The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for August 2026

Laziness is the word I would use to describe my blog output this year. Case in point; my news round-up for August is publishing in September. It really should have been up last week. Back in the Rotting Zombie HQ I have once again got a trapped nerve in my back, always joyous, and I do wonder how none of my nerves have rotted away by this point in my un-life

After Impact is a sci-fi thriller (written, directed, produced and starring Michiel Rensen) that is set for a North American digital debut release on September 15th 2026. In this movie, Ethan inherits his father's business just as the world faces the arrival of a deadly asteroid. Surviving by hiding out in his family's bunker, he begins to suspect he is the sole survivor, but this may not be the case.

Coming to North American VOD platforms on September 4th 2026 is the psychological horror film, Influence. The story sees a struggling filmmaker who becomes obsessed with a popular social media influencer and actress. When her pitch to the star is rejected, the filmmaker flips, breaking into her home and taking her hostage.

Indie entertainment group DRagonSTUDIOS are set to release their own streaming platform this October named DRagonFLIX. The press release states this services '...aims to bridge the gap between contemporary indie filmmaking and nostalgic genre cinema'. Subscribers will get access to two hubs at launch; exclusive new indie film that will be debuting directly on the service rather than in cinemas, and a free classic movie channel that will be streaming a 24/7 collection of curated films, including cult classics, timeless films, and vintage horror.

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on September 4th is CHAT, described as 'supernatural AI terror meets dark comedy'. A couple who have recently moved to a new home, face terror when their young son discovers a strange A.I powered tablet that unleashes supernatural horror on the family. Directed by Ole J Hartmann and starring Carter Sirianni and Alexis Schrepple, you can check out the trailer below.

Acorn Media have announced the release of a season 3 of The Terror horror anthology series, titled The Terror: Devil in Silver. Based on Victor LaValle's book of the same name (the stories adapted by the writer himself), this season, the story is a about a man wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital, who then discovers the existence of an entity that feeds on the suffering of the place. The Terror: Devil in Silver also comes to Blu-ray and DVD on 5th October.

Finally for today, the official trailer for Illinois based post-apocalyptic zombie horror, Holler has released. The change here that instead of being set before or during the outbreak, this story takes place many years after the undead took over the world, where they have become common to the survivors. There is currently a successful Kickstarter going to complete the film, that can be found here.

What We Do in the Shadows: Season 1 (2019) - Comedy Horror TV Series Review

I let myself down with my blog output last week. That time I blamed it all on a work night out that drained my life force. This time around I have more of an excuse for not sticking up five posts, due to getting a day-less weekend and so only able to work on my blog on this Saturday (at time of typing). Not that that is related to this review of season 1 of What We Do in the Shadows. I loved the 2014 film of the same name, and this ten episode season follows the same format of having events presented as a mockumentary, but the location is moved to a new location and with a completely new set of characters. Often TV shows based on films can be pretty bad, but watching this on and off over about the span of a year, it really wasn't bad.

The show follows four vampire housemates who have lived together on Staten Island for over a century. They are Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak - Four Lions), married couple - Laszlo (Matt Berry - The IT Crowd) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), as well as energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch - The Office). Each episode is mostly self contained, with an ongoing central plot going on to link them all together, and several minor subplots playing out. Nadja has discovered the latest reincarnation of her eternal lover and is secretly courting him. Nandor's much put upon familiar, Guillermo de la Cruz (Harvey Guillén) comes to suspect his true calling, while the vampires are visited by ancient vampire, Baron Afanas (Doug Jones - The Shape of Water), who tells the house they have been tasked with seizing control of Staten Island by the vampire council; something the group really don't want to have to do.

I loved the opening credit sequence to this show, always being something I watched even with the option to skip it each episode. It shows a montage of the vampires over the ages, starting with oil paintings and ending with photos of them. All of these cast members were great it has to be said. Berry is fantastic in every role I've seen him in, and that is no exception here. I love the way he speaks, and him yelling "bat!" whenever he transforms into one never got tiring. I thought he would be the scene stealer of the show but the rest of the cast capture the screen just as well. These vampires are petty and arrogant, but also innocent when it comes to understanding how the modern world works. The central plot may be about taking control of Staten Island but the episode to episode plots are much more low stakes. In episode 5 'Animal Control' for instance, the group have to rescue Laszlo, after animal control captured him while he was in a bat form, and in 'Citizenship' the main plot is about Nandor applying for American citizenship with comedic results. An unsung character was Guillermo, a toady vampire hopeful who actually gets the most character development by season end, even if it all comes in final episode 'Ancestry'. One trick pony Colin Robinson also delighted, it was fun having a non-typical vampire whose skill is boring people so much that he is able to drain their life force.

Each roughly half hour episode is full of dry humour and all follow a similar format. At times it was a little samey, and there wasn't a single episode in the first season that stood out as a highlight. The mockumentary format isn't overused; there are interviews with the characters and mild interactions with the film crew, but mostly that fades into the background a bit. I did like the editing, often with reference to events that have happened in the past there are silly little montages to show what is being referred to. The characters are anti-heroes and lethal, but on screen they are often shown as dense and mildly incompetent. There are deaths on screen, those veering more towards comedy than horror, but they looked good to my eyes.

Not my best review, but then I did watch the show over a one year period, so my memory of much of it is fuzzy. Season 1 of What We Do in the Shadows was a good starting point. I wouldn't say it was amazing, or as funny as the film it was based on, but it was very watchable even if I didn't personally find it binge-worthy. What We Do in the Shadows is currently streaming on Disney+.

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No Through Road (2009) - Horror TV Series Episode Review

No Through Road I had assumed to be a short horror film. It was only while looking this up after the fact that I realised it was actually the first episode in a TV mini-series, with the three subsequent episodes coming out in 2011. I will be looking at this as if it were a short film as it certainly acts and feels like one. Written, directed and co-starring Steven Chamberlain, this effective British found footage horror did a lot of things surprisingly well.

