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For a symbol that’s often regarded as the true mascot of the Halloween season, it’s strange that pumpkins aren’t the focus of more horror movies – especially when you consider the spooky folklore surrounding jack ‘o lanterns. Sure, pumpkins are featured in several popular franchises, but they’re usually relegated to atmospheric set dressing meant to enhance the seasonal mood.

However, that’s not always the case. And with Halloween finally upon us, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six of the scariest pumpkins in horror! After all, it’s only a matter of time before these autumn gourds begin fighting back against the folks who gleefully mutilate them year after year.

In order to keep things interesting, we’ll only be including a single pumpkin per franchise while also disregarding the overall quality of the movies that they appear in. We also won...

It’s Halloween, and you know what that means: It’s the perfect time to watch horror movies. Vampires, serial killers, haunted houses, the month that precedes Halloween is the prime time to watch scary movies, but not every scary movie is a Halloween movie… and not every Halloween movie is scary.

So it is with great relish that we present the 31 best Halloween movies ever, exclusively featuring films that actually take place on Halloween, or at least during the Halloween season. The point is, if Halloween doesn’t play a major part in the movie it’s not fair to call it a “Halloween movie,” and as long as Halloween shows up in some important way, it doesn’t matter where the film is frightening, funny, or even just for little kids.

We’re narrowing the field down to theatrically released features and shorts and feature-length TV movies. Halloween specials deserve their own list,...

When it comes to Halloween slashers, John Carpenter’s Halloween still reigns supreme all these years later. Not only did it launch an enduring franchise, but it inspired a slasher craze. Of course, it’s far from the only slasher movie set around our favorite holiday.

This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to Halloween slashers beyond the Halloween franchise that similarly bring the carnage and holiday spirit in equal measure.

These slashers unleash buckets of blood (and then some), using Halloween as a stunning backdrop for the mayhem, from pumpkins galore to haunt attractions from hell.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Dark Harvest – MGM+, Prime Video

Director David Slade (30 Days of Night) and screenwriter Michael Gilio (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) adapt Norman Partridge’s 2006 Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Dark Harvest, unleashing Halloween carnage that upstages the barebones story.

I’m somewhat bewildered over how outraged people have been over the new version of The Crow (don’t call it a remake!). Many are calling it a stain on the legacy of the late, great Brandon Lee, who infamously was killed in an on-set tragedy, but by examining the franchise as a whole, it’s clear that as far as these things go, the franchise has been exploited to death. There have been no less than five Crow movies at this point, and guess what? We’re going to rank them all! That said, as far as our Crow movies ranked list goes, they’re all varying degrees of bad outside the first movie and the new version, which isn’t half bad.

Dishonourable Mention: The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

Yes, ladies and germs, they once made a TV version of The Crow, and it was abysmal. You...

Another year bites the dust, friends. Another year where I've watched too many horror movies, and now it’s time to face the impossible task of sorting the best into a ranked list. I’ve been doing it since my first year as a big-boy film critic almost a decade ago, but it never gets easier. I’ve seen over 130+ horror movies in 2023! Ten slots aren’t enough to capture the massive breadth of worthwhile horror titles you should consume. I won’t do it, dammit. I can’t.

…Ok maybe I can but still, it’s harder than it looks! There are so many noteworthy films not listed, but that's the beauty of opinions and personal preferences. My list is mine and mine alone. Other critics will have their own takes, and more power to the variety of responses highlighting as many releases as possible. So let’s get...

Casey Likes as Richie Shepard in ‘Dark Harvest’ (Photo © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc)

Director David Slade (30 Days of Night) dishes up a devilishly delicious Halloween treat with MGM’s Dark Harvest. Slade and screenwriter Michael Gilio deliver plenty of gore and gruesome deaths, and the R-rating is not only justified but embraced.

It’s made clear straight away that there’s something wrong with the small town of Bastion, something that only the death of a terrifying creature known as Sawtooth Jack (think Slenderman with a pumpkin head) can fix. However, it’s also clear that killing this supernatural beast isn’t a once-and-done event.

Each Halloween, Sawtooth Jack rises from the cornfields and makes his way into town. If Sawtooth Jack survives and reaches the church before the bell tolls midnight, then the town will be destroyed. If he’s slaughtered – and the candy and treats stuffed inside him...

We’re just two days away from the release of David Slade’s Dark Harvest, an adaptation of Norman Partridge’s Halloween novel.

