Good morning,
Today is Labor Day signaling the official end of summer. We hope you like Pumpkin Spice Lattes and candy corn. We do not, so plesse don’t surprise us with any. But we do love Spooky Season, and it is close enough that we can taste it. It does not taste like candy corn. 🎃
🩸TODAY’S TERROR — THE DREADED LATE NIGHT “CHIRPS”
It’s 3:17 A.M.
CHIRP.
Your eyes open.
You lie perfectly still, staring at the ceiling.
Was that the smoke detector?
Silence.
Maybe you dreamed it.
You close your eyes.
CHIRP.
Okay.
You get out of bed, find a chair, climb up and remove the battery.
Back to bed.
CHIRP.
Wait.
There’s another smoke detector?
You wander into the hallway.
CHIRP.
Was that the hallway… or the kitchen?
You stand perfectly still.
Nothing.
You take one step toward the bedroom.
CHIRP.
Behind you.
Definitely behind you.
You turn around.
Now it’s personal.
Twenty minutes later, you’re standing in your underwear holding three batteries, a flashlight and a smoke detector you’ve ripped completely out of the ceiling.
Silence.
You smile.
You have defeated it.
You climb back into bed.
Pull up the covers.
Close your eyes. And somewhere in the darkness…
CHIRP.
Today’s Terror: Because at least a ghost eventually leaves you alone.
🩸RECENT HORROR NEWS
YouTube Horror Just Keeps Kicking Down Hollywood’s Door
YouTube horror filmmaker Sam Evenson, whose Grimoire Horror channel built an audience with short-form scares, is expanding his short Ignore It into a feature with the producers behind Smile. Lily Collias is set to star. Another reminder that Hollywood’s newest horror farm system may be your browser history.
Apparently you no longer need permission to make a horror movie. You need an audience... and something deeply unpleasant standing in the hallway.
American Horror Story Is Calling Everybody Back
Season 13 of American Horror Story arrives September 24, and Ryan Murphy is apparently emptying the alumni closet: Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd and more are aboard, with Ariana Grande joining the mayhem.
At this point the only former cast member not returning is you.
Victor Miller, the Writer Who Sent Us to Camp Crystal Lake, Dies at 86
Victor Miller, who wrote the original Friday the 13th, died August 31 at age 86. Miller’s screenplay helped launch one of horror’s biggest franchises — although he famously had little affection for the adult Jason Voorhees created by the sequels and never watched them. He also had a long career in daytime television, writing hundreds of soap-opera episodes.
Thanks for the nightmares, Victor. 🏕️
Hollywood Has Found Reddit. Everybody Remain Calm.
Companion director Drew Hancock is making Seasons, a new horror movie for Amazon MGM that originated with a story posted to Reddit’s r/NoSleep. The cast already includes Lily James, Jack Reynor, Ron Perlman and Elizabeth McGovern, with Wes Studi and creature performer Dane DiLiegro joining the project this week.
Yet another piece of internet horror is making the jump from someone posting a scary story online to a feature film. More proof the Creator Economy is alive and well.
🩸 JOIN THE FACELESS REVOLUTION
You already love horror. What if you could turn that love and knowledge into a business? That’d be something, wouldn’t it?
As proven by movies like Backrooms and Obsession, horror is fast becoming the most popular genre. Take advantage of an incredible side-hustle opportunity and join me this coming Wednesday Sept. 9th as I explore how easy it is to create a YouTube Faceless Horror Channel. Last chance to sign up. Only a few spots left. For an example of the valuable skill you’ll be learning in the session, GO HERE, then sign up before it’s too late.
🩸NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
26
That’s how many years Screamfest Horror Film Festival has been putting filmmakers, screenwriters and assorted disturbed people in front of audiences.
The 26th annual festival runs October 6–15 at the TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood, and Screamfest is currently accepting both film and screenplay submissions… A Horror Fest in Lala Land. That sounds like a horror movie in itself.
Name the movie below
Name the movie. Answer at the bottom ⬇️⬇️⬇️
🩸PEACHES TRAILER PARK — EVICTION DAY
Have you heard about Peaches’ Trailer Park? It’s our new, recurring feature where YOU send us vintage horror movie trailers for a chance to win fabulous prizes. To learn more, go HERE.
Peaches is evicting this broken down trailer from the park to make room for yours. We need more retro trailers. The worse the better. Give the trailer we’re evicting a view. I’m sure you’ll get a hoot out of it. Looking forward to seeing what you wheel into the trailer park (hint, hint).
🩸HORROR IN THEATERS.
