fans learned about Hocus Pocus…

1. The original script was much darker.

The original script that eventually became Hocus Pocus, written by master of horror Mick Garris, was much darker.

“Most people don’t know that this movie was originally written very scary, and then it was later rewritten to be a comedy,” Shaw explained. “I think it’s so much better as a comedy.

Before Poltergeist (1982), haunted house movies took place in old, creepy mansions. Regular Mubi Podcast host Rico Gagliano visits the original suburban house in California to check for ghosts and hands over to writer and guest host Anna Bogutskaya to explore how Poltergeist transformed horror movies forever with the help of the movie’s star JoBeth Williams, original publicist Mick Garris, and horror filmmaker Vincenzo Natali.Season six of the Mubi Podcast, titled “Haunted Homes,” considers how movies about haunted houses let us explore—and often parallel—our relationships with our homes. Each episode visits a horror movie that changed the way we imagine a haunted house, from the crumbling Gothic mansions to white picket fences, what it says about the people who live in the houses and what scares them the most. Hosted and written by Anna Bogutskaya.Listen to episode one below or wherever you get your podcasts:Apple PodcastsSpotifyMoreAfter listening,...

Stephen King's It miniseries was one of the great horror releases of the 90s, and still terrifies audiences more than 30 years after release. Featured within In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, we have an exclusive clip with director Tommy Lee Wallace, who talks about the world's fear of clowns, and bringing Pennywise to life with Tim Curry!

Ready to explore the best of ‘90s horror films and TV? In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with the greatest line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. Audiences will have their last chance to have their names alongside their favorite horror icons in the credits!

From Creatorvc, the creative minds behind the In Search of Darkness ‘80s horror trilogy and Aliens Expanded documentary, In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 delves into an...

Horror movies are closely associated with rapid succession sequels than they are legacy sequels. (How many years did we have a new “Saw” and/or “Paranormal Activity” sequel to look forward to?) But there are still a fair amount of legacy horror sequels – follow-ups that take much longer to marinate than the traditional sequel – and these are the ones that were definitely worth the wait.

Universal “Psycho II” (1983)

The first true legacy horror sequel was a follow-up to perhaps the most celebrated horror movie ever, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 shocker “Psycho.” “Psycho II” was directed by Australian filmmaker Richard Franklin, whose previous movie “Road Games” is one of the greatest Australian thrillers ever, and was written by Tom Holland, who would go on to direct future classics “Fright Night” and “Child’s Play.”

The sequel sees Norman Bates (once again played by Anthony Perkins) finally released from prison and attempting to enjoy a normal life,...

Over the course of three In Search of Darkness documentary films, all of which were over four hours long (with one of them nearly reaching the six hour mark), director David Weiner did an incredible job of digging into the many great (and some not-so-great) horror movies that were released in the 1980s. There were still so many movies left uncovered that Weiner could circle back and continue looking into ’80s movies for years to come – but instead, he has decided to move forward into the ’90s with the upcoming documentary In Search of Darkness: 1990 – 1994. At the time, fans considered the horror genre to be in a lull, a downswing from the heights it reached in the ’80s. But with this movie, Weiner aims to point out that we did still get a lot of good horror movies during that time period. You can get a sample of the...

From the producers of the hit In Search of Darkness documentary franchise comes In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, an all-new epic documentary that aims to be the ultimate celebration of the wacky world of 1990s horror. Horror icons John Carpenter, Heather Langenkamp, and Mike Flanagan lead the line-up of 40+ genre favorites who were interviewed for this in-depth re-assessment of the decade, and we’re debuting the official trailer this morning!

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with an incredible line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. This is your last chance to have Your name alongside your favorite horror icons in the credits.

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 Purchase Options:

Isod: 1990-94 Blu-ray Package (including Blu-ray w/slipcase; 2 posters; sew-on patch; membership card; name in credits; digital...

Fans of the Critters franchise probably already own all the movies but Arrow Video is looking to tempt us all with the announce of a brand new 4-movie Blu-ray collection this week.

Critters: A Four Course Feast is a limited edition UK offering, and it features the first four movies in the Critters franchise housed together in a special Blu-ray box set.

The set will be released on December 2, and it’s up for UK pre-order now.

