I get a ton of emails about exciting upcoming horror projects and, while I’m unable to showcase them all individually, I’m absolutely thrilled to share them ROUND-UP STYLE! So, without further ado, here are the new & upcoming horror creations from the HorrorFam.com inbox!
None of the creators below have paid to be featured here — because we believe that lacking a marketing budget shouldn’t equate to a lack of eyes on your project. That said, I haven’t I had the chance to experience every creation personally. I do my best to make sure each entry is horror-related and take it in good faith that each creator has represented themselves and their projects honestly.
If you love indie horror and want to support our continued ability to showcase small creators free-of-charge, please consider becoming a Patron, streaming a horror film using our JustWatch affiliate buttons, and/or turning off your ad blocker to see if any of three ads on this page catch your interest. Thank you! ♥
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August 2026 Feature Length Indie Horror Films
The Bad Ones
Dempsey Tillman, creator/director of The Bad Ones, wrote to me THE day my July 2026 Indie Horror Inbox Roundup went live – making him officially first in line for August! (Since I only accept roughly 20 submissions per month, it’s a GREAT idea to send your indie horror news to me as early as possible. Good on ya, Dempsey!).
The Bad Ones isn’t “technically” a feature film – but this felt like the best section to include it in. It’s a 9-part YouTube series (each episode averaging 15-20 minutes; so a “feature film” runtime if you binge them all!) and episode 5 just dropped on July 30th. The final episodes will follow shortly!
Dempsey Tillman described The Bad Ones as “an independent sci-fi horror web series inspired by real UAP phenomena and alien abduction testimony, not AI-generated, shot with a small real crew on a real indie budget.” Adding that the premise is about “a man’s fight to protect his family collides with proof that alien abduction is real, and he uncovers a hidden society that’s been living in plain sight the whole time.”
I absolutely LOVE this adorable behind-the-scenes introduction to their cast & crew that they posted on the @TheBadOnes_Series Instagram page! If you want to see an example of the indie horror filmmaker spirit – love, joy, and collaborative effort goes into a “two penny budget” creation – that little vid speaks volumes. It also includes the social links for everyone on their team, so show ’em some love with a Follow!
Watch The Bad Ones on YouTube.
The Dollmaker
Argentina’s Encantador (2025) is coming to the USA as The Dollmaker via Digital and On Demand starting August 25th! (Note: If you’re reading this early, our JustWatch streaming buttons won’t be active yet – they’ll start functioning once the film actually releases!).
Written and directed by José María Cicala, The Dollmaker is “Dripping with Lynchian style” and “is part charming, funny, decidedly weird and enjoyably bloody. Things are not all they seem to be in a cheerfully idyllic town that soon becomes a hotbed of female kidnappings. No one seems to care much about the missing women including nerdy video store clerk and amateur dollmaker Tomás (Rodrigo Noya). But when a new inspector comes to town determined to find the solve the disappearance, Tomás soon becomes the unlikely prime suspect. [It’s] a horror film which becomes increasingly dark, and gruesome, and unpredictable.”
The North American re-release is coming to us from Cinephobia. Ray Murry, Cinephobia’s President, said that “The Dollmaker is creepy, bloody and surreal…and I loved every minute of it,” adding that he’s “excited to bring this original film to the art and genre audiences.”
The Dollmaker received its US premiere at Screamfest in Los Angeles where Rodrigo Noya won the award for Best Actor.
Where to watch The Dollmaker:
A Mother’s Secret
A Mother’s Secret AKA A Mother’s Love is coming to Digital and On Demand August 21st!
Plot synopsis per their email: “When a body is found in the walls of her dream home during renovation, new mother, Kenzie Carter spirals into paranoia experiencing terrifying visions about her daughter, Anna. Kenzie’s worried but busy husband, Eric, suggests a nanny to help. Enter Genevieve, the mysterious nanny who bonds instantly with Anna. As Kenzie’s grip on reality fractures, the body is identified revealing dark history, a missing past, and a deadly secret that threatens everyone Kenzie loves.”