It is 2008 and four English lads are out on a night time drive on the rural roads outside of Stevenage, with one of them filming the event on his new camera for prosperity. Their drive leads them to a tunnel that leads to an abandoned farmhouse and has a sign saying 'no through road'. It is after they decide to go through this tunnel that the strangeness begins. Carrying on their journey they keep encountering the same road sign time and time again, despite driving in a straight line. Seeing no traffic and constantly seeming to be driving in a loop, the boys get increasingly panicked, not helped by a disturbing loop of repeating music playing out over the radio. Just when they think they have finally escaped their nightmare, the real horror begins.

I thought this little horror was super effective. The gradual breakdown of the four friend's cockiness and bravado was done perfectly. The intro text stating the four were found dead in their car, and the outro text giving a link to a webpage should anyone who sees the footage can help the authorities work out what happened gave this an authentic feel. Editing was sublime, corrupted footage blending in earlier happier times of the four at home, distorted and creepy. Sticking so faithfully to found footage, this does drag ever so slightly at times, especially in the middle, and a lot of scenes of very dark and hard to see, even if this does make sense with this being 'natural' footage.

No Through Road succeeded due to its feeling of realism that resulted in a short that was at times unsettling, creepy and sinister. It can be viewed on YouTube.

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Stranger Things: Season 5 (2025) - Horror TV Show Review

I will start as always with my obligatory statement about having been made redundant from my bill paying job just in time for Christmas. That is relevant as it coincided with the release of the fifth and final season of amazing horror TV show - Stranger Things. Due to the turmoil in my actual life, it was only on Christmas that I got around to watching this final season (binged watched the first 7 episodes over two days with my family), and with the way the show is being released, at the time of typing, the final episode has yet to be released. I believe it is coming out on New Years Eve. As much as I enjoyed season 4, I would be lying if I said there were not large parts of it I did have issue with. It sometimes felt in a bid to stuff as many characters in it as possible, some of those characters were given pretty abysmal storylines. On the flip side; it did have Eddie - one of the show's best overall characters.
Part of my hesitation for watching this final season was whether the ball would be dropped, whether all the characters growth and stories would come together for a blissful whole. Not having seen the final episode (at the time of typing this section), I can't yet answer that. What I can say is; there will be unavoidable spoilers for previous seasons.

The fourth season ended on a heck of a cliff-hanger; with Vecna's (Jamie Campbell Bower - Twilight) plan successful, the hellish Up-Side down tore open gateways into the sleepy town of Hawkins. The fifth picks up roughly two years later, with a lot of the damage covered up by the military. Hawkins has become quarantined, with no one allowed out of the town, and only certain people allowed in. The cover-up is that the 'natural phenomenon' that flooded the area with ash, could have infected the inhabitants with a new type of a possibly contagious disease. In actuality, the military have used the quarantine as an excuse to send in lots and lots of soldiers. They sealed up the majority of the dimensional tears with vast steel plates, leaving one entrance left which they guard with heavy security. Going even further, the army have set up a compound inside the Upside-Down where experiments have been going on, the soldiers all answering to ruthless military scientist Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton - Terminator 2: Judgement Day).
The heroes of the show have spent the past two years searching the Up-Side Down for signs of Vecna, with Hopper (David Harbour) sneaking in whenever the army open up their guarded gateway, but they have began to get disillusioned with their lack of progress as there has been no sign of the monster. That is until their latest expedition, when it becomes clear Vecna has resurfaced from his hibernation. He is back, and with a new plan that involves kidnapping certain children who are all of an age that Will (Noah Schnapp) was when he was first taken.

It felt a little dialled back how everything is in Hawkins compared to the season 4 finale, but viewers are soon brought up to speed on what is happening, mostly via a radio broadcast that Robin (Maya Hawke) is doing in her new role as the town D.J. With the age of the child actors ever increasing, this time skip was needed, and it works. With the trouncing that Vecna had, it made sense he needed time to recuperate from his wounds. One of my complaints from season 4 was how the huge cast of characters only came together right in the final episode. This time around it gets things right, with the characters reuniting at several points during the season, as well as going off in their often humorous or exciting groups. The story obviously begins in 'Chapter One: The Crawl', then never lets up. Each episode follows on directly from the preceding one, so it feels like one uninterrupted highly action packed story going on, rather than skips in time. Before, some of the characters were dealt dirty, appearing in pathetic side stories that had little bearing on the main plot. Here, the characters are handled much more sensibly, every side story here is relevant to the overall plot, with no filler to be found.
Despite a large cast of characters, even more new ones are added here, with two in particular really standing out. Early on in 'Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Weaver', the titular Holly (Nell Fisher - Evil Dead Rise) is captured by Vecna's monsters and ends up in a fantastical dreamworld creation. She was a great new character, and she gets a substantial role as she explores the dreamworld, giving revelations to Vecna's origin that was last seen hinted at in the stage play - Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Another great new character was 'Dipsh*t' Derek (Jake Connelly), a big boned child bully who in the best Stranger Things fashion (see Steve - Joe Keery), was made very likeable, despite his many personality flaws. Returning characters are on the whole as enjoyable as they ever where, for better or for worse. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are still my least favourite of the core cast, but at least this time around they are more relevant to the story (and the later finally redeemed himself in my eyes in the final episode). I thought the dynamics between Steve and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) was perfect here, and has some of the biggest feels, with Dustin still deep in mourning after the death of his idol Eddie last season. It felt like all characters here were treated well. Ones who had only ever had secondary roles are thrust right into the forefront of the plot, while new ones were given enough screen time to shine and make an impression.

