Misc
The Chattanooga Film Festival 2024 Lineup Is WILD
It’s June, so you know that means we have another fantastic lineup for Chattanooga Film Festival! While the festival always boasts an impressive collection of films, they decided to go nuclear for 2024. CFF 2024 “has now more than doubled down and conjured a mega-wave of 21 additional features, more than 80 short films, more parties, panels and podcasts alongside the festival’s infamous watch parties.” Last year, I was awed by Trim Season, and just looking at the lineup this year has me frothing at the mouth for June 21st. So what do we have to look forward to?
It’s June, so you know that means we have another fantastic lineup for Chattanooga Film Festival! While the festival always boasts an impressive collection of films, they decided to go nuclear for 2024. CFF 2024 “has now more than doubled down and conjured a mega-wave of 21 additional features, more than 80 short films, more parties, panels and podcasts alongside the festival’s infamous watch parties.” Last year, I was awed by Trim Season, and just looking at the lineup this year has me frothing at the mouth for June 21st. So what do we have to look forward to?
Chattanooga Film Festival is known for many things, and one of them is its annual FREE kick-off event. “This year’s launch party is a tribute to one of the festival’s first champions. Filmmaker Jeff Burr (From A Whisper To A Scream, Leatherface) was the embodiment of CFF’s mission to bring great genre cinema to the city of Chattanooga and beyond. He accomplished this with numerous screenings of his own films but also as a warm-hearted film historian, educator, and mentor to young, local filmmakers. Jeff gave fans new reasons to love cult classics screening for CFF audiences. This event is a free-to-attend (Jeff would have wanted it that way) celebration of the life and films of Jeff Burr.”
Chattanooga Film Festival 2024 Lineup
There will also be three world premieres at the festival with Kelsey Egan’s The Fix, Racheal Cain’s Somnium, and Ariel Vida’s Sleep, Wake, Forget. And those are just the premieres! Let’s take a look at the full lineup (Make sure to get your badges here!):
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Blind Cop 2
Director Alec Bonk | United States 2023 | Virtual
Blind Cop, the former beacon of justice, is consumed by grief after the mysterious death of his partner in the first movie. (There is no first movie.) His once-illustrious career has been reduced to drunken disorderly conduct, putting him at odds with the police force. In his investigation of a new influx of arms trafficking, Blind Cop discovers a lead that connects the illegal weapons to his partner’s death. However, he is fired from the force for his reckless behavior. Now Blind Cop must venture into the dark underworld of the city to continue his investigation. With the help of a bright-eyed young man who wants to follow in his footsteps, they will uncover a web of deceit and corruption that will challenge Blind Cop’s perceptions of justice and morality.
The truth he seeks may not be what he expected, but he will stop at nothing to avenge his fallen partner and bring the criminals responsible to justice.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Cannibal Mukbang
Director Aimee Kuge | United States 2023 | Virtual
An introverted nerd finds himself dangerously deep inside the crazy world of mukbanging after he falls head over heels for a mysterious woman.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Canvas
Directors Kimberly Stuckwisch, Melora Donoghue | United States 2022 | Virtual
Pitted against each other since youth and raised to believe true artists are only formed through suffering, two sisters reunite after years of estrangement. One sister learns authenticity and the other regret, but neither escapes the sins of their father.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Carnage For Christmas – Southeast Premiere
Alice Maio Mackay | Australia 2023 | Virtual
When true-crime podcaster and sleuth Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again. Lola must solve the case before her community is slaughtered. She’s up against not only a psychotic killer, but a town haunted by secrets.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Daughter of the Sun
Director Ryan Ward | Canada 2023 | Virtual
A 12-year-old girl struggles with life on the run as she travels across the country with her father who has Tourette Syndrome. Wanting nothing more than a normal family life, she befriends a community of outcasts in the remote countryside who want to harness a volatile supernatural power her father is hiding.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Falling Stars
Directors Richard Karpala, Gabriel Bienczycki | United States 2023 | In Person
On the first night of harvest, three brothers set out for the desert to see a witch’s corpse.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
In the Name of God