Bloodstrand
This email came from Christopher Klassen, an indie horror filmmaker and VFX artist based in Japan! He’s working on a first-person horror film (be careful watching the trailer if you’re prone to motion sickness, like I am) and is seeking additional funds for post-production costs.
The crowdfunding campaign is at Motion-Gallery.net/projects/Bloodstrand and will be running until August 31st. Be aware that the campaign is set to Yen by default, so you may need to do some conversion/money math if you’re living outside of Japan and would like to contribute.
Christopher Klassen said, “Bloodstrand is a POV found-footage horror film set in Japan, where every frame is seen through the protagonist’s perspective. The story follows a missing foreign man whose phone is discovered containing disturbing footage of his final days. I believe it could be a good fit for your audience, especially fans of indie horror, found footage, and Japanese horror.”
Pictured: The blu-ray Reward version of Bloodstrand for those who contribute to the campaign.
Jaws Explored
If you’re a fan of our team’s Monthly Horror Streaming Picks, then you’ve definitely seen a CREATORVC horror documentary recommended once or twice by Christi Bandy (she’s a huge fan!). They work with independent horror-lovin’ documentarians to publish really cool deep-dives into various horror films (Aliens Expanded, The Thing Expanded) and horror eras (their In Search of Darkness series).
Well, this time, they’ve partnered with writer/director Ian Nathan to take a closer look as Jaws (1975)! Their documentary, Jaws Explored is available for pre-order NOW through August 9th. If you order on time, you can expect your Blu-ray to arrive one year from now, in August of 2027.
EVEL
Per their representative’s email, EVEL is about: “A young woman is held hostage in an EV self-driving car on an isolated northern highway. The car is controlled by a malevolent force that wipes out her digital footprint and her very existence then delivers her to a Billionaire predator.”
EVEL will be available to watch via Digital and On Demand on August 14th.
The Shadows of Trust
This is just a short update from the folks behind Shadows of Trust (they wrote to us back in January), to let everyone know that their film is still expected to release sometime this year and that their official trailer is out NOW! They said that they’d really appreciate it if you could give it a watch.
August 2026 Indie Horror Short Films
Leave Me Alone
UK indie horror filmmaker Shehroze Khan would love it if you could watch his short film, Leave Me Alone! It’s just shy of 18 minutes long and stands on its own; however, it’s also his “proof of concept” for the feature film he’s currently working on.
Leave Me Alone is part of the Haunted House horror subgenre and features a churrail (sometimes called a petni, chrurel, chudel, etc.), a mythological ghost known to those living in India and other parts of South Asia. That’s the “TL;DR” synopsis… However, I’d encourage you to read what Shehroze Khan said about his film in his own words – it’s fascinating and tragic, and is a great example of how horror can be utilized to both raise awareness of and heal from deep pains…
Shehroze Khan said: “This story was born out of rage and heartbreak. I recently uncovered a harrowing piece of British Raj history that is completely left out of our national curriculum. When colonial control began to slip, the empire outlawed interracial unions. Fathers were forced to dissolve their marriages and tear their light-skinned children away from their Indian mothers to take them back to Britain. The sheer cruelty of that erasure stunned me.
Around the same time, I was uncovering my own family’s history and finally understanding the roots of my father’s emotional distance. I realized horror was the only genre big enough to hold the weight of this collective grief. Inherited trauma is deeply metaphysical. It lingers like a presence in the walls.
The film follows Izzy, a woman who processes her pain through avoidance until she is literally consumed by it in a gothic haunted house. At the center of her haunting is a Churail, a vengeful spirit from South Asian folklore. Merging this myth with the haunted house genre allowed me to build a monster that is a tragic, terrifying manifestation of silenced trauma.”
Watch Leave Me Alone on YouTube
Ravenmocker
This is another teeny announcement! Pillerbox Media wants everyone to know that the Soulfeather Studios team (known for Reconnecting Roots on PBS) is breaking into the horror genre and currently working on Ravenmocker, a new Micro Horror™ series for Screamify.
Ravenmocker is going to be written by John White and directed by Gabe McCauley (pictured above, in that order). It starts out in 1971 and is about “teens stranded in rural Tennessee meet[ing] the Ravenmocker, the heart-stealing witch of Cherokee legend, bound to the land by a Civil War love story that ended in blood.”