There is plenty of action here right from the start. The iconic Demogorgons feature heavily in many of the these scenes, and the army act as a second enemy for the heroes to face, sometimes leading to thrilling three way battles where the different groups all end up in combat with one another. The soldiers are mostly presented as an enemy force, but I did feel a bit bad for the grunts who often act as cannon-fodder for the advancement of the story, with monsters and heroes alike blasting them away without a care in the world, when to me, the grunts just seemed like normal people trying to do the jobs they had been assigned. The special effects are on the whole amazing, with only certain scenes with large scale action scenes looking occasionally a little bit CG heavy.
Up to the final episode, you get psychic powers, gun battles, car chases, deep revelations as to the nature of the Up-Side Down, and surprising new insights into known characters, Will in particular really comes into his own, even if his core side-plot is dealing with his homosexuality, that to my (poor) memory had already been dealt with last season. The new friendship between him and equally gay Robin, was one pair-up that I didn't see coming, but which works fantastically well. Each episode manages to end on a big cliff-hanger that always brought me right back to find out what happens next. But what about that final episode, did it stick the landing, or did it Game of Thrones it smack bang into a wall? At the time of typing I do not know, it is just under a week until that final episode airs. This review will be continued in 2026, where I will write the last few paragraphs, to follow...here.

Having now seen that final two hour episode, I can say that for me it did stick the landing. Literally my only complaint was how long the epilogue section was; did we really need a 40 minute epilogue? I thought Bower's performance was astoundingly good in this finale. The show maintained its amazing pacing, making for me one of my favourite seasons, and ending on a loving note. I don't get the hate for this season, enough hate that the myth of a secret ninth episode that wraps up the story more satisfactory soon came to be believed. A near perfect end to a wonderful show, Stranger Things is a modern classic.

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The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for January 2026

A new year and the same old me. With no bill paying job currently, I am working on this site more, though perhaps not as much as I should - there are so many distractions! There are a few films at the cinema or coming soon that I very much would like to see. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple chief of these, I am also curious to see how Return to Silent Hill turns out, I'm a huge fan of the video game series, have heard the film isn't the best. Onwards to the news.

Writer/director George Tsouris' sophomore feature film - Condemned Dreams, is now streaming for free on Tubi. This psychological thriller is about a disgraced journalist who hopes to recover their career by carrying out an interview with a condemned revolutionary. Condemned Dreams stars Catherine Parish (Totem Chaser) and Soft Abilez (Dexter: Resurrection).

Animated comedy horror series - Meat the Carvers has entered into a licensing agreement with American Horrors; one of the oldest running 24/7 linear streaming horror channels. It is due to premiere on Friday, January 30th at 20:30 as part of the streaming channel's 'Good Time Horror' programming block. The show is about the misadventures of the Carver family, an animated take on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Meat the Carvers is a 2D animated series created by Daniel Nation and Samson Cornette, with the press release stating: 'The series blends classic horror elements with contemporary humor and features voice talent from horror cinema icons'.

Ash is the latest novel from Donald Lawrence Flaherty. The post-apocalyptic story follows the Rivas family as they head on a perilous journey to escape deadly ash that resulted from the unexpected eruption of the Yellowstone Super Volcano. Ash is available for purchase on Amazon.

BayView Entertainment have acquired the rights to Steve Merlo's psychological horror - Unseen. Taking place alongside an unknown disaster, the film follows a mentally unstable man who begins to torment a woman with a history of abuse. This stars Jamie Hill (Skinamarink), alongside Brett Wagner (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Trinity Chase, and Katerina Khramova.

            

Scream 7 is coming to UK cinemas on February 27th from Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group. A new poster has been revealed in celebration of this. The seventh film in the series (I am so behind watching these!) sees a new Ghostface killer emerging in the quiet town where series protagonist Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has started a new life with her daughter. This is directed by Kevin Williamson, who also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Guy Busick. There is also a legacy spot teaser out for the film.

            

Psychological horror film, Mamochka had its premiere on January 16th, with a wider release starting on that date. Directed by Vilan Trub, this follows a suburban husband who inherits an antique Nazi-era heirloom doll. This leads the man into a dark fixation, helped along by a mysterious figure who introduces him to a sinister worldview.

           

FrightFest is returning to the Glasgow Film Festival for its 21st year running, from Thursday 5th March to Saturday 7th March. The line-up has been announced, with a variety of films set to show over the event. It begins with the world premiere of Jailbroken; a Scottish action thriller that takes place entirely within a single prison cell. The two-day pass event begins Friday 6th March with the UK premiere of exorcism horror, Bury the Devil. This is followed by the world premiere of Howard J. Ford's creature feature, Bone Keeper, which takes place deep within a remote cave system. After that is documentary Boorman and the Devil, which takes a look at the troubled production of Exorcist II: The Heretic. Penultimate film is sci-fi horror comedy The Restoration at Grayson Manor, followed by the UK premiere of The Curse; a satire on the hidden horrors of internet algorithms.

Saturday's line-up starts with the international premiere of  action horror Violence, this is followed by a short film showcase. Next is the UK premiere of Japanese horror adaptation of Chilla's Art video game - The Convenience Store. The evening then begins with Craig Conway's Red Riding - a horror based contemporary retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. The penultimate film of the Saturday is dystopian fable, Karmadonna, with Australian fantasy horror, Deathkeeper closing the day. Passes to the event can be purchased here, with the Thursday showing of Jailbroken requiring a separate ticket.

Finally for today, queer horror film The Stutterer is currently running a Kickstarter campaign. Coming from former professional wrestler - Rocky Ciarrocchi, this is an anthology made up of three interconnected short films. The first of these works as a throwback to classic slashers of the 1980s, the second short is an origin story for the titular slasher, while third film shows the downfall and death of the killer. AEW wrestling superstars Ace Austin and Red Velvet are set to star in this.

Assassin's Creed Shadows: Attack on Titan Collab 'Beyond the Walls' (2025) - Video Game Mission Review

From the very first instalment, I have been a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series of video games. I have played through all the mainlines, and a chunk of side games, and each time a new one comes out I eagerly lap it up. For those not in the know, each game takes place in a different historical time period, they have been everywhere, from Greece, to Italy, to England, France and more. This year was Assassin's Creed Shadows, which takes place in feudal Japan in the 16th Century. I have currently sunk around 76 hours, but it hasn't been one of my favourites, with an unfocussed main storyline that frequently has me forgetting what I'm meant to be doing.
All that preamble is to say, unexpectedly, there was a collaboration with anime Attack on Titan. This might seem like an odd fit, but it isn't the first time a strange collab has occurred, just look at the Stranger Things/Far Cry 6 crossover from 2022. The crossover was sadly limited time, and realising that I only had a day left to try it before it was removed from the game, last night (at time of typing), I quickly headed on to check the crossover mission out.

