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! (All links on this page open in New Tabs, so you can check things out & give the horror creators some love without losing your place on HorrorFam.com!).

Fall 2024 Indie Horror Books

Free Burn (Quirky Horror Novel)

Since September 6th (the date this round-up is going live) is National Read a Book Day, I thought it was appropriate to start with the horror books I was sent!

First up, we have a debut novel from Washington-based writer Drew Huff. It’s called Free Burn and is the story of Triple-Six, “an institutionalized, lovestruck outcast, as he fights to save the only girlfriend he’s ever had from the reanimated clutches of her undead mother — the infamous pyromaniac serial killer he accidentally freed from Hell.”

Brennan LaFaro, the author of Noose (2022), describes Drew Huff’s Free Burn as “a William S. Burroughs fever dream while Edward Scissorhands plays in the background … a story that explores the depths of trauma with unapologetic weirdness.” Drew Huff herself described Free Burn to me as “similar to Danger Slater’s bizarro quirky horror.”

And, if you love Free Burn, you’ll be happy to know that Drew Huff’s publisher will be releasing her second horror novel, The Divine Flesh, in Spring of 2025!

Buy Free Burn by Drew Huff on Amazon (HorrorFam.com Amazon Affiliate Link).

The River People (Horror Folklore Comic Books – SEEKING STORY SUBMISSIONS!)

What Haunts YOU…? Heather Landry AKA SandpaperDaisy wants YOUR strange dreams & stories from the Ohio River Valley!

Heather explained, “The River People is a micro-folklore horror comic series I’m doing with the partial support of the Indiana Arts Commission. I gather creepy nightmares, dreams, rumors and legends from people living in the Ohio River Valley area, the smaller the better. Often it’ll just be one person’s memory or a family story. And then I illustrate it! If I draw a person’s story they get a free copy of the printed/paper comic. And if I collect a story but don’t draw it, the person gets free copies of my comic eBooks.”

Longtime readers know that Heather Landry is the talented illustrator who drew HorrorFam.com’s website banner & logos! So, this is a truly exciting opportunity for anyone with a region-specific scary story to share who lives in (or has ever lived in) the “Ohio River Valley” AKA Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, extreme southwestern Pennsylvania, and extreme northwestern West Virginia.

Share your story with Heather — or check out the cool horror comics she’s created on this topic thus far — at River-People.com!

Electric Eyes (Young Adult Horror Novel)

I’ll keep this entry short since we just featured AJ Spencer in a HorrorFam.com Podcast episode in August, but I wanted to let any AJ fans out there know that he’s going to be a featured author at the Bullitt County Authors Fair in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on Saturday, November 16th!

You’ll be able to meet AJ Spencer and grab an autographed copy of his newest young adult horror novel, Electric Eyes. Or, if you already own the book, bring it with you and get it signed!

There will be a few other horror authors alongside AJ Spencer to meet at the Bullitt County Authors Fair, for those attending: Dan Klefstad, who writes vampire fiction; Lynn Tincher, who writes paranormal crime thrillers; and Pamela Turner (not shown), who writes paranormal suspense novels.

Fear of Clowns (Horror Anthology Book)

Kangas Kahn Publishing has a new horror anthology releasing on September 17, 2024! Compiled & edited by Kenneth W. Cain, Fear of Clowns explores one of modern humanity’s most common phobias through 29 chilling tales.

Publisher Kevin Kangas said: “I couldn’t be happier with the authors that we got for this! We have old-school legends Graham Masterton, Thomas Tessier, and Tim Waggoner as well as some of today’s best horror voices like Hailey Piper, Clay McLeod Chapman, Rachel Harrison, V. Castro, Jonathan Janz, Gwendolyn Kiste, Red Lagoe, Hunter Shea, and AC Wise. We’ve even brought the extreme horror masters Aron Beauregard and Duncan Ralston, as well as the guru behind the hit Clown in a Cornfield book series, Adam Cesare.”