The final film will be shown as 20 vertical-format episodes (roughly 2 minutes each episode) that you’ll be able to watch via your phone’s Screamify app “soon.” Currently, Ravenmocker is still in development, but you can follow their progress on Pillarbox Media’s website for additional casting and premiere announcements.
August 2026 Indie Horror Books
Marla by Jonathan Janz
Rebecca Malzahn of Blackstone Publishing reached out to say that Johnathan Janz’s horror novel Marla is being released on August 18th!
Rebecca said, “Marla was originally published in 2022 with a limited run of 500 copies, selling out a month before release and garnering critical acclaim… As a personal Janz fan, I am SO excited to share that Blackstone is now publishing this cult-classic for the masses to enjoy!”
Johnathan Janz is a high school teacher from West Lafayette, Indiana and is known for Children of the Dark, The Dark Game, and Veil. He also contributed the store “Lenora” to last year’s The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand.
Here’s a synopsis of Marla: “Blending the small-town paranoia of Carrie with the eerie unease of Shirley Jackson and contemporary horror favorites like Smile and From, Janz delivers horror with heart, using supernatural terror to reveal the deeper fears that haunt us. When a string of gruesome deaths strikes King’s Branch, Indiana, suspicion falls on Marla Gorman…a mysterious recluse who watches the town from the window of a decaying Gothic house (which is nearly a character in itself). Anchored by a compelling detective investigation and richly drawn characters grappling with grief, trauma, and obsession, Marla delivers a supernatural mystery with shocking twists, creeping dread, and a haunting story that lingers long after the final page.”
Buy Marla by Johnathan Janz:
From the Black Pool by Ryan Leacock
Ryan Leacock is the Canadian writer/designer/founder of Black Pool Press, a small independent press creating handmade horror books and zines. He originally submitted his August 2026 indie horror news to the “Other” category, but I think zines count as “Books!” Not all of us have the time to delve into a Stephen King-style EPIC of a novel, so ultra-slim books (zines!) are more than welcome.
Here’s what Ryan had to say about his series of zines, available now: “My current project is From the Black Pool: Volume One, a collection of interconnected small-town horror stories. The books include ‘The Farmhouse,’ ‘The Black Pool of Pontiac,’ ‘Illinois,’ ‘Lonnie,’ and ‘Memphis: The Red Stones of Mastema.’ Each story stands on its own while revealing another part of a larger shared world.
I write and design the books myself, and they are printed and assembled in small runs. I’ve also recently launched Black Pool Field Notes, a companion publication about the influences, artifacts, and creative process behind the stories.”
You can order Ryan’s horror zines via FromTheBlackPool.com! Each issue is $4 Canadian (roughly $3 USD), though he currently has a Limited Edition bundle of all of the zines featured in From the Black Pool: Volume One available for $10 Canadian ($7 USD).
Mad Dog Morgan by Adam Lawson and Maxi Dall’O
Chris J. Thompson, the Senior Editor of Heavy Metal and PR Manager for The Lab Press, wrote to let us know that The Lab Press just released Mad Dog Morgan, a horror graphic novel!
Mad Dog Morgan was created and written by Adam Lawson with additional writing by Brian Christgau and features artwork by Maxi Dall’o.
“This gorgeous hardcover is a love letter to lucha wrestling and ’80s action/horror films,” said Chris, adding “Imagine They Live crossed with House On Haunted Hill.”
For the image above, I layered the cover over two pages from the inside of the book. I wasn’t 100% sure if I was allowed to show off the inner pages but I thought they were really neat! (Also, every comic book fan knows the crushing disappointment of seeing a really awesome cover only to flip open the book and find blandness – so I felt it was IMPORTANT to show that the inside looks equally rad!!).
Mad Dog Morgan released on August 4th in the hardcover edition described above (and linked below), but they have a Limited Edition version of Mad Dog Morgan with an alternate cover releasing November 24th that’s currently available for pre-order.