The mission is called 'Beyond the Walls', and the game draws attention to it by highlighting it on the map the first time you go on post addition. It begins with you finding the corpse of an Attack on Titan Survey Corps member, on the body are orders that reveal the Survey Corps were on a mission to capture a defector named Gautwin, and that they had located him at a nearby castle. Heading to the castle, you rescue another Corps member, and together you head into the basement where she reveals the defector has the power to change into a 'Titan'. Naoe and Yasuke assume this power is being exaggerated when told it literally changes a person into a giant monster. Separated from Yasuke and the Survey Corps member, Naoe heads on her own deeper into the cave system.

The first part of the mission proper sees Naoe heading through a series of dark caverns. These were not much different from cave levels in the rest of the game, unexciting, but I do love the more tightly focussed levels in Assassin's Creed games. Aside from overheard conversations from guards, the game doesn't properly crossover until Naoe arrives at the giant crystal pillar cave. This area is similar to the one in the show, a cavernous room full of hundreds of crystal pillars rising up from the void. The section here is mainly parkour based, enemies positioned in ways that meant you always got the (sometimes literal) jump on them. I enjoyed this, and it always felt obvious where the bonus chests were located. The actual rewards were a bit dull. The trailer for the crossover was all about the armour sets for the characters, but it turns out all the cool stuff has to be paid for. Instead, you get a bunch of different flags, and a Titan statue for use back in your home base.

The second half of the mission has you play as Yasuke, and is much shorter. The first part has him fighting a boss and his minions, while the second half has him fleeing from a Titan. That sounds cooler than it actually is, as you only hear the monster, I couldn't actually see it chasing me unfortunately. With that done its all over, with one last choice to decide how the mission ends.

I'm glad I wasn't expecting too much as this was merely adequate. It was a fun and silly crossover, and I did enjoy how it was integrated into the more realistic main game, but the actual mission was a bit underwhelming. I loved Naoe's section, the crystal caves were a lot of fun to get through. Yasuke's was more of a let down, it would have been cool to actually get to fight a Titan, rather than only have it appear on screen during a single cutscene. The rewards were fine, I'm not going to complain about free stuff, and you do get a unique weapon for both characters as a mission reward, but it felt a bit misleading that the armour sets were so front and centre in the trailer when these are only available to buy from the shop. For how attractive the rest of the game is, this mission was a bit bland looking.
The mission was free, and a cool little bonus. While it sucks it is only there for a limited time, I'm glad I got to try it, even if it was a little underwhelming.

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The Twilight Zone: Season 2 (1960-61) - Horror TV Show Review

In 2020, I brought the Blu-ray box set of classic horror/sci-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone. This well known black and white series, hosted, created, and often written by Rod Serling, has lasted the test of time, with stories that are still relevant today. Season 2 is made up of 29 episodes as opposed to the first season's 36, but is still a lengthy runtime. This time around, I would argue that there are not actually any dud episodes, some of certainly better than others.

Each episode features host Serling typically appearing on set, but distant from the characters of the particular episode. His preamble telling the viewers that the protagonist has unknowingly just entered 'the twilight zone', to quote children's cartoon Johnny Bravo; 'a place where ordinary things don't happen very often'. The episodes are roughly twenty minutes in length and mainly are serious, sometimes humorous, sometimes creepy, and near always telling some sort of morality story. I thought season 1 had a few too many comedy episodes, which had been a problem as they were never funny. There are a few more light hearted ones to be found here, but none that straight up irritated. 'The Whole Truth' is probably the weakest episode to be found here, but even this one wasn't bad so much as a bit forgettable. It features a dodgy used-car salesman who finds himself unable to lie. 'Mr Dingle, the Strong', another one that tries to be funny, also didn't really resonate, this one about a weedy man who is imbued with miraculous strength by a passing Martian.

Season 2 can be clumsily divided into horror, time travel, and sci-fi, and there is a good mix of these. The best of the horror comes early with episode 5 - 'The Howling Man'. In this one, a man lost in a storm stumbles across a remote monastery where the monks there warn him that in a cell they have imprisoned a man who they claim is the literal devil. Both 'Twenty Two' and 'Shadow Play' take place within nightmares the protagonists are facing, and the sinister 'Nick of Time' (that stars the legendary William Shatner as a man who comes to believe a diner's fortune telling machine is actually able to predict the future) was another strong stand out.
There were more time travel episodes for season 2, some were interesting but less novel ('Back There' where a man finds himself back in time on the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination and tries to prevent it). A time travelling jet airliner ('The Odyssey of Flight 33') did something different, reminding me a bit of The Langoliers, and iconic episode 'A Hundred Years Over the Rim' has a pioneer on the search for essential aid, stumbling into modern day America.
Finishing the suite with sci-fi, you have the haunting 'The Invaders' that sees an isolated woman living in a remote homestead encountering tiny alien invaders, and the fantastic penultimate episode 'Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?' that sees two state troopers arriving at a remote diner, convinced that one of the people within is actually an alien in disguise.

Being classics have their downside occasionally. There were a couple of episodes whose twists I knew simply through osmosis. I would have loved to go into 'Eye of the Beholder' with no knowledge, but knowing what was going to happen, despite having never seen it before, meant it was an exercise in patience for what felt like an obvious twist. There are classic morality tales that also were obvious, but these are classics, such as 'The Man in the Bottle' that is essentially a Monkey's Paw tale where wishes granted by a genie lead to unexpected outcomes. One of the best isolated in feel episodes was season closer 'The Obsolete Man' - this took place in a dystopian 1984 type future where anyone deemed not useful to the oppressive state are forced to voluntarily be executed. This had a wonderful antagonist played with gleeful malice by Fritz Weaver, and sadly tells a story that feels all too relevant in relation to the severe deep dive into fascism and cruelty that America has been plunging all too willingly into in the real world. It was also fitting for me as my day job have decided to make me redundant as a nice Christmas present, I too am 'the obsolete man'.