Kangas continued, “Each author brings their own twist to the theme, but the results are the same — these stories will keep readers awake at night, whether they’re afraid of clowns or not!“

Preorder Fear of Clowns in Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, or eBook on Amazon. (HorrorFam.com Amazon affiliate link)

Parata Occult Mysteries (Cosmic Horror Noir Mystery Books)

Fans of Brian Hill’s Parata Occult Mysteries, featuring hardened PI Rev Parata, will be happy to know that the first three novels are now available as a bundle! And Brian Hill is currently hard at work on the fourth book in the series.

The Parata Occult Mysteries are noir detective novels with a cosmic horror twist. Best of all? They take place in the 1980s! (Book 1, The Artifact, is set in 1984 New Orleans).

Get the Parata Occult Mysteries 3-Book Collection on Amazon (HorrorFam.com Amazon Affiliate Link)

Fall 2024 Indie Horror Music/Audio Entertainment

Valentine Wolfe Music (Free Horror-Themed Album)

Valentine Wolfe (Braxton Ballew and Sarah Black) are making some really cool horror music! If you’re a fan of music in the same vein as Evanescence, Nightwish, and Paradise Lost mixed with a bit of Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera and a lil bit of classical… You’ll love ’em!

They’ve been taking on classic written horror — such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the works of Edgar Allan Poe — and have turned the literature into lyrics. It’s a lot of fun to hear horror tales you’re already familiar with in an entirely new, musical way. I particularly enjoyed their musical rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee!”

They’ve also composed musical accompaniments for silent films such as Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and The Phantom of the Opera.

Valentine Wolfe is currently offering their 2017 album Elegiac Repose for free. (I tested it myself and it worked fine. You just put in your email address and they send you a link where you can download the MP3s – easy!)

Already own Valentine Wolfe’s older stuff? Sarah Black told me, “The new album will be titled Lost to the Night and it should be out close to Halloween. If people are interested to hear more, then can sign up for our email list at ValentineWolfe.com.”

Petrified’s The Rictus Grin on YouTube (Horror Podcast)

Ireland’s darkest audio entertainment show – Petrified – is a multiple award-winning horror fiction anthology podcast featuring terrifying tales of regular people having highly irregular encounters! If you’re into supernatural suspense, paranormal scares, and just a dab of humor then you’re going to love their show.

In 2022, the Petrified Podcast performed a live show, Melody’s Story Hour, which was a massive success. The audio version was later made available for fans. Last year, they performed live again in Dublin with their show, The Rictus Grin! This time, the show was filmed!!

Better yet, The Rictus Grin has just become available for Petrified Podcast fans worldwide to watch the show! If you weren’t in Dublin, Ireland in 2023 and missed the original performance, you can now watch The Rictus Grin on YouTube.

Petrified Podcast co-creator Liam Geraghty says, “In the The Rictus Grin, a live comedy show takes a turn for the worst when the jokes begin to deliver more than just laughter. It stars Ali Fox, Margaret McAuliffe and Anna Shiels-McNamee.”

Sikora “After Dark” (Horror-Inspired Music Single)

While not exclusively a horror band, you may already be familiar with Sikora’s music. They composed the theme song for the recent NBC “Gold Zone” segments that covered the Olympics this summer.

I’ve been following Sikora’s music for years, so I was pretty excited that they recently released “After Dark” – a song that, in their words, “delves into the dark side of human nature.”

Matthew Sikora explained: “The deep, eerie synth bass in the track was directly inspired by the iconic title sting from Alien 3. For the chorus, we layered brass stabs, taking cues from Aliens, to create a spine-chilling atmosphere over that bass. We reimagined the iconic Hellraiser bell for our pre-chorus, adding an extra layer of tension. Our ghostly vocal effects were influenced by the terrifying whispers in Ju-on: The Grudge. And of course, my guitar scream was inspired by the legendary shriek from Psycho.”

You can check out the official music video for “After Dark” (as well as a Short showcasing its horror influences side-by-side with their music) on Sikora’s YouTube Channel!

Fall 2024 Indie Horror Video Games

Security: The Horrible Nights (Horror Video Game)

Professional Villains, the creators of Anglerfish, have blessed my inbox again! This time, they’re happy to announce that the newest game in their “Dark Experiments” series , Security: The Horrible Nights, now has a playable demo available on Steam!