Buy Mad Dog Morgan by Adam Lawson, Brian Christgau, and Maxi Dall’o:
August 2026 Indie Horror Video Games
Tormentum II
OOH! I was excited about this one!! I played Tormentum: The Dark Sorrow back in 2016 on my phone and I still think about it sometimes. I gasped aloud when I had an email from Lukas Rutkowski (one man of the Polish two-man team that comprises OhNoo Studios; the other man being Piotr Ruszkowski) reaching out to announce the release of Tormentum II!
They first announced they were working on a Tormentum sequel in October of 2018, so fans have been waiting for this announcement for a LONG time! I’ll be honest, I kind of thought it wasn’t going to happen at this point, and I may have missed the news entirely if Lukas hadn’t written directly TO me. So, I’m absolutely delighted that I get to publish this announcement and let other folks know that YEP, that haunting game you played a decade ago officially has a sequel that you can play NOW!
When I have more time, I might review Tormentum II (Lukas gifted me a Steam key after I fangirled and showed him that the original still lives on my phone) but for now, I’m told that Tormentum II is a “stand-alone” game (you’ll get MORE out of it if you’ve played the original, but it’s not necessary) with an estimated “9-12 hour playtime.” It features 200 hand-drawn scenes inspired by H. R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski with multiple choices and endings, just like the original.
“I think playing it on a bigger screen really lets the artwork shine,” said Lukas of the PC release, adding, “I’m planning a Google Play version of Tormentum II as well, but it will most likely happen after the summer. There’s quite a lot of work involved in adapting the game for mobile, so it will take some time, but it’s definitely part of the plan.”
He also said: “When we started work on Tormentum II, the kind of artificial intelligence we imagined still felt like science fiction. Eight years later, AI is part of everyday life. The story now feels closer to reality than we ever expected.”
Check out Tormentum II on Steam!
Meathook
This message came from Alex Rassloff: “I’m a South African indie developer making a survival horror FPS game with point-and-click interaction and a physics-driven weapon system. The game is called MEATHOOK, and it takes place in an urban world overrun with cultists and other mysterious entities. I haven’t seen anything else quite like it, so I’d love to hear your thoughts as a fan of horror in general.”
My husband, Frank, played a little bit of MEATHOOK (he played for 22 minutes and got 9/27 Achievements) and he thought it was overall a neat idea. He compared it to other classic “on rails” shooters like House of the Dead, but with additional puzzle aspects and a much slower pace. Frank estimates a very short overall play time but said it was “good to kill time with while on a work break.”
Dread Below
Per the email I received: “I’m Jacob, an 18-year-old college student and the developer of Dread Below, an upcoming survival-horror game about descending through a procedurally generated facility while an intelligent creature adapts to the player’s behavior with every floor survived, kind of like Alien Isolation. It would really mean a lot to me if you could cover my game, the demo should be coming out this month and the game sometime this year.”
The demo for Dread Below is, indeed, OUT NOW! Check it out 🙂
Play the Dead Below demo on Steam.
Dead Stop: No Vacancy
Ricardo from Camel 101, an independent game studio based in Portugal, wrote in to announce that their newest game Dead Stop – No Vacancy will be released on August 13th!
“It’s a short, standalone first-person horror experience inspired by classic slashers, VHS horror, and the PS2 era. Players step into the shoes of Nancy, an investigative reporter who becomes stranded at the isolated Paradise Motel after taking a wrong turn.” said Ricardo, adding, “The game takes approximately 90–120 minutes to complete. It is the first entry in Dead Stop, a new anthology of short, self-contained horror games.”
Wishlist Dead Stop – No Vacancy on Steam!
Yet Another Zombie Survivors
Diana at Awesome Games Studios wrote to let us know that Yet Another Zombie Survivors is FINALLY leaving Early Access (it’s held that label since 2023!) and will be OFFICIALLY launching in its completed, polished form on August 20th!
“Version 1.0 is the game’s biggest update yet, introducing some features rarely seen in the genre, including main story and side missions, a HUB area, a brand-new Survivor, a new map, a new game mode, arena bosses, plus plenty of new achievements, challenges, and more,” said Diana.