With timeless stories that are still relevant today, season 2 of The Twilight Zone was very interesting to watch. This isn't a show that should be binge watched, I liked to digest the stories, limiting myself to just one episode a day. Wonderful and classic TV whose style has rarely been bettered.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 13th November 2025

It is only after the fact that I realised that October was quite a hedonistic month for me. A reduced blog output and a missed monthly news round-up were some of the results of me choosing pleasure over work. Looking back I can see the bad choices I made, so intend to go back to a regular output of work with caffeine as my only vice while working on this site! Onwards to a terrifying trio of horror news plucked from my bloody mail sack.

VIPCO and BayView Entertainment have released horror TV series - The Hallow Ian Horror Hour: Season 1, it can be found on Digital platforms worldwide, including Plex (here). The first season is made up of 8 episodes, each of which is said to be made up of '...the best in short-form horror'. They include independent short films and music videos featuring a cast of multi-award winning actors, these are interspersed with hosting segments that include such things as small skits, interviews, and the history of Halloween. Season 1 was directed by E.E. Tallent, Sam Arias Mostovoy and Ty Huffer.

Special-needs themed drama - My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving is now on Tubi, as well as other global HD internet and satellite platforms via Freestyle Digital Media. The story is about a zombie-obsessed special needs adult who finds himself caught in a battle between a Korean family and a local gang to be his new 'family'. The man uses his favourite zombie TV show as a way to show these people forgiveness. I said in my respectable 6/10 review that the idea for the movie came from a place of love, and the faux zombie show within the film had some good scenes.

Finally for today, another BayView Entertainment release with Lechuza. Coming from 5-time award winning director Alfons Emilian, this is about a couple who go on a camping trip after ignoring a strange old woman's warnings about the area they have chosen. They come under assault from a vengeful witch-turned-demon (the titular Lechuza). This stars Emilian, Rebecca Blackmore and Jackie Luke.

Uncanny: Fear of the Dark (2025) - Supernatural Stage Show Review

They say you should try and write reviews the same day as you see the thing you are reviewing. That sadly wasn't able to be the case here, so this is written some four days later, I'm sure there will be details I miss here, but the general feelings I have for it remain while typing!
Uncanny is a BBC podcast and TV show that has Danny Robbins as host. In the show he presents various alleged hauntings and comes across as someone completely neutral in the belief in ghosts. He also has two experts helping him, one expert who believes in the supernatural, and one expert who doesn't. Uncanny: Fear of the Dark is the second theatre production I have seen, having been to Uncanny: I Know What I Saw roughly a year ago.

The last stage production was made up of a deep dive into two different hauntings, one for each half, and most enjoyable so it was. For Fear of the Dark, this has been stretched out to now six different cases. Being a huge fan of anything anthology-like in style, this was music to my ears. There was more variation here than I thought, and being a low level fan of the show it included topics I had never seen Robbins explore.
It appeared that me, my father, and my sister, only noticed our tickets were each nowhere near each other right at the last moment before heading in to Northampton's Derngate theatre making for a bit of an amusing start. My seat was on the second floor in a box that was one away from the nearest to the stage. This meant that my view was partially restricted as it was a struggle to make out props that would often appear right at the back of the stage. That part wasn't good, what was great however was the fact I was on the side where the two experts sat, so I had a great if slightly vertical view of them throughout the show. The stage design was more cluttered this time around, the theme being that it is Danny Robbin's version of The Warren's artefact room. I liked the cluttered design of the stage, even if I couldn't see the back area reserved for impact moments. There was a neat video wall across the top of the stage, with three different screens where footage was being displayed on.

The show begins with a super serious intro that Robbins was amusingly self deprecating about. The host as always was very friendly and chatty, there is something very likeable from him, and he can be legitimately funny at times. He was joined frequently on stage by Dr. Ciarán O'Keeffe (the skeptic) and Evelyn Hollow (the believer) who would give their opinions on the cases discussed. I swear O'Keeffe wasn't in the show I saw last year, but my dad says he was. Either way, it was a pleasure to see these two as well, having seen them in a load of Uncanny's TV episodes.
It begins predictably enough with the first case being a supernatural case of a haunted nursery, classic Uncanny stuff. For me, while I knew U.FO sightings had been explored before, this was the first time I had personally seen it. I loved the change-up in style, and was fascinating to discover that O'Keeffe had been caught up in Britain's most well known UFO sighting as a child! There was an even more strange case looked at later on, about a Bigfoot type creature spotted just outside of Scunthorpe. Robbins interviews the believable man in a pre-filmed segment as he drives down the exact same patch of road where he encountered what he believes he saw.

The order of the cases is a bit mixed in my head, but regardless, after an interval we got back to what felt like a slightly more creepy act. There was a case offered as hope in the existence of an afterlife (to me it felt more unsettling than hopeful!), and a poltergeist encounter that also got the hairs on the back of my neck slightly rising. At one point during the show, audience members are invited to ask the host and experts questions, this was interesting enough. It was the later segment where audience members are invited to share their supernatural encounters that things unexpectedly took a turn for the entertaining. Personal favourites of the five or so supernatural accounts include a daughter who had an 'imaginary' friend as a child that she later discovered was the spit of someone who had once lived in her town during Victorian times, and a man who saw a large sized rabbit with a face of a human one dusky evening as a teen!

With the increase to six cases over two hours instead of just two, there is the expected more streamline feel. While these never felt particularly rushed through, there were a couple that were almost too brief. I enjoyed the way the footage was displayed on stage; how both Robbins and the audience would both be watching it intently (plus it gave me an excuse to lay back in my seat rather than having to lean over the barrier to see!). More of the same then, but that is not a critique. Despite the show seemingly being cursed for me (again leading me to unexpected travel woes on the short journey home), I loved this, it improved over time. I got there exhausted from a long day at work, and left even more tired, but with a smile in my heart for a fun evening kind of spent with family.

