Misc
Celebrating Shudder: A Decade of Chills, Thrills, and Horror Nirvana
Whether your journey has just started, or you’re a seasoned viewer of frights, this app has got you covered. As someone who has seen over 400 of the titles currently available, I can curate a selection of Shudder Originals and Exclusives that might leave your eyeballs sizzling in one way or another. These are the best Shudder Originals and Exclusives for Horror Lovers to celebrate the steamers 10th birthday.
I am writing this in the middle of the night, bathed in red light and the soft glow of the Shudder stream, as I have spent many nights. A decade feels like forever ago, yet it feels like yesterday. Time is a flat circle, a snap, a blink, but it is dense with memories: heavy. My childhood was filled with Horror films. I caught them on TV. My family had a VCR and VHS tapes when I was in 4th grade. If I showed interest in a movie (given it didn’t seem too sexy), my mom would try to take me to see it. We bonded over perusing the horror aisles in Blockbuster and taking advantage of the 4 for $20 deals. As the video stores closed (during my college years), and I had less time for the theater, my relationship with Horror grew distant. I would likely have missed a film if I couldn’t get it from Netflix or the $5 Walmart bin. As streaming took over, there weren’t many apps dedicated to Horror. There was no way for me to stumble across a film like Demonic Toys or The Toxic Avenger. I was missing the chaos and charm of indie horror films hand-picked by teens who saw A Nightmare On Elm Street before grade school. I found a few gems along the way, but Shudder changed my Horror experience. My homegirl, Kat, discovered the app and passed the word along to me (down the hall) 8 years ago– or more. Shudder was like (is like) having a personal video store Horror section to browse through from under a cozy blanket, while the world was (is) on fire.
From VHS to Shudder: A Horror Fan’s Journey
I’ve been kicking it with Shudder before there was a “start from the beginning” button: you had to manually rewind the movies if you were using a Roku (I was using a Roku). I felt annoyed, but nostalgic for the “Be Kind, Rewind” days. I remember when the Ghoul Log launched. We, Girl, That’s Scary, used to record with it streaming in the background. I was there when Host (2020) dropped: I never wanted to open Zoom again (despite teaching online for a living). I was tuned in before The Last Drive-In, which has connected Horror fans across the internet with live updates across social media. Shudder has been with me through three apartments, a few jobs, and major life events. When I wanted to tune out of reality for a tight 90 minutes (give or take), I could lean on Shudder to show me something wild enough to pull me from the gloomy grips of the world around me. Disassociating while spending 45 minutes browsing movies, just to fall asleep with the remote in my hand. I could silence the noise around me by rolling the dice on the Shudder stream and hoping I caught something I hadn’t already seen, or the beginning of a new movie. There’s nothing like punctuating a fresh nightmare with the tail end of City of the Living Dead (1980) playing on the Shudder stream. The world feels a little lighter when you aren’t living near an open portal of hell (although sometimes it feels like it).
Shudder has helped me escape during hard times, and deepened my love and appreciation for the genre. The app was my gateway into Italian Horror and nurtured my love for Giallo films. I learned I love the French Extreme subgenre with titles like Frontiers (2007) and Inside (2007). Shudder put the Gates of Hell (City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and The House By The Cemetery) and The Vengeance trilogy ( Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance) in my lap. Late nights scrolling through the titles is how I experienced Dream Home (2010) and The Untold Story (1993): I was exposed to the world of Hong Kong Category III films. I discovered the unsettling scares in Terrified (2017) and Satan’s Slaves: Communion (2022). It’s hard for me to find scares that chill me to the bone. The ability to touch the fear that kept me awake as a child feels like home. Shudder also keeps me connected to new Horror films by creating a pathway from the festivals directly to my screen. I have discovered so many films, I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.
Whether your journey has just started, or you’re a seasoned viewer of frights, this app has got you covered. As someone who has seen over 400 of the titles currently available, I can curate a selection of Shudder Originals and Exclusives that might leave your eyeballs sizzling in one way or another.
Shudder is dedicated to the Horror fan in you: embrace it.
The Best Shudder Originals and Exclusives for Horror Lovers
The Hell House LLC Franchise
The Hell House LLC franchise holds a special place in my heart, and I have Shudder to thank for it. I remember when there was only one movie, but the clowns pulled me back for multiple watches. While the sequels lack the punch of the first movies, waiting for them to release was a time to be alive! They are all worth a watch, however, the fourth installment might be the scariest after the original movie. Fans of found footage horror will get their fill with this franchise. These flicks are perfect for a late-night watch in the dark. The first three films follow the fatal events at the infamous Abaddon Hotel. The fourth movie takes the scares to The Carmichael Manor and expands on the lore.