The 1.0 launch of Yet Another Zombie Survivors arrives simultaneously on Steam, GOG, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, with the Nintendo Switch version following shortly after.
Alchemortis
I’ve had Alchemortis on my Wishlist for a whiiiiiile now. I dig the art style (reminds me of 1990’s Loom but with a more horror-leaning color palette and without the need to keep a notebook handy) and the inventory management system looks super fun/addictive in a good way! But, its developer, Firebelley Games has stated again and again how deeply they believe in playtesting the absolute heck out of their games before they’re officially released, so this one won’t be officially available for quite some time.
However, going off of the above, I got an email from the folks at Feardemic (who recently became Alchemortis‘ publisher) saying that Firebelley Games is holding yet another Open Playtest of Alchemortis starting July 27th through most (all?) of August! I’ve known professional playtesters and I’ve dabbled in playtesting myself and it’s VERY important. At 41, I know myself well enough now to know that I’m the kinda gal who would rather wait – no matter how long – for a game to be fully complete before I jump in; however, if you’re one of the oh-so-patient angels out there who’s willing to put in the hours to playtest this, know that I’ll be one of the players appreciating your efforts later. 🙂
Check out the Open Playtest for Alchemortis on Steam.
Note: None of the games above are currently on Fanatical (yet?!) and buying them doesn’t support HorrorFam.com financially in any way. However, if you’d like to buy some additional horror games that do support our site, you can use our link below:
August 2026 Indie Horror Audio Projects
ALPHA DESTROYER
Per the email I got: “ALPHA DESTROYER is a high-octane collaboration featuring Martin Sweet (Crashdïet), Kelly LeMieux (Buckcherry), and Eric Sexton-Dorsett (Sleepless). The band’s debut album, Fast Lane, is available on physical formats via Necromantic Press Records, including limited-edition red splatter and standard black vinyl NOW!” You can grab that from NecromanticPress.
They also wanted to announce that ALPHA DESTROYER is doing a special-edition cover of the KISS classic, “God of Thunder,” that will be available on vinyl starting August 11th.
I chose their song “Straight Into the Grind” off of the Fast Lane album to feature above because it was one of the few music videos of theirs that featured their lovely faces 🙂 Though, FLASHING LIGHTS WARNING to anyone who needs it. Also, as to be expected, they say some swears. I also chose this song because it reminded me of the time a very harried cashier at a local 7-Eleven (on what I assume was his resignation day, since we never saw him again) yelled at the line-up of customers that we were “all meat through the grinder!!” If that poor soul is still out there somewhere, I hope he finds this tune and can rock out some of his inner demons – sometimes a hard-hitting jam is all you need to feel a little more inner peace.
Frank and I liked ALPHA DESTROYER’s style and we were shocked that they currently have so few followers (280 on Instagram as of this writing). When these guys are HUGE, you can proudly say that you heard about them on HorrorFam.com “before everyone was into them!” And, yes, I’m aware that each ALPHA DESTROYER member came from fairly well-established bands, but I’ve also been amazed by how few of my peers are familiar with The Power Station (Robert Palmer, Duran Duran, and Chic) so “supergroups” DO need a boost to get going, especially ones under independent labels!
You can stream Fast Lane on Spotify.
SIX FEET UNDER
Frank was absolutely agog that I got some news from SIX FEET UNDER! The band formed in 1995 and Frank was into them when he was in high school (his 20th reunion is next year) and he wasn’t aware they were still rocking out. Well, they are indeed, still at it! And while they have a much larger following than most of the bands who write in to be featured in the Indie Horror Inbox Roundup, they’re STILL independent and still depend on the support of fans and publications like ours to get their news out. I think that’s sweet 🙂
Their big news is that they’ve recently released a new album! It came out a couple months ago and is called Next to Die. You can stream the album on Spotify or buy a limited edition vinyl of Next to Die from Metal Blade Records.
“Lyrically, I’m writing from the perspective of a killer who toys with a victim and unties them, allowing them to fight. He underestimates their ability to fight, and they get the better of the killer, ultimately impaling and beheading him. The ‘Unmistakable Smell Of Death’ is now that of the killer!” said vocalist Chris Barnes.