“Every time you die, a new story begins. You are the nighttime security guard at a hospital. Your job is to monitor the hospital and fix problems when they happen. Every night, a new horror tale will unfold. If you can survive enough nights, you will learn the truth behind all the horror,” said Professional Villains of the game, adding, “This is the horror job-sim that will kill your dreams of becoming a real life security guard!”

Fall 2024 Indie Horror Short Films

Unravelling (Body Horror Short Film)

Unravelling is a body horror short film that made its premiere at London’s Fright Fest and is currently on its indie film festival tour! They’re going to be making appearances throughout England with stops at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and the Sunderland Shorts Film Festival.

Then, Unravelling will be making its premiere in the United States! It’ll be shown at ScreamFest at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, California October 8th – 17th, 2024!!

The plot is simply described as “As her invisible illness begins to physically manifest into a malignant entity, Fiona is forced to confront her worse fears.” I got to watch a screener of the 8-minute film and it made me go, “GYYAHHHHH!” You’ll FEEL what you’re watching underneath your skin, in more ways than one.

Producer Serena Gardner told me, “It’s a very personal film for our writer/director Aimie [Willemse] as this is based on her MS diagnosis and we really want the very best from its festival life.” So, give Unravelling some love if you’re attending any of the festivals mentioned!

Haunted Lake Lanier (Short Paranormal History Documentary)

Actor and indie filmmaker Kyle Hester has been on an interesting journey this year: He’s creating 50 short films in 50 weeks (yep – only two weeks off this year!) in order to finish funding his feature-length horror action adventure, Preacher Six. Most of the 50 films are documentaries and many of them are horror-adjacent.

His most recent release is Haunted Lake Lanier, which investigates the tragic events and lingering paranormal activity at the Georgia lake. He also plans to have another film in his “Haunted” series — Haunted New Orleans — available to watch by the end of this month.

Rent Haunted Lake Lanier on Amazon Prime (HorrorFam.com Amazon Affiliate Link)

New & Upcoming Feature-Length Indie Horror Films

Water Rites (Based-on-True-Events Horror Film – SEEKING FUNDING!)

Water Rites by Collective Imagination is currently raising funds via Kickstarter. As of this writing, they’ve reached $16,000 of their $25,000 goal (64%), but there’s only 24 days left of their campaign! The Water Rites fundraiser ends September 30th so check out their Kickstarter page NOW if you’re interested in this!

From writer/director Dean Jacobs: “Water Rites is in the vein of classic folk horror films… Think Wicker Man meets Midsommar with just a touch of Get Out. A young couple takes a break from their work-a-day lives by spending the summer at a secluded lake-front community. After unwittingly uncovering the locals’ secrets, the couple’s idyllic retreat quickly turns into something neither of them will return from.

Our story takes place and will be filmed in Lake Arrowhead, a small resort community in the San Bernadino mountains just an hour & 1/2 outside of Los Angeles. Though names have been changed and creative liberties taken, much of this story is based in fact.”

What’s Wrong Wendy? (LGBTQ+ Horror Film – SEEKING FUNDING!)

What’s Wrong Wendy?, written and directed by Spencer “Spooky” Madison of Final Ghoul Films, is currently raising funds on IndieGoGo! If you’d like to contribute to the production and get some rad-lookin’ perks, their campaign will be open for donations until October 30, 2024.

According to Executive Producer Athena Murzda, founder of Street Rat Studios, “What’s Wrong Wendy? is a sapphic tribute to the monstrous, feral women who struggle to hold onto their humanity. Think a dash of Jennifer’s Body, a sprinkle of Ginger Snaps, and a dollop of High Tension, all rolled into the packaging of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A violent and grounded tragedy, this movie will satiate your hunger for female angst and a brutal storyline.”

Baleful (Demon Horror Movie)

Baleful is a Canadian horror film from Deformed Lunchbox. Known for their short films, Baleful is the very first feature-length movie to come from the indie horror films company!

Peter Hatch, the founder of Deformed Lunchbox, describes Baleful as “about a group of people who pass a demonic curse amongst themselves causing them to do awful and violent things.”