MadS (2024)
MadS is a recent addition to the Shudder catalog, and it breathes new life into the zombie/infection subgenre. The film is a one-take as viewers bounce from one viewpoint to the next as the infection spreads. The infected have unique traits like the soft glow of their eyes and animal-like movements paired with human expressions of madness, dread, and despair. The pacing keeps your blood pumping like an action film, while focusing on a few characters. Mads follows a teenager who has a wild encounter with an injured woman after testing out a new drug from his dealer.
V/H/S Beyond (2024)
Many Horror fans were already familiar with the V/H/S franchise before it came to Shudder (I highly recommend the second installment). This franchise has been tweaking its recipe with each installment, and V/H/S Beyond is one of the best entries to date. This film centers on alien encounters and space, differing from the last few movies, which focused on a particular year. It feels more cohesive than other installments with the mockumentary format, as opposed to the “tape within a tape” format audiences were used to. Within fifteen minutes, V/H/S Beyond launches us into invasions from hell and drops nightmarish creature designs on viewers like anvils. I will never look at planes or oranges the same again.
Satan’s Slaves (2017) and Satan’s Slaves: Communion (2022)
This one-two punch is perfect for a Friday night fright. Joko Anwar knows how to craft a nightmare. The scares, lore, and deaths will make audiences squirm with dread. After their mother dies, the family is haunted by a dark presence. The stakes are high and scares cling to you like wet clothes. The less you know about the story, the scarier it will be.
One Cut of The Dead (2019)
While there is a trailer for this movie, I implore you to skip it. It’s difficult to discuss this movie without spoiling the plot. I recommend that you stop reading and press play now. You will go through various states of emotion while watching One Cut Of The Dead.
Bliss (2019)
Joe Begos delivers a trippy vampiric film with Bliss: He also knows how to bring the blood (See VFW and Christmas, Bloody, Christmas). The music and the lighting will seduce you, while the blood spray will give you a jolt of energy. The film follows an artist who turns to experimental drugs to deal with their creative block. The repercussions are deadly.
Cold Hell (2017)
I was happy to press play on this film. I blindly chose this movie and was pleasantly surprised by the action scenes and hand-to-hand combat. Cold Hell has elements of a noir film, a slasher, an action film, and a giallo. The plot focuses on a taxi driver who witnesses a murder and becomes a target. The cat-and-mouse ordeal is unique because the “mouse” is a trained boxer who doesn’t go down easily.
Tigers Are Not Afraid (2019)
I love a dark fairytale, especially when it’s international. Issa López intrigues viewers with magic and terrifies them with the horrors of the real world. We follow a group of young children who are left on their own as they escape the terrors of the cartel. The blend of magic and realism is masterful. Have your Kleenex ready because the movie takes tragic turns.
Psycho Goreman (2021)
Horror fans who love Power Rangers, Sci-Fi, and comedy should sprint to watch Psycho Goreman. The dialogue is quotable (for the Ironian tongue, of course!) and the special effects are great! The movie feels like an R-rated episode of Power Rangers, especially the battle scene in the forest. Psycho Goreman is wildly upbeat for a film that discusses destruction on a grand scale. The plot involves two siblings who accidentally resurrect an Alien Overlord with mixed results. There aren’t many scares, but there are plenty of laughs and blood.
Oddity (2024)
I have a lot of love for this self-contained revenge tale. It has Creepshow vibes with much less camp. I appreciate horror films that give us something new without reinventing the wheel. Oddity is the haunting tale of a sister going after those responsible for the death of her twin sister. The haunting atmosphere, biting dialogue, and supernatural thrills make this film rewatchable.
In A Violent Nature (2024)
I didn’t know I needed an arthouse version of Friday The 13th. In A Violent Nature feels like watching someone play an open-world video game as a slasher. The majority of the movie is from the killer’s perspective, even when the killing is not happening: this creates opportunities for moments of comedy. The dialogue can be grating, but the kills are inventive and bloody. One of the kills is one of the wildest kills I have seen in Horror. We follow a group of teens who remove a necklace from a collapsed fire tower in the woods, resurrecting Johnny’s spirit (and corpse) with deadly consequences.
Infested (2023)
Infested is one of the best killer bug movies I’ve seen in a long time. It glued me to my seat and made me want to burn all of my clothes at the same time. The film follows a young man who brings home a venomous spider. The entire building is in danger once the spider escapes and begins to reproduce. Killer bug movies are usually campy due to over-the-top creature design or sound design. Infested leaves the “camp” behind and brings the thrills and high stakes. The fear is tangible through the screen.
If you don’t have a Shudder membership, fix that here!
Misc
Our Halloween Giveaway Is Here!
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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.