Arrow Video previews, “The Krites have landed! Carnivorous creatures from outer space! Vicious vermin with very sharp teeth! The beloved sci-fi/comedy-horror franchise makes its UK Blu-ray debut in this special edition box set from Arrow Video. A four course feast of fun, fur, fear and fangs, served with a platter of new and archive extras to whet your appetite!”

The 4-disc limited edition contents include…

– High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all...

You know how sometimes certain stories just don’t need to be adapted? Some things are better left to the imagination, where the absurd or the grotesque can play out without limitations. I’m sure you can rattle off a few examples right now. Go ahead. We’ll wait. There’s a delicate balance when it comes to adaptations. It’s not just about bringing the story to life—it’s about keeping its essence intact. And while The Body Politic and Chattery Teeth both have their strengths, some things just work better on paper. Mick Garris definitely had opinions about how this particular adaptation played out, especially after the order got flipped for the release. One of these stories works just fine. The other? Well, you’ll see. Quicksilver Highway having just two stories feels a little odd, until you find out they were hoping it would spin off into a series.

The majority of Stephen King's novels (and many of his short stories) have been adapted into films or TV projects over the years, but there a few outliers that have yet to make the leap from page to screen. While it seems inevitable that sooner or later, every King work (with one notable exception) will be adapted, you have to wonder why some books have yet to materialize as movies. In 2016, King was asked by Deadline if there were any books he was surprised hadn't been adapted yet, and he had an answer: "The Regulators." If you came of age in the 1990s, as I did, and were a Stephen King nerd, as I was (and still am), you know all about "The Regulators," because it wasn't a normal Stephen King release. In fact, it technically wasn't even a Stephen King book — it was attributed to King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman.

The new genre retrospective book from author Adrian Roe, Seasonal Screams: A History of Holiday Horror will release just in time for Halloween (literally) on October 31, 2024.

The book features exclusive cover artwork by Graham Humphreys, which you’ll find below.

Seasonal Screams: A History of Holiday Horror will take you on a terrifying journey through your favorite seasons, with contributors and interviewees including Neil Marshall, Ellie Cornell, Jeff Lieberman, Linnea Quigley, Daniel Stamm, Mellissa Anderson and more.

The press release previews, “Whether it’s the dry autumnal leaves that shatter under your feet with every step during Halloween, or the cold crisp snow turning the world white over Christmas, there has always been a special relationship with film and the changing seasons. Or more specifically, with the public holidays that are celebrated during these traditional and familiar dates marked by default on our calendars. To some, these moments represent something far more profound,...

Stephen King’s opinion on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is well-known lore and a big driving force behind a second take at adapting his popular horror novel more faithfully with the TV movie mini-series The Shining. One of King’s gripes with Kubrick’s iconic film is the casting of Jack Nicholson, since Nicholson already sported an intensity about him prior to The Overlook, and King insists that the scariest notion of Jack Torrance is that he was a normal, unassuming dad who is driven to be a monster. Enter Steven Weber, who is known for his long-standing role as Brian Hackett in the sitcom Wings. Weber was primarily seen as a comedic actor, which made his casting as Jack more what King had envisioned.

Weber would share a little anecdote about working with King when he appeared on the Inside of You podcast. During the production of the mini-series,...

There have been many Stephen King movies on the big screen, but if you ask the master of horror himself, he thinks TV is a better medium for his work — specifically the TV miniseries. "I think my novels are much better suited for miniseries presentations," he says in the book "Hollywood's Stephen King." There have been a handful of King miniseries over the years — before "It" became two blockbuster movies, it was a beloved (and scary) miniseries starring Tim Curry. There was also "The Tommyknockers," "The Langoliers," and of course, Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot." These miniseries are all adaptations of King's pre-existing work, but in 1999, King tried something different: an original miniseries he wrote from scratch.

In 1997, King finally got a chance to adapt "The Shining" his way. The author spent decades complaining about Stanley Kubrick's acclaimed adaptation of his haunted hotel novel, and then ABC came along...

As the 25th anniversary of Pigeon Shrine FrightFest approaches, the organisers have unveiled a tantalising lineup for this year’s horror festival, which will be held at the Odeon Leicester Square from 22 August to 26 August 2024. The festival promises an array of chilling films, international premieres, and rare retrospectives.

We have already detailed what will be on offer in Discovery Screen 1 and Discovery Screen 2 across the long weekend.

Now we have even more detailed information for you. Read on for the film programme for Discovery Screen 3.