Director Ludwig Gur | Sweden 2024 | Virtual
After the wife of Theodor, a 40-year-old priest, falls seriously ill, he seeks guidance from his old mentor who convinces him he has been chosen by God to rid the world of sinners to bring new life to true believers. He then commits his first murder, convinced it is a necessary sacrifice in service of his divine mission. At the moment of the murder, his wife’s health improves and the congregation starts referring to him as the “miracle priest,” knowing nothing of his horrible act. But lurking in the shadows is a disbelieving man who begins to uncover the bloody traces of the priest’s unholy deeds.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Killington
Directors Mark Dudzinksi, Frank Perz | United States 2023 | Virtual
When a group of women from Manhattan win a weekend getaway with wellness influencer Kali to picturesque Killington, Vermont, the creepy local vibes and characters take on a life of their own. Tensions spark among the longtime friends as Kali pushes their boundaries, and things take an unexpected turn.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Love And Work
Director Pete Ohs | United States 2023 | Hybrid
Diane and Fox love to work. Unfortunately, they live in a polarized world where having a job is illegal.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
NOCLIP
Directors Gavin Charles, Alex Conn | United States 2023 | Virtual
Two filmmakers set out on an adventure into a creepy old mall, only to find themselves lost in an increasingly claustrophobic maze of hallways, liminal spaces, stairwells, and backrooms in this comedic found footage horror film.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Off Ramp
Director Nathan Tape | United States 2023 | Virtual
A couple of lovable, degenerate Juggalos must sojourn through America’s hellish underbelly to The Gathering of the Juggalos, the one place on earth they feel accepted.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Quantum Suicide
Director Gerrit Van Woudenberg | Canada 2023 | Virtual
A reclusive physicist builds a particle accelerator in his garage and embarks on a quest to understand the nature of reality. In the process of his experiments he suffers radiation poisoning, loses his vision and alienates his partner, who eventually leaves him. But in his obsession he finds clarity and the key to understanding our reality. There is one final test he must perform.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Red Rooms
Director Pascal Plante | France 2024 | In Person
The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Sleep, Wake, Forget – World Premiere
Ariel Vida | United States
In a fallen world, a young man will stop at nothing to save his brother from becoming one of the creatures they have spent their lives running from.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
SOMNIUM – World Premiere
Director Racheal Cain | United States 2023 | In Person
At an experimental sleep clinic, Somnium, your dreams are made real. Side effects may include: hallucinations, confusion, paranoia, sleep paralysis, detachment from reality, lost sense of self, permanent nightmares.
The Buildout
Director Zeshaan Younus | United States 2023 | Virtual
A friendship is tested as two women experience something strange in the desert.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
The Fix – World Premiere
Director Kelsey Egan | South Africa 2023 | Hybrid
A dark, dystopian thrill ride with an environmental slant, The Fix explores identity, perception and autonomy in a frighteningly viable future. A toxic compound infects earth’s atmosphere. Pharmaceutical giant, Aethera, sells immunity to those who can afford the daily dose… most can’t. When a troubled model takes a new designer drug at a house party, she suffers a shocking transformation. Pursued by a dangerous gang and authorities in cahoots with Aethera, she hunts desperately for a “fix” to reverse the drug’s effects… only to discover that her mutations could save the human race.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine
Director Graham Skipper | United States 2023 | Virtual
The last man on Earth after a global catastrophe finds himself questioning his purpose and sanity as both his dead wife and a mysterious stranger confront him with his past, his present, and whatever future might remain in the wastes of a dead world.
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
The UFOS of Soesterberg
Director Bram Roza | Netherlands 2023 | Virtual
In the early morning of February 3, 1979, a mysterious object flew over Soesterberg Air Base. At least twelve soldiers witnessed this. Despite being in the middle of the cold war this event has still remained unexplained. And that is not the only anomalous sighting in that specific part of the Netherlands…
Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival
Things Will Be Different
Director Michael Felker | United States 2024 | In Person
In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.