Onslaught — (Sept. 4th) An Army sniper unleashes her lethal skills to protect her young daughter from a rogue squad of genetically engineered soldiers… Terminating Terminators.
Ever After — (Sept. 4th limited) A bachelorette weekend at a remote forest lodge runs into homicidal lunatics who believe they're characters from fairy tales… Meet not so Happily Ever After.
Buddy — (Aug 28th) This one takes the relentlessly cheerful children’s TV shows of the ’90s and asks the question nobody knew needed asking: What if Barney had anger issues? Bright colors, happy songs, childhood nostalgia…and increasingly terrible decisions. Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy. Fun! Trailer
Colony — (Aug 28th) From Yeon Sang-ho, director of Train to Busan, comes a new Korean zombie nightmare. A rapidly mutating virus erupts during a biotech conference, the facility gets sealed, and everyone trapped inside discovers the infected aren't done evolving…This looks like fun. Trailer
Insidious: Out of The Further — (Aug 21st) A young mother discovers she can travel into The Further—a purgatorial realm of lost souls. When something evil comes after her, she realizes she can bring what lives there back to the real world… where gas prices are much higher. Trailer
Coming Soon
Hope — (Sept. 9th) A police chief, a policewoman and a group of hunters try to track down and kill a mysterious creature that's laying waste to a Korean village… Isn’t it a police cheif, a police woman and a group of hunters walk into a bar?
Don’t Move — (Sept.11th) A church group's retreat in the Ozark wilderness goes haywire when they enter the wrong part of the forest. They are hunted by a giant, prehistoric arachnid that tracks its prey through vibration… A Quiet Place’s evil twin. Trailer
Black Zombie — (Sept. 11th) This limited release documentary examines the historical and cultural roots of the zombie and its connection to Haiti.
Keep an eye out for
Resident Evil – (Sept. 18) From the director of Barbarian and Weapons (Zach Cregger) comes a reboot about a medical courier who is caught in a viral outbreak of infected monsters in Racoon City... I loved Barbarian so this definitely has my attention Trailer
Victorian Psycho — (Sept. 25th) A governess arrives at a remote Gothic mansion with a questionable past, questionable employers, and an increasingly unquestionable appetite for violence… Mary Poppins, if Mary Poppins had bodies to hide.
Other Mommy — (Oct. 9th) A grieving family encounters a sinister maternal presence that has very specific ideas about who should be raising the children… It appears, one mother isn’t terrifying enough.
Daily news for curious minds.
Be the smartest person in the room. 1440 navigates 100+ sources to deliver a comprehensive, unbiased news roundup — politics, business, culture, and more — in a quick, 5-minute read. Completely free, completely factual.
🩸HORROR TO WATCH ON STREAMERS
What’s Worth The Watch — a mix of hidden gems, buzzy titles, comfort horror, underseen picks, and classics worth revisiting
“In Space, Your Weekend Plans Can’t Hear You Scream”
Alien — Streaming On: Netflix
Alien has landed on Netflix. Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece remains an almost embarrassingly effective lesson in suspense: put interesting people somewhere they can’t escape, introduce one terrible problem, and don’t hurry.
“Worst. Comeback Tour. Ever”
Smile 2 — Streaming On: Netflix
Naomi Scott plays a pop superstar preparing for a world tour while the smiling curse decides she needs an opening act.
Fame. Trauma. Creepy strangers smiling at you.
So... basically Instagram.
“Meet the In-Laws. Bring Running Shoes”
Ready or Not — Streaming On: Netflix
Ready or Not is back in easy reach: a new bride discovers that marrying into money also means participating in the family’s traditional wedding-night festivities.
Unfortunately, they skipped charades and went directly to murder.
“Prom Night Has Been Cancelled Due to Telekinesis”
Carrie — Streaming On: Prime Video
Brian De Palma’s Carrie is streaming on Prime Video this month. Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, buckets of blood and one of cinema’s strongest arguments against bullying the quiet kid. This could have been our Comfort Pick, but for that, we’ve got something far creepier.
Comfort Pick Of The Week
"Dinner Is Served”
The Silence of The Lambs (1991) — Streaming On: Prime Video
Clarice Starling. Hannibal Lecter. Buffalo Bill. Jonathan Demme directing. Anthony Hopkins turning perfectly polite conversation into a lethal weapon.
It’s the kind of comfort movie that makes you wonder whether we understand the word comfort anymore.
But here we are.
🩸FINAL SIP
September has arrived.
The kids are back in school.
The days are getting shorter.
Halloween decorations are appearing in stores.
Normal people call this fall.
We call it preseason. 🎃
Horror Movie Trivie Answer: Train To Busan
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