Misc
Why Do We Giggle At The Ghastly?
While doing my part in celebrating everyone’s favorite fear-fueled season, I stumbled across another gem from Joko Anwar’s catalog. The religious horror movie Grave Torture, which mostly had me silent and holding my breath due to the scares, but there was one scene in particular that had me cracking up with laughter. A woman somehow gets her hair caught in a dryer then turns it on and goes for a spin. I don’t want to spoil things, but let’s say she ends up losing more than her hair, and it gets gory. As soon as the scene finished I couldn’t stop laughing. I ended up posting a clip of my reaction and a bunch of friends shared the same sentiment. What was so funny about this woman losing her life this way? Did that make us Dexter Morgan Reincarnated for finding it funny, especially when this wasn’t a comedic film?
It’s Okay To Have Fun
We’ve all heard that Horror and Comedy hit similar beats when it comes to getting a reaction out of the audience. When Art The Clown gets his head chopped off or is the one doing the chopping, we laugh because the character is having fun, which also puts us in a silly mood. The more outrageous the scenario, the better the chance we have to laugh at it. Yes, the victims on screen are screaming bloody murder, and there’s more blood on the floor than your half-used bottle of Clorox in the closet can handle, but the killer is enjoying every second, reminiscent of a kid let loose in a Toys “R” Us on their birthday. You’re told not to enjoy the suffering of others, but when it’s on screen and the killer has charm, it’s hard not to partake. The Dream Demon himself, Freddy Krueger, sets the tone in all of his nightmares that it’s okay to chuckle at the macabre you see, and if you try to resist, he’ll throw in a few jokes to bring it out of you. When the audience is given permission to let go, we get to see what raw reactions come up. It’s the same reason if you catch a Child’s Play film in theaters, there are more laughs at the actual kills than there are the jokes. Pointing at the absurdness of a doll choking a 200lb man to death and dragging his body away so no one sees the crime scene is normal. Of course, if this happened in real life, it’d be horrific, but from the safety of your recliner, it’s peak comedy because if that were you….you could take him, right?
Audience’s Expectations Of Characters
We see so many scenarios in film where people make what we would deem stupid and costly mistakes, and there’s something about being vocal about it in a theater full of people. I remember watching 2004’s Dawn Of The Dead for the first time, ready to be terrified. To my surprise a good 60% of the movie had the audience roaring, laughing and vocally judging the characters. So many were yelling comically what they would do if their zombie spouse were on their tail. None of us can truly know unless put in that situation, but it doesn’t stop us from feeling that way, which adds a comedic aspect to it because the mousiest of us can pretend we’re lions in the description of our path. Yelling at the screen for the character to run faster, only for them to trip 5 seconds later and get hacked to death, makes for a hilarious time whether you’ve been drinking or not. With a group of friends telling the character not to drink that, and they drink it anyway, only to fall victim to an acid death where their throat falls out of their neck is a riot, especially depending on the props used.
The Lower The Budget The Funnier The Scene
Going to Blockbuster and taking chances on the independent films of the early 2000s was a damn good time with my dad. We’d pick out the worst movie covers possible and give them a try. Whenever a gunshot would be dubbed over and replaced with someone clapping their hands or someone’s obviously mannequin leg was thrown across the screen while the victim was screaming in pain had us rolling everytime. I think it’s because we recognize that the folks behind the scenes were having fun and we can laugh along with them. Mimicking how we think the conversations behind the scenes might have gone when in production was part of the fun. Not to make fun of their efforts but to cheer on their passion in hopes that we get more in the not so distant future. One of my favorite films, The Evil Dead, has demons that ooze what looks like colored oatmeal in some scenes, which cracks me up, getting a reaction every time I show it to someone new.
Acting Out
Most of the time, when watching someone get mutilated, we may feel sympathy or fear for who may be next. The series From did a great job of this for their season 3 opener and had everybody in a chokehold for a couple of weeks over the aftermath. It’s the actor’s job to convey what the character is feeling on screen in the best way they know, even if it means sewing your nose back on after a psycho clown chops it off with a machete. Sometimes that isn’t always the case though, and you may have someone who can’t emote in any way other than comedy, which causes the audience to laugh. If I don’t believe your face when the werewolf is tearing your stomach open for his next meal, and you’re screaming like the love of your life just cheated on you in an episode of Days Of Our Lives, then I’m gonna chuckle all the way through. It’s why Scream Queens throughout history get their names respected forever in cinema because they sold it to us.
Embracing The Fear
Many of us don’t know how to process fear in the moment so it may come out as laughter. If a fuse blows out and I’m fumbling in the dark to get it back on, I start sweating. To cure that fear, I joke to the possible spirits accompanying me on my journey, hoping that my humor may save me from being pushed into the pits of hell. Others may not want to admit when something makes them nervous especially when on screen so to laugh and make fun is the next best option. The next time you’re laughing at a scary movie hit the pause button for a few seconds and ask yourself if what you saw was truly funny….or are you just too afraid to feel the fear?
Misc
Our Halloween Giveaway Is Here!
Enter Our Halloween Giveaway!
How to Enter:
Step 1. Make sure to FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP!
Step 2. LIKE AND SHARE the giveaway post!
Step 3. This is the most important step, email us at contact@horrorpress.com with your FULL Facebook name (so we can verify you’re in the group) and who your favorite character is from the Texas Chainsaw franchise.
**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.