Short Film blocks will include:
CFF Salutes Your Shorts – Student & Regional Shorts
Analog Exorcism – Directed by Jim Shashaty
A Portrait of Elizabeth – Directed by Corey Simpson
Big Break – Directed by Harrison Shook
Dead Presidents – Directed by Ryan Lilienfield
Descension – Directed by Valery Garcia
Hope Chest – Directed by Dycee Wildman, Jennifer Bonior
Implications of the Bootstrap Paradox on Spatiotemporal Continuity – Directed by Shaler Keenum
Kino Kopf – Directed by Jack Cosgriff
Out of Order – Directed by Catherine Mosier-Mills
Washed Up – Directed by Thomas Bayne
Dangerous Visions – Horror and Sci-Fi Shorts
13th Night – Directed by Benjamin Percy
Accidental Stars – Directed by Emily Bennett
Butterscotch – Directed by Alexander Lee Deeds
Dream Creep – Directed by Carlos A.F. Lopez
Hi! You Are Currently Being Recorded – by Anna Maguire, Kyle Greenberg
Let’s Go Disco – Directed by Austin Lewis
Pit Stop – Directed by David A. Flores
Souling – Directed by Jacquelyn Ferguson
The Influencer – Directed by Lael Rogers
The Thaw – Directed by Sarah Wisner, Sean Temple
WTF (Watch These Films) – Strange & Magical Shorts
Body – Directed by Ronald Short
Cart Return – Directed by Matt Webb
Gum – Directed by Sam Elder
Like Me – Directed by Ashley Thomas
Make Me a Pizza – Directed by Talia Shea Levin
One Happy Customer – Directed by WATTS
Stairwell – Directed by David Britton, Anthony Ceceri
The 44th Chamber of Shaolin – Directed by Jon Truei
The Curse of the Velvet Vampire – Directed by Christoffer Sandau Schuricht
The Rainbow Bridge – Directed by Dimitri Simakis
The Shadow Wrangler – Directed by Grace Rex
Type A – Directed by Jake Barcus
Two Women Make a Lunch Plan – Directed by Elizabeth Archer
We Joined a Cult – Directed by Chris McInroy
Bride of WTF
A.A. – Directed by Auden Bui
A Visual Poem – Directed by Benjamin N. Walant
All is Lost – Directed by Carla Pereira, Juanfran Jacinto
Burn Out – Directed by Russell Goldman
Catacombs – Directed by Chad Cunningham
Disciple – Directed by Boston Enderle
Don’t You Dare Film Me Now – Directed by Cade Featherstone
Fck’n Nuts – Directed by Sam Fox
Hunky Dory – Directed by Steven Vander Meer
Krampuss – Directed by Guðni Líndal Benediktsson
Ouchie – Directed by Kyle Kuchta
Quiet! Mom’s Working! – Directed by P Patrick Hogan
Shadow – Directed by Kamell Allaway
The Crossing Over Express – Directed by Luke Barnett, Tanner Thomason
So Long and Thanks For all the Dangerous Visions
Apotemnofilia – Directed by Jano Pita
Come Back Haunted – Directed by Logan James Freeman
Consumer – Directed by Matthew Fisher
Giallo – Directed by Yogesh Chandekar
Nian – Directed by Michelle Krusiec
Night Feeding – Directed by Sarah K. Reimers
Outer Reaches – Directed by Karl Redgen
Roger is a Serial Killer – Directed by Don Swaynos
Spooky Crew – Directed by Erin Broussard
Strange Creatures – Directed by Nicholas Payne Santos
That’s Our Time – Directed by Alex Backes
The Little Curse – Directed by Nicholas Berger, Dana Berry
The Noise – Directed by Jillian Shea Spaeder, Bryce Gheisar
When Shadows Lay Darkest – Jacob Leighton Burns
Funsize Epics Vol 1.
Amos’ Bride – Directed by Yakako Fujimori
Caller 102: A Ballad of Cyberspace – Directed by Turner Barrowman, Jack Goldfisher
Cotton Candy Sky – Directed by Michael Curtis Johnson
Dumpster Archeology – Directed by Dustie Carter
Get Me Off This F@*king Planet Quincy – Directed by John Yost
Honk – Directed by Charles de Lauzirika
Hot Soda – Directed by Nello DiGiandomenico
Redcoat – Directed by Michaela Hounslow
Seraphim – Directed by Oscar Ramos
Spiral to the Center – Directed by Alisa Stern, Scott Ampleford
The Dumpster Dive – Directed by Laura Asherman
Villa Mink – Directed by Darron Carswell
We Need Some Space – Directed by Ian Geatz, Antonio Zapiain Luna
Funsize Epics Vol 2.