Sawtooth Jack rises on October 13, and the film will be available on Digital outlets at home. It’s also coming to theaters for one night only at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters October 11.

While you wait, check out the full image gallery below for a sneak peek.

In the film…

“In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother’s previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle.”

Elizabeth Reaser (“The Haunting of Hill House...

My heart belongs to Halloween. Pumpkins, cornfields, bright orange sunsets, chilly air, masks, dead leaves on the dirty ground — the whole shebang. As long as I can I remember, I've been obsessed with all things Halloween; to me, it's the most wonderful time of the year. So I'm kind of already in the tank for David Slade's stylish little Halloween treat "Dark Harvest." Adapted from the novel by Norman Partridge, "Dark Harvest" is bloody fun; a treat bag full of Halloween imagery tailor-made to trick people like me into loving it almost unconditionally. However, the closer you look, the more flaws appear — Michael Gilio's script is underbaked, and the film feels like it just sort of runs out of steam instead of actually ending.

But oh, the atmosphere is a delight, and the Halloween vibes are off the charts. Slade and cinematographer Larry Smith overload the movie with...

Norman Partridge’s 2006 Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Dark Harvest introduced a grim Halloween hunt set in a scenic 1963 hamlet. Like a campfire tale, the brisk novel embraced Halloween iconography and small-town rot, told with an almost poetic prose and simplicity befitting of a Twilight Zone episode. Director David Slade (30 Days of Night) and screenwriter Michael Gilio (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) adhere to the novel’s essence, unleashing Halloween carnage that upstages the barebones story.

Dark Harvest reveals the ominous origins of its title straightaway with an introduction to the annual Halloween hunt that takes place in a picturesque but cursed rural town. Every Halloween, the legendary Sawtooth Jack rises from the cornfields, where he must fight through a gauntlet of murderous teen boys, all eager to snuff him out lest he make his way to the town’s church by midnight. It’s kill or be killed,...

Directed by David Slade, the long awaited Dark Harvest, an adaptation of Norman Partridge’s novel, is finally releasing this week.

Sawtooth Jack rises on October 13, and the film will be available on Digital outlets at home. It’s also coming to theaters for one night only at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters October 11.

How much gore can you expect? Dark Harvest has been rated “R” for…

“Strong horror violence and gore, language throughout and brief drug use.”

In the film…

“In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother’s previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle.

The spookiest month of the year has official begun! This year, October has a Friday the 13th to add to the usual Halloween Horror Fest, making this an extra special month for horror fans. Sure enough, the month is jam-packed with loads of horror movies that will be coming out theatrical and on streaming. With Saw X and The Nun in theaters now, here’s our definitive October Horror Movie Preview, packed with spooky movies you can check out all month long!

Totally Killer – Streaming, October 6

Coming to the Prime Video streaming service is director Nahnatchka Khan’s time travel slasher Totally Killer, which stars Kiernan Shipka as a modern day heroine who travels back in time to 1987 so she and a teenage version of her mom (played by Olivia Holt) can take down a masked maniac called the Sweet Sixteen Killer. Time travel + slashing + ’80s setting = high hopes for this one.

Dark Harvest: "In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town's children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother's previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle."

Directed By: David Slade Screenplay By: Michael Gilio Based on the Novel by: Norman Partridge Produced By: Matt Tolmach, p.g.a., David Manpearl, p.g.a. Executive Producers: Pamela Hirsch, Michael Gilio Music By: Brian Reitzell Cast: Casey Likes, E’myri Crutchfield, Dustin Ceithamer, Elizabeth Reaser with Jeremy Davies

Available On Digital October 13th

---

Killher: "Mattie and her three besties--Eddie, Jess, and Rae--head into the woods for a weekend to plan Mattie's upcoming wedding and bachelorette party.

A new urban legend comes to life in the new trailer for Dark Harvest. The trailer starts with the ominous, almost Grimm fairy tale-esque narration that says, “It’s Halloween. You know what that means. Old Sawtooth Jack is gonna rise from the cornfields. It’s gotta be stopped. Kill or be killed.” David Slade returns to a grittier tone after the Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night director took on one of the chapters in the Twilight franchise, helming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The director also returns to features after Slade tried his hand at television with Breaking Bad and Black Mirror. He also once set to make a series, Red Bird Lane, with Crispin Glover and Susan Sarandon until Max (HBO Max at the time) opted not to continue with it.

Slade has now adapted Norman Partridge’s Halloween-themed novel (you can pick up a copy of...