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024 – Discovery Screen 3 Friday, 23 August 2024

6:30 Pm – Things Will Be Different (UK Premiere) Directed by Michael Felker, this film stars Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Justin Benson, and Sarah Bolger. The plot follows estranged siblings Joseph and Sidney who, after a close-call robbery, hide in an abandoned farmhouse that inexplicably transports them to another time. As they struggle to return to their present,...

From the 1930s into the ‘50s, Universal brought the horror genre some of its greatest icons. Dracula. Frankenstein’s Monster. The Wolf Man. The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Invisible Man. The Mummy. The studio has returned to these characters multiple times over the decades. But the one that has had the most successful revival was the Mummy, who was brought back to the screen in a family friendly adventure film in 1999. A film that mixed monsters with Indiana Jones style action… and became a blockbuster that’s now seen as a beloved classic. So let’s take a look back at the making of The Mummy ‘99 and find out What the F*ck Happened to This Horror Movie.

To properly cover The Mummy, we first have to flash back to 1922. That’s when the discovery – and the opening – of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb captured the world’s imagination.

Bette Midler is jokingly pushing Disney for production on Hocus Pocus 3 due to aging actors. The release of Hocus Pocus 3 might not be until 2026 or beyond, with the most recent update on the film coming in October 2023. Disney may fast-track production for a potential Halloween release next year, or could wait until a later year.

Actor Bette Midler is pressuring Disney to make the previously announced Hocus Pocus 3 as soon as they can, saying it would be beneficial to bring back the original cast once again. Hocus Pocus 2 came out in 2022, about 29 years after the original, bringing back the original actors for the Sanderson sisters, those being Midler as Winfred, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah, and Kathy Najimy as Mary. Because of their iconic roles and the success of the sequel, the upcoming Hocus Pocus 3 was confirmed to be in development.

However, speaking with Entertainment Weekly,...

The Hitcher: "You’ll definitely want to pick up The Hitcher as the seminal eighties’ slasher gets the full Limited Edition overhaul from experts in the field Second Sight Films. They present a brand-new restored 4K version from the original camera negative supervised and approved by director Robert Harmon, that’s set for release on 30 September 2024.

Get ready for a horrifying ride with director Robert Harmon’s and screenwriter Eric Red's killer thriller, starring the late, inimitable Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Sin City) as the hitchhiker from hell, in a career-defining villainous role that was described by Empire as ‘The best Hannibal Lector that never was’ who terrorises innocent drivers as they drive along the deserted Midwest highways.

This gruesomely gripping cult favourite starring C. Thomas Howell (The Outsiders, E.T.), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight, Single White Female) and Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile, The Mist...

Bette Midler is calling on Disney and urging them to get a script for Hocus Pocus 3.

The star of the Halloween film says she has not seen a script for the third installment, which has been in development following the success of the sequel last year on Disney+.

“I haven’t seen the script, but I’ve heard rumblings,” Midler said on the QVC+ talk show Busy This Week.

She continued, “I think if they’re gonna, they oughta because time is not just marching. Time is barrel-assing to the finish line. Get us while we’re still breathing, I mean, God!”

Hocus Pocus was first released in 1993 and directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert and a story by David Kirschner and Garris. The film follows a trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy on Halloween night.

Related:...

  Get out the Summer heat in July and cool down with next month's lineup of titles from the fine folks at Arrow. The Arrow Player features the always excellent assortment of classics and oddities from around the World.    Next month's Selects programs come from horror icon and director Mick Garris, and Kiwi actor and director Thomas Sainsbury. Sainsbury's 2023 thriller Loop Track is also part of the programming next month.    There are two more gems from the filmography of Nico Mastorakis, The Naked Truth and Ninja Academy, and to celebrate the Summer Games get ready for The Arrow Olympics.    Everything you need to know about next month's lineup follows.    Arrow Player Announces July 2024 Lineup   Streamer Highlights Classic Comedies, New...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Mike Flanagan began his filmmaking career in 2011 with "Absentia," a Kickstarter-backed horror movie about a pregnant woman whose missing husband mysteriously returns after an unexplained seven-year absence. He gained mainstream attention with 2013's "Oculus," a gripping horror film about a haunted mirror that technically takes place almost entirely in one room. Then, in 2016, Flanagan offered the one-two-three punch of "Hush," "Before I Wake," and the mainstream sequel "Ouija: Origin of Evil." He was now a recognizable force in the horror community.