CARNIVORA – Directed by Felipe Vargas
Dark Mommy – Directed by Courtney Eck
Eyes Like Yours – Directed by Gabrielle Chapman
Floater – Directed by D. M. Harring
Good Girls Get Fed – Directed by Kelly Lou Dennis
Inked – Directed by Kelsey Bollig
Lost Boys Pizza – Directed by Cassie Llanas
Mort – Directed by Charlie Queen
Madame Hattori’s Izakaya – Directed by Shanna Fujii
Robbie Ain’t Right No More – Directed by Kyle Perritt
The Garden of Edette – Directed by Guinevere Fey Thomas
The Kindness of Strangers – Directed by Stu Silverman
The Lonely Portrait – Directed by Marc Marashi
Too Slow – Directed by Danielle McRae Spisso, Stephen Vanderpool
Up on the Housetop – Directed by Dakota Millett, Michael Fischer
Vespa – Directed by Olívia Ramos
Volition – Directed by Ashley George
CFF24 kicks off June 21st and you don’t want to miss it! And again, you can purchase badges here!
Enter Our Halloween Giveaway!
How to Enter:
Step 1. Make sure to FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP!
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**Giveaway entries are limited to addresses in the United States.**
**All entries must be 18 or older to enter**
What You’ll Win
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) Limited Edition 4K UHD from Arrow Video
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original DTS-HD MA 7.1 and 5.1 surround audio and lossless stereo audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary with Dread Central co-founder Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton and co-host of The Spooky Picture Show podcast Chris MacGibbon
- Archival audio commentary with director Marcus Nispel, producer Michael Bay, executive producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form and New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye
- Archival audio commentary with Marcus Nispel, director of photography Daniel Pearl, production designer Greg Blair, art director Scott Gallager, sound supervisor Trevor Jolly and composer Steve Jablonsky
- Archival audio commentary with Marcus Nispel, Michael Bay, writer Scott Kosar, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and actors Jessica Biel, Erica Leerhsen, Eric Balfour Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel and Andrew Bryniarski
- Reimagining a Classic, a brand new interview with director Marcus Nispel
- Shadows of Yesteryear, a brand new interview with cinematographer Daniel Pearl
- The Lost Leatherface, a brand new interview with actor Brett Wagner
- Masks and Massacres, a brand new interview with makeup effects artist Scott Stoddard
- Chainsaw Symphony, a brand new interview with composer Steve Jablonsky
- Chainsaw Redux: Making A Massacre, a making-of documentary
- Ed Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield, an in-depth look at the infamous killer who inspired the character of Leatherface
- Severed Parts, a look at the cutting room floor and some of the scenes excised from the final edit
- Deleted scenes including an alternate opening and ending
- Screen tests for Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour and Erica Leerhsen
- Behind-the-scenes featurette
- Cast and crew interviews
- Theatrical trailers and TV spots
- Concept art galleries
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea
- Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold
Misc
NYCC 2025 Horror Highlights: A Sneak Peek at ‘The Lost Boys’ Musical, ‘Resident Evil: Requiem,’ and More!
As soon as New York Comic Con announced that its 2025 theme would be “haunted,” I started lacing up my comfy shoes and making a beeline for the Javitz Center! Horror has always been represented at the con, but it felt fitting that it should play a central role in this year’s event at a time when the genre seems more popular than ever.
From beloved family-friendly properties like The Nightmare Before Christmas to pants-dampening titles like the upcoming Resident Evil: Requiem, horror appeared in countless shapes and forms. Here are all the best and scariest insights I gleaned from the show floor, panel rooms, and pop-ups of New York Comic Con 2025!
Our NYCC 2025 Horror Highlights
Resident Evil: Requiem Is Going to Test Your Bladder Strength
Full disclaimer: I’m not a gamer. I’m honestly pretty bad at games, which made my Resident Evil: Requiem play session all the more frightening because I was convinced that everyone around me would realize I’m a fraud. But with easy-to-grasp controls, even for a newb like me, the latest installment in the iconic horror franchise quickly sucked me in and left me on edge for entirely different reasons.