In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town's children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother's previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle.   The upcoming horror flick Dark Harvest, based on the novel by Norman Partridge, will be available On Digital Friday, October 13th. It will also be in cinemas for one night only at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters on October 11th. MGM sent out the trailer today. Check it out, down below.    The adaptation...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

It's September, which means it's officially Halloween season. What's that? You think Halloween doesn't start until October? Well, you're wrong! Get the hell out of here! Okay, now that we've cleared that up, let's talk about "Dark Harvest." This new horror film looks like it could be a fun little Halloween treat. Based on the trailer below, it's loaded with style, and it has a killer premise: a small town has to deal with a local boogeyman or else face the wrath of a terrible curse. I hate it when that happens.

The film is based on the book by Norman Partridge, and comes from David Slade, the filmmaker behind "30 Days of Night." You might recall that this flick was supposed to arrive back in 2021. Then the pandemic got in the way, and it kept getting delayed over and over again. Now it's ready to arrive next month, just in time for Halloween proper.

Set on Halloween 1963, Norman Partridge’s novel Dark Harvest is finally headed to the screen, with David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, “Hannibal”) directing the long-awaited adaptation. That wait is nearly over, with the brand new trailer today introducing the Halloween legend of Sawtooth Jack.

Are you ready for the harvest?

Check out the brand new trailer and poster below, promising Fall vibes and small town evil.

Dark Harvest releases in theaters for one night only at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters October 11 before heading to Digital on Friday, October 13.

The Halloween set horror film was previously rated R for “Strong horror violence and gore, language throughout, and brief drug use.”

The film’s official plot: “In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to...

David Slade, the director of the Emmy and BAFTA-award winning “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,” has signed with 42, the Los Angeles and London-based management and production company. The company will manage the filmmaker, who also joins 42’s commercials offering OB42 for representation in the U.K.

Slade’s previous work has received critical acclaim, with his first feature “Hard Candy” winning the jury and audience first prize at the 2005 Sitges Film Festival of Horror, before being acquired by Lionsgate out of Sundance. He also shown a flare for studio-driven and franchise films, such as Summit’s “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” and “30 Days of Night” for Sony. Most recently, Slade served as director on the upcoming MGM/Amazon feature adaptation of the Norman Partridge novel “Dark Harvest,” which is set to be released this year.

Slade made his start in the industry by directing music videos for artists such as Muse,...

Exclusive: British genre specialist Tea Shop, known for 47 Meters Down and coming off breakout thriller Fall, is lining up its next survival pic in the shape of The Bayou, which Architect is launching for sales in Cannes.

The movie, also produced by fledgling UK outfit Cowboy Cosmonaut, crash-lands a group of friends in the water-logged, inhospitable Louisiana swamplands where they’re hunted by a fearsome, primordial apex predator.

Megan Best (Seance) leads the unfortunate survivors, out of their depth, who are picked off one-by-one by a relentless pack of gators, led by a ferocious alpha female. Filming is being lined up for Q4, 2023.

The Bayou, written by Gavin Mehrtens from a story by Ashley Holberry, will be directed by Matthew Ninaber (Death Valley) and is produced by Mehrtens and Holberry for Cowboy Cosmonaut and by Mark Lane and James Harris for Tea Shop Productions. Architect will executive-produce.

Following their work on Fall,...

It’s never too early to start preparing a must-see Halloween viewing list, and we’re seeing quite a tempting lineup of upcoming horror movies for the fourth quarter of ’22. I figure there’s no better time than the present to start filling up your calendar – and to that end, we’re here to help in your quest for the newest and latest in spooky cinema.

Before I forge ahead, I should point out the release dates on some of these titles are still a little… well, squishy. I just wanted to make sure you knew that going in, because in this post-pandemic age, nothing seems certain anymore. A couple of drop-dates are still unknown, subject to change at a moment’s notice (it happens) and might even get pushed to next year. Of course, we’ve got our eyes laser-focused on the latest horror news, so feel free to...

Set on Halloween 1963, Norman Partridge’s novel Dark Harvest is headed to the screen, with David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, “Hannibal”) directing a feature film that was at one point in time scheduled for release on September 9, 2022. That’s likely no longer the case, however, as we’re now less than a month from that day with no marketing in sight.

But we expect the marketing campaign for Dark Harvest will begin soon, as the MPA has just officially handed the upcoming feature film adaptation an “R” rating this week for…

“Strong horror violence and gore, language throughout, and brief drug use.”