Flanagan gathered a huge fanbase with his subsequent adaptations of several famous horror novels. In 2017, he adapted Stephen King's "Gerald's Game" into an excellent feature film. In 2018, he turned Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" into a TV miniseries. In 2019, he made "Doctor Sleep," a convoluted ghost story based on King's sequel to "The Shining." Most recently, he adapted Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher...

The Krites -- the titular "Critters" from the eponymous film series -- are small, furry, extraterrestrial eating machines that are essentially dry-land piranhas. Krites only have impulses toward consumption and chaos. They have human intelligence, but are far more interested in eating than philosophy. The first "Critters" movie, directed by Stephen Herek (of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" fame) is one of the world's only Easter-themed horror movies, centering on a small Iowa town that discovers Krite eggs and paints them for the Sunday festivities. Naturally, the eggs hatch and the hungry Krites begin wreaking mayhem. Only a pair of alien bounty hunters named Ug (Terrence Mann) and Lee can help in stopping the alien threat.

The Krites can roll up into balls like hedgehogs and trundle quickly from place to place. They can also fire poisonous quills from their backs. They're mean little mothers.

The...

Brimming with must-see screenings, immersive experiences, special guests, and a tarantula experience that had to be seen (and felt) to be believed, this year's Overlook Film Festival was the biggest one yet, and if you've been following Daily Dead's Instagram and Twitter accounts, then you know we had yet another unforgettable time at the "summer camp for horror fans."

Be sure to keep an eye on Daily Dead for more coverage of Overlook 2024, and in the meantime, the festival revealed their juried and audience winners for features and short films, including Oddity, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, and The Looming!

Press Release: April 11, 2024 | New Orleans, LA – The Overlook Film Festival announced today the winners of the audience and juried prizes, as well as festival highlights, from the most heavily-attended edition yet of the annual celebration of all things horror.

The feature film Audience Award, voted on by festival attendees,...

After spending years in development hell, during which time it passed through the hands of popular genre filmmakers like George A. Romero, Mick Garris, Clive Barker, and Joe Dante, a reboot of the 1932 Universal Monsters classic The Mummy made its way out into the world in 1999 with Deep Rising writer/director Stephen Sommers at the helm. Made on a budget of $80 million, the new take on The Mummy was a box office success, earning over $416 million worldwide. Mixing horror, adventure, and comedy, it was a film that could be enjoyed by adults while also serving as gateway horror for a new generation of genre fans. Many see The Mummy (1999) as a beloved classic these days – so it makes sense that Universal has decided to give the film a theatrical re-release for its 25th anniversary. It will be back on the big screen in theatres nationwide starting April 26th, and tickets...

Christmas and Halloween reign supreme in terms of holiday-themed horror to the point that every other holiday pales in comparison when it comes to horror offerings. Easter does have a few selections to offer, but many of them don’t lean into any familiar holiday motifs. Then there are the horror films that get lumped in simply because the villain bears likeness to the Easter bunny. It can be slim pickings. That’s okay, though, because we really only need one solid horror movie to celebrate Easter with. One that isn’t afraid to spill some Easter bunny blood.

Critters 2: The Main Course is that definitive Easter horror movie.

Co-written by David Twohy (Warlock, Pitch Black) and director Mick Garris (The Stand, Masters of Horror), Critters 2 makes clever use of the holiday as a means to implement those remaining Crite eggs stashed away in a barn from the end of Critters.

Stephen King made it very well known that he wasn’t a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of his book The Shining, so seventeen years later he took the chance to bring the story to the screen himself. He wrote the script for a three-part mini-series that was directed by Mick Garris and aired on ABC back in 1997 – and tomorrow, March 12th, Scream Factory is giving the mini-series version of The Shining a Blu-ray release! Copies are available for purchase at This Link.

The mini-series version of The Shining has the following synopsis: Jack Torrance and his family move into the sprawling, vacant Overlook Hotel to get away from it all. Away from the alcoholism that derails Jack’s writing career. Away from the violent outbursts that mar Jack’s past. But Jack’s young son Danny knows better. He possesses a psychic gift called the shining — a gift...

Everyone knows about Stephen King's big-screen adaptations, but what about the small screen?