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Inside No.9: Stage/Fright (2025) - Horror Play Review

When the great comedy thriller TV show Inside No.9 ended last year, I heard that the creators; Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (Psychoville, The League of Gentlemen) were going to put out an Inside No.9 stage show as a final goodbye (titled Inside No.9: Stage/Fright). I fully expected this would stay within London and that I would never get to see it, but was delighted when I found out they were taking the show on tour. One of the locations was Milton Keynes, a city that is a half hour drive from my home.
For the past twenty five years or so I have loved their work. I remember being in English class while studying for my A-Levels and hearing classmates quoting the characters from The League of Gentlemen, making me want to check it out. I wasn't disappointed with that show, and Inside No.9 is basically that but with the creators more grown up, but with comedy no less dark and deranged 

Me and my father both had expected this new original stage based entry in the Inside No.9 series would tell one unique story over its two one hour halves. Instead it played with expectations a bit with plenty of rug pulls, misdirection and plays within the play. This gave the show almost an anthology feel to it that didn't let up from start to very showbiz ending. The self contained prologue taking place in the audience of a theatre production of Hamlet set things up well. Featuring dark humour and death this was a delightful introduction.
Before the story within the first half begins properly we get Shearsmith and Pemberton coming on stage to introduce it, as well as try to sell the idea that the theatre the play is being performed in is actually haunted. The majority of the first act is about two washed up comedians, who for a brief spell in the 1980s had had some semblance of fame on TV. They had performed under the name 'Cheese and Crackers', and the story told here is pretty much a recreation of season 4 episode 'Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room'. Shearsmith plays the straight one, someone who has moved on in life and left his comedic past behind. Pemberton meanwhile has an almost desperate feel to his wanting to bring their act back. A lot of the sketches they put on are the two washed up comedians re-doing past material, and purposely made to be cheesy and outdated, these were still quite hilarious to watch in their own right. Much of the humour coming from how outdated their references were, as well as out of vogue cultural impressions. Highlight was a very Inside No.9 feeling skit about two kidnappers who had accidentally kidnapped the wrong person, the incorrect person being a real life famous person that seemed like it would change based on where the show was being performed. Seeing it in Milton Keynes, the star here was a former Olympic long jump champion who I must confess I had absolutely no idea who he was until my father updated me in the intermission. Due to not knowing him, that section didn't work as well as it should have.

The interval came and we both said we had enjoyed it, I expected the second act would carry on the story, but instead it begins with a manic story set in an insane asylum that felt off kilter, macabre and darkly twisted in a way that really reminded me fondly of The League of Gentlemen. The characters here were larger than life, especially Shearsmith and Pemberton's roles, the former using that gravelly voice that echoed parts of both Papa Lazarus and my all time favourite character Geoff Tibbs. Their manic performances led up to a few gruesome jokes, including my very favourite joke of the entire show. Things are not as they seem and this leads into another story set on the stage of a theatre with a strong supernatural element to it. It even included some live action found footage segments of a character wandering around 'backstage' with a camera whose video feed is being projected onto the background of the stage. Once this story ends there are a few more misdirection and feints before the show finishes proper.

As expected, this is everything Inside No.9 but dialled up a bit. There is plenty of strong language, including a few uses of the 'c' word, and there is lots of death and violence over the two hour play. Multiple characters appear to be murdered on stage with a lot of inventiveness, from severed limbs and heads, to electrocution, and a face of sulphuric acid. All looked great on the stage (admittedly from my lofty position at the very back of the first floor of the seating area). I was pleased with the horror angle this went down. Often, the episodes on TV are more thrillers than horror, but here there were plenty of supernatural events, even if the idea the theatre itself was haunted always fell a bit flat when it was integrated into the show. It doesn't help that like everything in Milton Keynes, the theatre is relatively new compared to other places in the country.
I appreciated how beefy this felt, it would have been easy to just create an extended episode and have that be the show, instead there was a real effort to make use of it being played out on a stage, something the two main stars have plenty of experience with. There is no end of word play, Dad jokes, and inuendo that rarely failed to get a laugh. Even with the other actors who play roles there were laughs to be had, even though it was obviously the two leads who were the true stars.

It was such a pleasure to see these two people I have been watching on TV for the past 25 years or so in the flesh, I admit to being a bit starstruck watching these two, couldn't quite believe I was getting to be in the same room as them! That, and my love for their work may make me a bit biased, but minor quibbles aside, I really enjoyed watching Inside No.9: Stage/Fright and would certainly recommend it.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 15th of July

It is hard not to feel excited this week as I am on the cusp of what I hope will be an awesome week off of work. Rather than going off to some exotic location, I am instead heading inwards, deep within the bowels of The Rotting Zombie HQ. Here I intend to see absolutely no one (with the exclusion of my best friend should they choose to visit), I won't be looking at any type of world news, I won't even draw the thick dusty curtains of my dilapidated mansion. A staycation done correctly where for a week my entire world will consist solely of myself. Of course, during that time I won't abandon this blog, indeed, I intend to create a surplus of blog posts to feed the future when I travel back from my pocket dimension. Onwards to the news!

Final Transmissions is an upcoming found footage anthology series that is currently on an Indiegogo campaign. Taking place in the small town of Eldritch, Illinois in 1999, it follows a local TV host who begins airing strange transmissions he has received, assumedly, these transmissions making up the found footage segments. This was created by husband and wife team Steven Hugh Nelson and Erica Nelson, and features segments from Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein (The Once and Future Smash), Evan Churchill and Thomas Pardo (Beholder), Nick Cotrufo (The McKinney Family Home Videos), Alex Hera (The History of Analog Horror), the Nelson's themselves (Old Wounds), and Lianne O'Shea and Aviv Rubinstien (Lizzie Lazarus). Check out the Indiegogo page here for more details.