During my 30-minute session, I was introduced to FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, Requiem’s central character. She swims to consciousness to find herself strapped upside down on a gurney with a needle in her arm, siphoning her blood. After Grace managed to free herself, the controls were handed over to me to explore the creepy facility through Grace’s eyes, looking for a fuse. Some spaces were bathed in red light; others were lit only by flickering bulbs that left me white-knuckling the controller, waiting for something to emerge from the shadows and swallow me whole, not helped by Grace’s anxious, stuttering breathing in my ear.
I took a moment to appreciate how detailed video games have become since my childhood experiences playing Evil Dead: Hail to the King on the original PlayStation (seriously, you can see the dust drifting in beams of light now?!), only for the sound of movement somewhere in the facility to yank me back to the present. I renewed my frantic search for the fuse, only to run blindly into a pitch-black room and encounter something enormous that dragged me into the darkness. Sorry, Grace!
You can find out what happens next when Resident Evil: Requiem releases for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27, 2026.
Megan Fox Is Among the New Cast Members in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2—And Blumhouse Hasn’t Given Up on Its Other m3gan Yet
Blumhouse made several announcements at their NYCC panel, most notably that Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body) is voicing Toy Chica in director Emma Tammi’s highly anticipated sequel Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, coming to theaters on December 5. Other new additions to the cast include YouTuber Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat, who cameoed in the first movie and will voice Toy Bonnie, and Kellen Goff, who has voiced multiple characters in the game series and will now lend his pipes to Toy Freddy.
I’m interested in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, not least because my best friend is terrified of the franchise and makes a wildly entertaining moviegoing companion—but I’m more interested in the future of another Blumhouse franchise, M3GAN. After the sequel underperformed, likely due in part to its hard genre pivot away from horror and into action territory, the future of the killer doll is uncertain. But in a special industry presentation on “The Business of Fear,” Jason Blum revealed that “we’re all working to keep M3GAN alive,” adding that Blumhouse is exploring other potential mediums before trying to resurrect her on film.
Does that mean a M3GAN video game might come our way in the future, or perhaps a TV series? I don’t know, but I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the silicone diva.
Photo taken by Samantha McLaren.
The Lost Boys: A New Musical Will Feature Flying Stunts and a Live Vampire Band
My queer heart is a sucker for musical adaptations of horror films I love, so you can be certain that I’ll be heading down to the Santa Carla Boulevard—aka Broadway’s Palace Theater—for The Lost Boys: A New Musical, which begins previews on March 27, 2026. At their NYCC panel, producer Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring franchise), director Michael Arden (Maybe Happy Ending), and cast members LJ Benet, Ali Louis Bourzgui, and Maria Wirries revealed why they feel Joel Schumacher’s 1987 classic translates so well to the stage, and what audiences can look forward to.
“There’s something that I see with both horror movies, musicals, and superhero movies—there’s an element of melodrama that’s really rewarding,” says Wilson, who began his career in musical theater and worked with Schumacher on the director’s 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. “Some people view it as camp, but there’s a reality of it being heightened that felt like this story cemented itself so much to being a musical.”
“They’re a biker gang, after all, and there’s a level of theatricality to that in and of itself,” says Arden. “Our biker gang also happens to play instruments.”
That’s right: the vampires will be playing instruments live on stage, which made casting twice as hard. Ali Louis Bourzgui, who plays David, the character portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland in the film, reveals that he plays guitar. And that wasn’t the only unusual request in the casting call: auditions included a flying test. (Presumably wires were involved, unless Arden has found himself a real cabal of vampires in his cast.)
Other highlights that fans can look forward to include killer music from one of Arden’s favorite bands, The Rescues. You can listen to the song “Have to Have You” right now, featuring instrumentals from Slash. The director also teases that many fan-favorite moments from the film will feature in some way in the musical, including the bridge scene and, yes, even the sexy saxophone guy.