Stay tuned for more as we learn it.

Elizabeth Reaser (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Jeremy Davies (“Hannibal”), Luke Kirby (No Man of God), Casey Likes (“The Birch”) and Emyri Crutchfield (“Tell Me Your Secrets”) star.

“The book is set during Halloween of 1963 in a...

On the February 23, 2022 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor Ben Pearson is joined by editor Jacob Hall to talk about what they've been up to at the virtual water cooler.

Opening Banter:

At The Water Cooler:

What we've been Doing:

Jacob is probably moving. His personal podcast also just hit a major milestone.

What we've been Reading:

Ben read Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Jacob read Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers by James Andrew Miller, The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn, and Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge.

What we've been...

The post Daily Podcast: Mini-Water Cooler: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, Dark Harvest, and More appeared first on /Film.

(Welcome to ...And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.)

Look out for Sawtooth Jack, because "Dark Harvest" will soon be coming to a theater near you. It was first reported way back in 2007 that the horror novel would be adapted by New Regency, but after being placed in turnaround, the project has since moved to MGM. Written by Norman Partridge, the Bram Stoker Award-winning book was released in 2006 and Publisher's Weekly named it one of the "100 Best Novels" of that year. So, what do we know...

The post Dark Harvest: Release Date, Cast, and More appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: MGM has found its leads for the forthcoming Dark Harvest feature adaptation that is based on Norman Partridge’s 2007 Bram Stoker Award-wining novel of the same name. Casey Likes, who recurred in the Facebook Watch series The Birch and Fargo actress E’myri Crutchfield will star in the horror film, which is being directed by David Slade.

Michael Gilio penned the screenplay. In the film, every fall in a small Midwestern town, a supernatural specter rises from the cornfields and makes its way toward the town’s Church, where violent gangs of teenage boys hungrily await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare in an annual harvest rite of life and death. Richie Shepard lives in the shadow of his big brother who won last year’s Run and earned his ticket out of town. To prove himself and join his brother, Richie pairs up with Kelly Haines, a...

In today’s film news roundup, Kumail Nanjiani has been cast as a journalist, Daisy Ridley boards Imax’s “Asteroid Hunters,” “Best Summer Ever” leads off a festival, Shelley Duvall gets an honor and “Dark Harvest” lands at MGM.

Project Launch

Kumail Nanjiani will star in the political thriller “The Independent,” which is being introduced to buyers by The Exchange at the Berlin Film Festival.

He will portray a journalist who uncovers a conspiracy, which places the fate of the election in his hands with America’s first viable independent presidential candidate poised for victory.

“Kumail is a great actor with global recognition and he serves as the cornerstone for an incredible ensemble cast that we are excited to announce shortly,” said Brian O’Shea of The Exchange.

Amy Rice, who was nominated for an Emmy for “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” is directing “The Independent” from a script by Evan Parter.

Exclusive: In what is the first big project under newly arrived MGM Film Group Chairman Michael De Luca, David Slade’s feature adaptation of acclaimed horror novel Dark Harvest is landing at the studio. Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl are producers thru Matt Tolmach Productions. That label is hot off the success of the last two Jumanji movies and Venom, which combined have grossed over $2.6 billion. Michael Gilio is writing Dark Harvest and will also serve as Ep.

Deadline previously broke the news about Slade’s attachment to the 2007 Tor Books novel by Norman Partridge. The project was originally set up at New Regency, which put the project in turnaround.

Dark Harvest is a start right in De Luca’s wheelhouse, the exec having been behind such horror successes as The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Seven at New Line. De Luca wrote and produced the 1991 movie Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare...

Director David Slade (Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night ) is set to helm a Halloween set horror film called Dark Harvest. The film is set up at New Regency, and it will be based on Norman Partridge’s 2006 novel of the same name.

The story is set during “Halloween of 1963 in a small Midwestern town where teenage boys eagerly square off with the butcher knife wielding October Boy, aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. One teen, Pete McCormick, knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in the one-horse town. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror – and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy.”

That sounds like a crazy a fun horror story!

Exclusive: David Slade, the director behind such films as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Hard Candy, and 30 Days of Night, will direct Dark Harvest, the New Regency horror feature based on Norman Partridge’s 2006 novel. Michael Gilio, who co-wrote Paramount’s forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons film, is adapting the pic, which is being produced by Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl.