Anima is a psychological thriller that is currently being filmed in Colombia, written and directed by Andrés Beltrán (Tarumama, MalaYerba). Included among the cast are Odette Annable (Cloverfield), Allegra Leguizamo (Tin Soldiers), Julio Cesar Cedillo (Sicario), Tony Revolori (Scream VI), and Andreas Londono (Fear the Walking Dead TV show). The story follows forensic medical investigator Helena (Annable), deep in mourning after the death of her husband Richard (Londono). She becomes obsessed with a strange new case, and starts to believe that hidden within the events of this case is the key to be able to somehow return her husband back to life. Beltrán says of the film "This is a deeply emotional and unsettling story-about grief, denial, and the terrifying cost of refusing to let go". Production runs through July in Bogotá, with post-production planned in both Colombia and the United States for a 2026 planned release.

Finally for today, theatrical metal group Raven Black have released a new single titled 'This Little Piggy'. Described as a 'razor-sharp anthem for the outcasts, the misfits, and the tormented', this promises to be the start of '...a darker, more intense evolution' of the group's sound. Produced by Ulrich Wild (Static-X, White Zombie, Deftones).

Black Mirror: Season 6 (2023) - Sci-fi Horror TV Show Review

Black Mirror typically revolves around exploring a piece of possible future technology to its most nightmarish conclusion. It is an anthology show that features stand-alone stories that mostly end up being very bleak and very not-feel good. Season five only had the three episodes and none of them was particularly amazing. This led to me beginning to think that the show had run out of any really good ideas. Because of this, it was only with the release of season seven this year that I decided it was high time I get around to finishing up watching season six. This season was made up of five episodes and thankfully, it not only has mostly decent ones, but it contains a departure from the typical formula that ranks up there as one of my all time favourite Black Mirror episodes.

'Joan Is Awful' starts the season and also happens to be the worst one. I can't even really remember it too much, it felt very Black Mirror by numbers. The idea here is that a normal woman (Annie Murphy) discovers that a hit TV drama has been released which shows her life in exact detail, the fictional version of her being played by Salma Hayek (Dogma). I seem to recall this was a bit of a farce rather than anything too serious, as the real Joan tries to find a way to stop her life being copied on TV. It features Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) in a small role that was at least fun to see.
Next is the excellent 'Loch Henry' that takes a more realistic approach to its central idea. A young Scottish man, Davis (Samuel Blenkin - The Sandman TV show, Peaky Blinders TV show) returns to his sleepy loch side town with American girlfriend Pia (Myha'la) in tow, on the way to make a documentary for a university project. There, Pia learns of a dark tragedy involving kidnapped tourists that indirectly resulted in the death of Davis' policeman dad when he was a child. Pia convinces Davis to turn the focus of the documentary they are making into one looking at this dark event, unaware of the traumatic consequences this digging up old dirt would bring to David, Pia, and those around them. The technology here is current day and old VHS recorders, and the idea is to take an ironic look into the unhealthy fascination people have with true crime documentaries. I loved the more grounded look, and despite not using any type of future technology this fell into the Black Mirror format well, with a most bleak finish. Special mention to Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones TV show), John Hannah (The Mummy), and the excellent Monica Dolan (Kick-Ass 2).

It was after that second episode that I took a year long break from watching the show. I got so distant from it that I had in my head it was another three episode season, when it was actually a five episode season for this one. Someone I work with in my day job kept insisting I had to return to at least check out third episode 'Beyond the Sea', and while it wasn't my favourite of the season, it was still a strong one. Following the remit of season five seemingly trying new things, this episode takes place in an alternative 1969 in which technology has been invented that allows people to mentally control artificial surrogates of themselves. Two astronauts on a deep space mission are therefore still able to spend time with their families back on Earth using this technology. After David (Josh Hartnett - Trap, The Faculty) is helplessly forced to witness his family being brutally murdered and then his surrogate destroyed in a  home invasion by an anti-surrogate group, he understandably falls into a deep depression. With fellow astronaut Cliff (Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad TV series) concerned that David might do something drastic in his grief, his wife back on Earth (Kate Mara - Morgan), convinces Cliff to let David borrow his surrogate, in the belief this would help the man heal. Of course, this results in typical Black Mirror darkness and horror. I loved the time period here, and I also appreciated the open ending that left me with a lot of questions.
'Mazey Day' is the penultimate episode and did something so unexpected that I found myself delighted with the silly twist. In this one, the titular Mazey Day (Clara Rugaard) is a troubled A-list celebrity who vanishes from the public eye after abandoning a film project in Europe. Former paparazzi photographer Bo (Zazie Beetz - Joker, Deadpool 2) is convinced to return to her former job with a huge cash reward should she be able to take a photo of the missing Mazey. Again, the central idea is grounded in reality, with the story being about the detrimental effects that sleazy elements of the press can have in their desire to get money and recognition. Personally, I loved the direction this ended up going in, bringing some genuine horror to the show while still keeping this unapologetically Black Mirror in style.
Finally is the fantastic 'Demon 79' that immediately sets itself apart by being termed as 'Red Mirror', the first purposely pure horror episode to appear in the show. It takes place in 1979, where mild mannered department store worker Nida (Anjana Vasan - Spider-Man: Far from Home) inadvertently forms a demonic pact with a friendly demon named Gaap (Paapa Essiedu). She is convinced by this being that unless she murders three people within three days the end of the world will occur. I thought this was an amazing episode, it featured a great soundtrack of songs from that time period, and made the two protagonists really likeable. Both outsiders, they come to form an unexpected bond that was a joy to see play out on screen. I also liked how it wasn't clear for the majority of this episode whether Nida was simply insane and hallucinating Gaap (who only she can see and hear), or if there really was something more going on. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, this had plenty of strong elements to it, from the casual racism of the time, to the captivating David Shields whose role as the villainous and cold politician Michael Smart not only allowed for elements of The Dead Zone to appear here, but also (as Black Mirror often does) pre-empted real world events, in this case, Elon Musk's ill-advised Nazi salute. A very strong ending as well it has to be said.