Greg Nicotero’s Guts & Glory Marks a New Challenge for a Legend of the Business
If you like looking at gnarly practical effects in horror movies, chances are you’re familiar with Greg Nicotero’s work, whether you realize it or not. The legendary SFX artist has worked on everything from George Romero’s Day of the Dead and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II to Kill Bill and, more recently, The Walking Dead. The impressive extent of his resume was made clear at the panel “Shudder is Here to Scare the S*** Out of You,” in which almost any film mentioned by the other panelists was met by a small smile and a humble murmur of “worked on that” into the mic, often followed by a wild anecdote. Nicotero seems like the most interesting man in the world to grab a drink with, and his new horror competition show for Shudder—Guts & Glory—will let us see more of the man behind the makeup brush.
“Guts & Glory is one of the most fun times I’ve had on a show,” Nicotero says, teasing that the series is “part Sam Raimi, part Halloween Horror Nights, and part Survivor.”
In the six-episode first season, contestants are dropped into an Alabama swamp, where there’s an urban legend about an evil spirit. “One of the contestants gets possessed by the evil spirit, people start dying off, but in the meantime, they’re still competing and there’s a prize,” Nicotero explains.
Guts & Glory is effects-heavy, which was challenging to do in an unscripted series relying on real people’s real-time reactions. “You do a movie, you can cut and try it again,” Nicotero explains. “[This] was completely out of my wheelhouse and out of my comfort zone, but I’m really, really proud of it.”
Nicotero’s Creepshow was one of the first original shows to debut on Shudder, so he’s truly part of the DNA of the horror streamer, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Guts & Glory premieres on October 14 as part of Shudder’s Season of Screams programming.
Horror Short The Littles Deserves the Big-Screen Feature Treatment
Some short films are perfectly suited to their bite-sized format, while others contain the seeds of something much bigger. At the New York Premiere of The Littles, a new short written and directed by American Horror Story producer Andrew Duplessie, I could immediately see the potential for the feature film that Duplessie hopes to make.
Equal parts charming and unsettling, The Littles stars M3GAN’s Violet McGraw as a little girl with a loose floorboard in her bedroom. One night, a scuffling sound and a crack of light between the boards lead the little girl to discover that her family isn’t alone in the house…
Duplessie says The Littles was inspired by his own experiences growing up in a creaky old house with a no-doubt overactive imagination. The short features creepy-cute stop-motion animation from Anthony Scott (The Nightmare Before Christmas), puppets by Katy Strutz (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), and some truly adorable miniature sets by Aiden Creates, all blended perfectly with the live-action scenes. Check it out if it’s playing at a festival near you, and watch this space for a (fingers-crossed) future feature!
Photo taken by Samantha McLaren.
Disney Publishing’s New The Nightmare Before Christmas Tie-in Novel Welcomes Younger Fans into the Scary Fun
NYCC’s horror happenings weren’t all geared toward an adult audience. Disney Publishing took over Daily Provisions Manhattan West for a pop-up experience inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas, featuring themed food and drinks like a delectable Pumpkin Potion coffee that I could honestly drink all season long.
At a media and creator event in the space, I took a look at the newly released Hour of the Pumpkin Queen from New York Times best-selling author Megan Shepherd, who also wrote the official novelization of The Nightmare Before Christmas for the film’s 30th anniversary in 2023. In this new tie-in novel, Sally and her rag doll apprentice, Luna, embark on a time-bending adventure to save Jack Skellington and Halloween Town after falling through a mysterious portal.
I was gifted a copy of the book by Disney, but all opinions are my own here. I’m looking forward to giving it a read during the inevitable Halloween hangover that takes place in November, before likely passing it on to my young nieces when they’re old enough. It’s a full novel, not a picture book, so definitely geared more toward a YA audience, but between the beautiful artwork on the cover and the seasonal theme, it might just be the perfect gift for the budding horror lover in your life.
That’s a wrap on New York Comic Con 2025! Be sure to bookmark Horror Press if you haven’t already so you never miss our coverage of conventions, festivals, and more.
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‘The Addams Family’ (1991) First-Time Watch Review
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The Best Horror You Can Stream on Netflix in November 2025
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Slappy Was the Blueprint: How the Dummy from Goosebumps Became A Horror Icon
Glen and Glenda: Don Mancini’s Reverence for Queerness in ‘Seed of Chucky’ (2004)
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‘Truth or Dare’: Who Did it Best?
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[REVIEW] ‘Cherry Falls’ (1999) Brittany Murphy Shines in This Cult Classic Slasher