Once upon a time, Stephen King was the king of the miniseries. TV networks (especially ABC) would throw a ton of money at King to churn out a lengthy adaptation of one of his novels, or even an original work that they could slap his name on. These days, the idea of the miniseries doesn't quite exist anymore — in the age of streaming, it's been replaced by the more prominent "limited series." But there was something special about those glory days when network TV could turn a new King adaptation into a major event. You couldn't just fire up a streaming service and watch whenever you wanted — you'd have to tune in at a specific date and time and watch it as it unfolded. Something like that will never happen again — those days are over, folks.

A spinoff of the film franchise, “Freddy’s Nightmares” was an anthology series starring the original Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund. Airing from 1988 to 1990, each episode told a different story of a dark rooted and grim nature that takes place in this fictitious town on Elm Street, and now a brand new book will take us deeper into the series than ever before.

Death Cult Press has announced Welcome to Primetime from authors Geoff Turner, Henrique Couto and David Denover, up for pre-order now ahead of April 1, 2024 release.

“This collection features breakdowns of each episode in the series, interviews with the show’s creators and a selected history of the bizarre world of horror anthology television.”

You can pre-order three different book bundles from Death Cult Press now.

“Freddy’s Nightmares” picked up with where the films left off, with Krueger terrorizing the citizens of his hometown and taking his revenge out through their dreams.

So, you’ve seen every film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise – but have you seen every episode of the anthology TV series Freddy’s Nightmares? Night of the Living Tapes author Geoff Turner, filmmaker Henrique Couto, and Couto’s frequent collaborator David Denoyer have, and now they’ve put together a book called Welcome to Primetime: The Unofficial Freddy’s Nightmare Companion! Copies are available for pre-order through Death Cult Press and are expected to ship out the week of April 1st.

Freddy’s Nightmares ran for two seasons, from 1988 to 1990, with a total of 44 episodes. Robert Englund appeared in full Freddy Krueger mode in every episode of the show, in which Freddy, the dream serial killer, hosts an anthology of stories set in Springwood.

Directors who contributed to Freddy’s Nightmares include Tobe Hooper, Mick Garris, Tom McLoughlin, Ken Wiederhorn, William Malone, Gilbert Adler, and Dwight H. Little, and one...

As we revealed back in January, Encyclopocalypse Publications will be bringing Jason Jenkins’ non-fiction horror book Phantom Limbs to print on April 2nd.

Based upon one of Bloody Disgusting’s longest running and most successful columns, Phantom Limbs provides a treasure trove of insights into the best horror franchise movies Never made.

Bd has learned that Dark Delicacies will be hosting a signing of Phantom Limbs with Jenkins in attendance, along with a number of the creatives he interviewed for the various chapters in the book. To be held on Saturday, March 30th at 3pm, this event will feature Kevin Bocarde (the Chopping Mall remake), Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (Hellraiser), Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster III: The Third Millenium), Michael January (Psycho II: The Return of Norman Bates), Alex Litvak (Predators: Clan War), Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan (The Plantation), Scott Milam (Texas Chainsaw II), Nick Principe (Laid to Rest: Exhumed...

The Overlook Film Festival announced today their initial lineup for the upcoming 2024 edition, taking place April 4 – April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“We are finally able to see the fruits of post-pandemic productions and it’s a sight to behold,” said Michael Lerman, co-founder and director of film programming of The Overlook Film Festival. “This year’s lineup is full of bigger, scarier, more personal, more bombastic fever dreams that are sure to haunt you for the rest of 2024.”

This wide-ranging initial festival lineup includes 43 films (20 features and 23 shorts) from 11 countries, as well as four live presentations and five immersive experiences.

“This festival has always been as much about horror’s history as it is about its future,” said Landon Zakheim, co-founder and executive director of The Overlook Film Festival. “The expanded retrospective screenings, with some of our favorite heroes once again joining in person, allow us to celebrate what drew...

These past two years I've been fortunate to experience everything from a séance and a Vampire Ball to Halloween costume parties in April at The Overlook Film Festival (you can read all about it in my previous event report), and as I prepare to attend "summer camp for horror fans" for a third year in a row, the initial lineup for the festival's 2024 edition already has me wishing it were time to head to the Big Easy.

Brimming with must-see screenings and immersive experiences, the initial lineup for The Overlook Film Festival 2024 has plenty for horror fans to mark on their calendars between April 4th–7th, including Cuckoo, Abigail, I Saw the TV Glow, Blackout, a 50th anniversary screening of Phantom of the Paradise (with Paul Williams in attendance), and a 10th anniversary screening of Oculus with director Mike Flanagan, who will be in attendance along with Kate Siegel to...