Also, SIX FEET UNDER is currently on tour!! They’ve been going around the USA with Kataklysm and Wormhole. The tour started last month, well before I got their email, but there are still five shows left that you can attend in August if you’re quick:
- 8/07/2026 Park Theatre – Winnipeg, MB
- 8/08/2026 Skyway Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
- 8/09/2026 The Annex – Madison, WI
- 8/10/2026 Madison Theater – Covington, KY
- 8/11/2026 Reggies – Chicago, IL
Other August 2026 Indie Horror Projects
The Mutilator + Mutilator 2 @ The Mightier Than the Sword Awards (EVENT)
ATTENTION NORTH CAROLINA HORROR FANS!! Ty Brueilly wrote in to let everyone know that Mightier Than the Sword Awards is holding their third annual event at the Sunset Film Festival! Ty said, “We have a ton of exciting and unique opportunities for art, culture, and entertainment for audiences to choose from!”
While he specifically called attention to their “Deadly Double Feature” of Buddy Cooper’s The Mutilator (1984) + Mutilator 2 (2023), they have several other horror films lined up including Kharver by Sean Haitz, 3AM by Ryan Camp, The Five Stages by Glenn Lissner, Settlement by Fiona Maria, The Litterbug by Jesse Womack, and Blood Thirsty by Nachelela Knox. Plus, plenty of thrillers, fantasy, and sci-fi offerings that can be considered horror-adjacent!
The Mightier Than the Swords Awards event is running from August 7-9, 2026 at the Sunset Film Festival (234 Sunset Avenue, Downtown Asheboro, NC 27203). You can get your tickets at FilmAndFashionByBrueilly.com/MTTSAwards
If you’re not in the North Carolina local, or if you just want a little sneak peek, you can watch the trailers for (most) of the films being shown on the Mightier Than the Swords Awards YouTube Channel. You can also follow @Mightier_Than_The_Sword_Awards on Instagram to see updates about this year’s event and keep tabs on when the FOURTH annual event will take place!
Nightmares & Nerdscapes (WEBSITE)
I got another email from a fellow horror website owner! His name is CJ and his site is Nightmares & Nerdscapes.
In CJ’s own words, Nightmares & Nerdscapes is “a small long-form video essay and publishing project built around horror, science fiction, and systems analysis.”
Basically, CJ is writing essays and creating video essays that go deep into the “systems” of horror (what’s lurking underneath the monsters and jumpscares) and how that reveals the true nature of horror/fear. I thought it was neat that he not only goes after the more obvious horror films, but also touches upon how films like The Matrix and The Truman Show work within the “systems” of horror.
CJ further elaborated that his goal is N&N is to create “horror criticism that treats films as systems of belief, control, identity, memory, and consequence.” It’s truly unique! If you’re looking to get deeply nerdy with a fresh perspective on the horror genre, check out NightmaresAndNerdscapes.com!
Hush Hollow (T-SHIRTS)
Vitaly Matsevich of Hush Hollow runs a one-person shop creating horror-adjacent t-shirts featuring cryptids, ghosts, haunted locations, witchy kittens, sassy crows, and more.
Vitaly said, “Hush Hollow is horror-adjacent in the gentlest way — the kind of creepy that a horror family can wear to a school pickup. My shirts are $40 flat, printed to order on Comfort Colors 1717.”
Those are all of the new & upcoming horror projects that ended up in my inbox for this month! However, since the Indie Horror Inbox Roundup is now MONTHLY (instead of tri-annual), you’ll be seeing more indie horror submissions in just a few weeks. 🙂
If you’d like to have YOUR horror creation show up in the next roundup post, be sure to send me an email by no later than August 25, 2026. (Note: You can reserve a spot for a month later than September on the submission page if you’d like to plan ahead!).
Come back on September 4, 2026 for next HorrorFam.com Indie Horror Inbox Roundup! Or, come back next Friday for our usual HorrorFam.com fun ♥ Thank you again to everyone who shared their July 2026 indie horror projects with us!!
Images used were provided by their respective owners and used with their permission. As always, any vertical images that were submitted were placed over a blurred background to be made horizontal.