You can check out the trailer for Baleful – featuring a surreal scene of a man duct-taped to the floor – on YouTube. Baleful is set to release in late 2024.

Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF Horror Features)

Speaking of Canada, the Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) asked if I could let any Canadian HorrorFam.com readers known that they’ve got plenty of horror films scheduled this year! If you’re going to be in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on September 11-18 then you should check out the AIFF at Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane!

The festival will be showing the surreal political horror-comedy Rumours with Cate Blanchett (shown, left), psychological horror film Presence with Lucy Liu (shown, right), body horror film The Substance with Demi Moore, true crime serial killer drama The Girl with the Needle, and more.

Traction Park Massacre (Slasher Horror Movie)

Terror Twins, LLC wrote in with another update that they’re making fantastic progress with  Traction Park Massacre. And they’ve even released some photos of the cast!

Written and directed by Adam Dubin (Murder at the Front Row, A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica) and Douglas diMonda (Drop Dead Rock), Traction Park Massacre is a horror film with comedic elements that pulls inspiration from Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, and Saw.

Plot-wise, Traction Park Massacre revolves around a local waterpark burning to the ground, supposedly killing twin ten-year-olds Otto and Emil Von Metzger giving rise to urban legends. But, fifteen years later, it becomes apparent that the Terror Twins (played by American Horror Story‘s Kai and Bodhi Schulz) are alive and they hunt down anyone who dares to enter the torched remains of the abandoned park.

The Seductress from Hell (Psychological Horror Film – Coming Soon!)

The Seductress from Hell is director Andrew de Burgh’s second feature film and it stars Jason Faunt (the Red Power Ranger).

According to Andrew de Burgh, “[The Seductress from Hell] is heavily inspired by horror classics like Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellraiser. It tells the story of a struggling Hollywood actress who undergoes a horrific transformation after being pushed to the edge by her psychopathic husband.

The Seductress from Hell is completed and set to release in theaters on May 23, 2025! However, if you’re near Glendale, California you can catch it September 28, 2024 at 8:00pm in Auditorium 3 at the Glendale International Film Festival at the Laemmle.

Other Miscellaneous Fall 2024 Indie Horror News

Cweature Features (New Horror Production Company/Genre Label)

This one came via Elena Zala of Jive PR + Digital who said: “Waypoint Entertainment, a full service production company that provides creative and financial services to their projects, has announced the new genre label Cweature Features (pronounced ‘Kwee-Cha Fee-Chas’). Helmed by industry veterans Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum, the label offers a collaborative sanctuary for filmmakers to create horrifying auteur content, supported by the expertise of its seasoned team. The launch follows Waypoint’s new slate deal with NEON which came about following their collaboration on the highly anticipated horror feature CUCKOO [released earlier this year].”

“I am thrilled to finally announce Waypoint’s new evil sister company Cweature Features,” said Ken Kao, Founder and President of Cweature Features and Waypoint Entertainment. “We hope this new division will shake up the genre with daring and innovative projects that push the boundaries of what horror can be.”

If you’d like to know more about how “Cweature offers a safe place for filmmakers to create twisted, genre-melding nightmares,” then check out their website at Cweature.com!

“Rabid” T-Shirt Design (Horror Artist Acknowledged)

Congratulations to Slasher social media user Traci/Hexcraft Studio (@Nyx-Blackfyre) for winning the “2024 Slasher T-Shirt Design Contest!”

Their prize-winning design, “Rabid,” is now available on T-shirts in the Slasher store in sizes XS to 5XL! It’s a limited edition offering and won’t be around forever.

And although this information was sent to me via Slasher, I wanted to mention that the award-winning artist has their own merch – unrelated to Slasher – on their Hexcraft Studio TeePublic store

Want YOUR New/Upcoming Horror Project Featured Next Time?

Those are all of the new & upcoming horror projects that ended up in my inbox recently!

If you’d like to have YOUR horror creation show up in the next roundup post, be sure to send me an email and/or send me a message on “X”/Twitter or Instagram (@LoveHorrorFam on both platforms) by December 20th.

Come back on January 3rd for next tri-annual HorrorFam.com inbox roundup! ♥

Images used were provided by their respective owners and used with their permission.