For this month’s installment of “TV Terrors” we revisit Showtime’s “Masters of Horror,” which was created by Mick Garris and aired for two seasons between 2005 and 2007.

It seemed like a horror fan’s wet dream: a horror anthology series with some of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time lensing short format horror films for premium cable. Although horror icons had teamed in the past to bring us series like “Tales from the Darkside” and “Tales from the Crypt,” there wasn’t a modern series that brought them all together to have a chance to tell their stories in the anthology format. “Masters of Horror” seemed like a prime opportunity to re-invent the waning anthology horror format, and while it didn’t quite re-invent the wheel as planned, it brought with it a lot of great content from some bonafide horror icons.

“Masters of Horror” was originally envisioned...

A few years after adapting the apocalyptic epic The Stand into a miniseries, director Mick Garris and writer Stephen King teamed up once again to bring another one of King's iconic novels to life on the TV screen with The Shining miniseries in 1997, starring Steven Weber as Jack Torrance. On March 12th, Scream Factory will bring viewers into this miniseries version of the Overlook Hotel with their release of The Shining (1997) on Blu-ray, and we have a look at the cover art and full list of special features:

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – On March 12, Scream Factory presents Stephen King’s The Shining (1997) on Blu-ray™. The release feature a new 2K scan from the interpositive as well as audio commentary from Stephen King, director Mick Garris, cast members Steven Weber and Cynthia Garris, and select crew.

110 empty hotel rooms – filled with horror!

Jack Torrance (Steven Weber) and his family (Rebecca De Mornay...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

The Shining (1997) Blu-ray from Scream Factory

The 1997 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining will be released on Blu-ray on March 12 via Scream Factory. It has been newly scanned in 2K from the interpositive with DTS-hd Master Audio 2.0 Stereo.

Displeased with Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation, King took it upon himself to write the script based on his 1977 novel. Mick Garris directs. Steven Weber, Rebecca De Mornay, Melvin Van Peebles, Courtland Mead, and Wil Horneff star.

An archival audio commentary with King, Garris, Weber, and more is included along with 11 additional scenes.

The Words and Music of House of 1000 Corpses from Waxwork Records

The Words and Music of House of 1000 Corpses — featuring the complete audio...

"It's your basic down-and-dirty horror movie. It has one purpose, which is to scare you, and entertain you, and give you that funhouse experience where you scream your head off and then you laugh because you feel kind of silly."

So said Stephen King about "Sleepwalkers," the first screenplay he wrote directly for the screen. This was not an adaptation of one of his works — this was something he penned specifically for the movies, and that was the selling point. We weren't just getting a new Stephen King movie — it was Stephen King's first original screenplay! The poster even boasts that this is "The first Stephen King story written expressly for the scream." And what was this original tale of terror about? Incestuous werecats, of course! We're talkin' deeply horny cat-monsters.

"Sleepwalkers" is indeed a down-and-dirty horror movie. And it is kind of silly. It's a sleazy, cheesy bit of pop art,...

Watch Short Film The Drawing: "After waking from a nightmare, artist Scarlet is pursued by a malevolent figure eerily reminiscent of her latest drawing."

https://www.thedrawingmovie.com

Directed by Jay Salahi Written by Jay Salahi & Todd Knaak Produced by Carlos Uribe & Jay Salahi Starring: Annika Foster & Destiny Mounce Director of Photography - Jon Corum Associate Producers - Aaron Needham, Todd Knaak & Nicholas David Music - Mattan Cohen Editor - Jay Salahi 1st AC - Mitchell Parks Gaffer - Samuel Mendoza Make-Up - Ali Embury VFX - Peter Larson Sound - Jay Salahi & Adrian Cooperman Drawing & Art by Aaron Needham

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Phantom Limbs: "Encyclopocalypse Publications will release Jason Jenkins’ Phantom Limbs in hardcover, paperback, audiobook and eBook on April 2nd, 2024.

Originally a column on popular horror website Bloody Disgusting, Phantom Limbs is the inaugural volume of a planned series of books which will explore the histories of unmade horror movie...

One of Bloody Disgusting’s longest-running and most successful columns, the Jason Jenkins-penned Phantom Limbs provided a treasure trove of insights into the best horror franchise movies Never made, and the Phantom Limbs project is being resurrected thanks to a hardcover, paperback, audiobook and eBook from Encyclopocalypse Publications.