From a dull start, season five soon proved itself to be one of the best seasons of Black Mirror. This has all the qualities I have come to expect from the show, while each episode after the first, tried new things and was mostly successful each time. 'Loch Henry' and 'Demon 79' in particular were strong entries, I would actually recommend people who have never watched the show to still check out that last one, it really was fantastic. Black Mirror is streaming on Netflix.

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Creepshow: Season 1 (2019) - Horror TV Show Review

A few months back I decided to make a convoluted method of randomly choosing what video game to play next, due to having such an insane backlog (that is literally thousands of games long). With that method a success I thought I would apply it to films and TV show also. The first pick that came up was the Creepshow series. Released in 2019, this series is obviously based on the cult classic anthology horror films of the same name (my Creepshow 2 review here). Currently streaming on Shudder, each season is made up of six episodes, with each episode featuring two short stories.

The show is presented as if it was stories that are taken place within the titular Creepshow comic. You get little wraparound segments featuring The Creep, either in puppet or cartoon form, and during the episodes there are sections when the action freezes and transfers over to a comic book format or vice-versa. Usually these comic book sections seemed designed to save on budget by having larger set pieces be in this form before heading to a more safe and static setting for the real life footage.
I initially watched the first episode a few years back and have to say I wasn't impressed much at all. I thought the effects seemed a bit poor and the stories didn't grab me. Thankfully, heading back I was delighted with many of the episodes, with rarely a bad story to be found. The season opens up with 'Grey Matter', an adaptation of a Stephen King story. Taking place during a tremendous storm, a boy recounts events that saw his alcoholic father transform into something...wrong. My notes from the time said that the creature effects actually did look good. It was also the first of many notable names to show up this season with both Tobin Bell (the Saw franchise) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul TV shows) featuring in small roles. The second part of this first episode was 'House of the Head' which had an interesting premise. A young girl, Evie (Cailey Fleming - The Walking Dead TV show) gets a dolls house, but the dolls appear to keep moving around on their own, with it seeming that somehow this doll family's home is being haunted by a similar sized ghost. I thought that one was both clever and creepy, though didn't end on the most satisfying note.

Episode two opens with 'Bad Wolf Down', a werewolf story set during World War II. I loved the setting and thought this was enjoyable if a little predictable. It did show how varied Creepshow could be, that was something I really took from the first season - how many different feeling episodes there were. Following this is the delightfully demented 'The Finger'. Starring DJ Qualls (Z Nation TV show) as the fourth wall breaking loner - Clark Wilson, this sees him finding a weird monstrous looking finger and deciding to take it home. Over time the finger grows into a fully formed demonic creature who begins to kill in order to please Clark. I liked this one, the puppet looked great and there was a fun vibe, especially liking Clark who narrates directly to the camera, and even steps away mid scene to have a brief talk to the audience every now and again.
The third episode has two shorts that were both good in their own right. I loved 'All Hallows Eve' that sees a group of teens going 'trick or treating', with it slowly fed out over the episode just why everyone whose homes they visit are so terrified of them. 'The Man in the Suitcase' has to be the weirdest episode of season one. This has the surreal concept of a young man accidentally bringing home the wrong suitcase from the airport. Inside he finds a strange man painfully jammed into the luggage. The young man and his friends soon discover that pain causes the trapped man to vomit up gold coins, greed makes them do bad things to get more of this. It might have been a bit obvious where this was heading but it was unique feeling.

I loved fourth episode 'The Companion' about a boy discovering a killer scarecrow, the effects for that scarecrow in particular felt very cool, I loved how his 'fingers' of hay stretched out like tendrils. While the first film in this episode was good, it could also be accused of being a little too straight forward. I personally thought that the next short - 'Lydia Layne's Better Half' was the best of the season. This sees an influential businesswoman accidentally killing her girlfriend during an argument. She puts the body on an office chair and wheels it to an office elevator, with the intention of taking it to her car and disposing of it. Unfortunately, while in the elevator there is an earthquake and the lift gets stuck between floors. This had some creepy moments to it, with it not clear for much of the run time if the corpse is actually moving of its own accord when out of eyesight, or if it is the stress of the situation getting to the protagonist.
The penultimate episode begins with a take on the classic 'monkey's paw' plot device (being a literal monkey's paw that grants wishes, but typically twisted versions of what the user had intended). As simple and predictable as it was, I thought 'Night of the Paw' was a decent short that told the story in a simple yet effective manner. 'Times is Tough in Musky Holler' was the worst episode of the season, more that it was too ambitious than it was a bad short to watch. It takes place against the backdrop of zombie apocalypse with the tables having been turned on Musky Holler's mayor and his followers (including the sheriff played by David Arquette - Scream series of films) who had gotten power hungry and ran the town as a brutal dictatorship in the name of protecting the citizens. The whole short is the lead up to and reveal of his and his followers punishment. The bad thing about this one was that a giant chunk of the story took place as a comic book sequence. The whole zombie outbreak and the mayor's abuse of power all played out this way, obviously due to the limitations of the budget for actually showing this in live action. Many of the cast were also killed offscreen, with a scoreboard used to show the viewer they are being killed. Despite the short comings, the zombie effects were cool, and this really reminded me of a short story I once read.
The final episode of season one was another mixed bag. I really enjoyed 'Skincrawlers' and was definitely the most bloody and gross short to be found here. It has a species of giant leech being used by a company as a weight loss tool, due to them having the ability to only suck fat out of bodies. I liked this one. 'By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain' had a decent idea behind it, but I don't think it was executed that well. Directed by Tom Savini and based on a story by Joe Hill, this features a teenage girl who is determined to find proof of the Loch Ness style monster that legend says resides in a large lake near her home. I liked that her determination for finding the creature came from her father being a previous victim of it, but this felt a little too small in scale, and I thought the mother character was intensely irritating.

Truth be told, I didn't expect much but found I actually really enjoyed Creepshow. I enjoyed the wraparound idea of these all being tales from a horror comic, I loved all the famous actors popping up throughout, and this had some great variation in the type of stories being told. It is also very cool reading about the scores of easter eggs hidden throughout each episode, with nods to iconic horror films and books. I look forward to one day getting around to watch future seasons.

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