Writer Jason Jenkins’ horror-themed non-fiction web column is back in Phantom Limbs, the inaugural volume of a planned series of books which will explore the histories of unmade horror movie sequels and remakes and the stories they would have told.

Encyclopocalypse Publications will release Jason Jenkins’ Phantom Limbs in

hardcover, paperback, audiobook and eBook on April 2, 2024.

“I’ve always been drawn to the stories behind unmade movies,” says Jenkins, “going all the way back to my early days as a horror nerd reading about Peter Jackson’s unrealized Nightmare on Elm Street sequel in an old Fangoria back in the 90s.

We’re big on physical media over here at JoBlo, so it’s always great to hear when a movie gets a long-awaited 4K facelift. Shout Factory announced over the weekend that they will be giving the classic Tom Selleck Western Quigley Down Under a 4K release later this year.

Directed by Simon Wincer (Lonesome Dove), Quigley Down Under stars Tom Selleck as sharpshooter Matt Quigley. “Arriving in Australia with nothing more than a saddle and his prized six-foot Sharps rifle, American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley thinks he’s been hired to kill off wild dogs,” reads the description. “But when he realizes that his mission is murder — to eradicate the Aborigines from the property of a wealthy cattle baron — Quigley refuses … and quickly turns from hunter to hunted. Forced to wage a savage war against his former employer, Quigley proves that no one gets the best of a steely-eyed gunfighter — no one,...

Even outside of Star Wars, prequels tend to get a bad rap. From answering questions that didn’t need answering (and destroying the mysteries of the original in the process) to repeating established formulas ad nauseum, it’s deceptively easy for these blasts from the past to trip over their previously established lore. After all, it’s kind of hard to tell an engaging story when audiences already know what happens next.

Thankfully, the horror genre seems to be especially blessed with filmmakers that see prequels as an opportunity to tell original stories within an established world. I mean, some folks even thought that last year’s Pearl was even better than X, and the trailer for Arkasha Stevenson’s upcoming The First Omen looks like it kicks all kinds of ass – and that’s precisely why we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six underrated horror prequels for your viewing pleasure!

20th Century Fox wasn’t sure what it had in Star Wars, and apparently, neither did George Lucas. The director was building up his company, Lucasfilm, and unleashed his secret weapon: Charley Lippincott. He whipped people into a previously unknown frenzy by working the fans at science fiction and comics conventions. He saw to it DelRey had the novelization out months before the film, as well as three of the six-issue comics adaptation from Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin at Marvel. These people were lined up for day one, and the word of the month spread so fast that it endured throughout the summer of 1977.

Before the Special came the finale from The Donny and Marie Show, which Donny discusses on the documentary.

As we learn in the wonderfully entertaining A Disturbance in the Force, a 90-minute documentary from directors Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak, despite all his statements saying he had everything planned out,...

This episode of the Horror TV Shows We Miss video series was Written and Narrated by Niki Minter, Edited by Adam Walton, Produced by John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

So what happens when your first anthology was cancelled but you’ve got round three on the back burner? Well, actually, it’s complicated. We’ve spoken previously about Mick Garris’ Masters of Horror, which brought life into the anthology genre when we needed it again. A year later, Fear Itself brings anthology horror back to primetime.

Now, if you’re me, anthologies are kind of your life. This is one of my favorite parts of Horror, and so being able to see what new takes and tales are on the horizon excites me. Fear Itself was essentially the spiritual third season of Masters. The first episode Eater drug me down the rabbit hole and before I knew...

Vroom, vroom! This month marks the 40th anniversary of John Carpenter‘s Christine! To celebrate, The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast and the Music Box of Horrors are hosting a special holiday screening of the King classic at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. After all, what are the holidays without a little rock ‘n’ roll and a killer car?

The one-night only event takes place on Tuesday, December 19th at 8:00 p.m. at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. In addition to the screening, the night will also include a live recording of the Losers’ Club featuring nearly all of the show’s cast members. Yes, this will be the largest gathering of the Losers to date with most of the ka-tet flying in!

That includes Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Justin Gerber, Dan Caffrey, Michael Roffman, Mel Kassel, Dan Pfleegor, McKenzie Gerber, Rachel Reeves, Julia Marchese, and Sammie Kuykendall.

Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.

Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.

See the lineup below and learn more here.

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