The book is set during Halloween of 1963 in a small Midwestern town where teenage boys eagerly square off with the butcher knife wielding October Boy, aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. One teen, Pete McCormick, knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in the one-horse town. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror...

NBC has given a script commitment plus penalty to Red Stick, a crime drama from Venom and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle producer Matt Tolmach, bestselling author Patricia Cornwell and Sony Pictures TV.

Written by Samantha Humphrey (S.W.A.T.), Red Stick is based on an idea by Cornwell. It follows Dr. Annie Dodge who is summoned from New York to her hometown of Baton Rouge, La, after the sudden death of her father, the city’s beloved coroner. Now, as she’s mourning the loss of her childhood hero, Annie finds herself reluctantly stepping into her father’s role to solve an ongoing murder while navigating the complicated waters of Bayou politics, Southern hospitality and a simmering past romance.

Humphrey executive produces with Cornwell. Tolmach and David Manpearl executive produce via Matt Tolmach Productions.

Dr. Annie Dodge draws parallels to Cornwell’s most famous character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.

Exclusive: New Regency is setting up shop in London; the Birdman and 12 Years A Slave producer has established a European HQ in the British capital and has hired former Lionsgate executive Charlotte Thorp to head up international sales of its library.

The company will use the office as a hub for both production and the licensing and distribution of the company’s content library and upcoming productions to territories outside of the U.S.

Thorp, who was appointed Senior Vice President and Head of International Sales, will shop films such as The Revenant and Fight Club to broadcasters around the world. This comes after New Regency ended its pact with Lionsgate, which previously distributed its library globally.

Thorp joins from Lionsgate; she left the Mad Men and Orange Is The New Black producer and distributor in April after two years as Senior Vice President and Head of Sales in Europe,...

Exclusive: New Regency has acquired the feature film rights to Norman Partridge’s award-winning horror novel Dark Harvest, with Michael Gilio set to write the project. Matt Tolmach, who has recently produced such hits as Venom and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (which together have made north of $1.4 billion worldwide), is set to produce Dark Harvest alongside David Manpearl.

Originally published in 2007 by Tor Books, Dark Harvest is set on Halloween in 1963 in a small Midwestern town where teenage boys eagerly square off with the butcher knife wielding October Boy, aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. One teen, Pete McCormick, knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in the one-horse town. But before the night is over, Pete will look into...

[For anther perspective on this historic collection, read Blu Gilliand's review of Turn Down the Lights here.] In October of 2013 – mere months ago – editor Richard Chizmar spontaneously decided he wanted to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Cemetery Dance magazine with an anthology, and that he wanted to bring his friends in horror along with him. The fact that, in mere weeks, Chizmar was able to assemble a collection that included new work from writers like Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Peter Straub, and Clive Barker, merely cements the ongoing importance and vitality of Cemetery Dance. Turn Down the Lights functions as both a celebration and a summation; aptly, quite a few of these stories are about endings, quiet and loud. Stephen King’s “Summer Thunder” kicks things off with a bleak slice of post-apocalypse. While King has been exploring the end of the world for six decades now – from 1969’s Stand prologue “Night Surf” to, most recently, 2008’s “Graduation Afternoon” – he continues to find new angles of interest.

In December of 1988, Richard Chizmar decided to publish a horror magazine called Cemetery Dance. A few months later, he did. In October of 2013, Chizmar decided to publish an anthology called Turn Down the Lights celebrating the 25th anniversary of the magazine. A couple of months later, he has. Chizmar, clearly, is not the kind of guy to back away from a challenge. It’s that kind of attitude that’s enabled him to build a veritable empire on the foundation of that first issue of Cemetery Dance, and to turn that unlikely name into a recognizable, trustworthy brand. That first issue of Cemetery Dance featured a lot of names new to the horror genre, some of whom would go on to carve out big careers, some of whom would fade into obscurity. There are no obscure names in Turn Down the Lights – this is the cream of the horror crop,...

Cemetery Dance has announced a brand new anthology coming this December featuring original horror short stories by several of our favorite authors. Read on for the details.

All the info you need is below; visit Cemetery Dance's online store to order your copy.

From the Press Release:

We're pleased to announce a Top Secret surprise addition to our December publication slate, Turn Down the Lights edited by Richard Chizmar, and the trade hardcover edition is already rolling at the printer!

This brand new anthology features original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub that capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year.

This exciting new anthology will be published in three states including a trade hardcover for general readers (shipping in December) and...

To commemorate twenty-five years of Cemetery Dance magazine, they’ll be releasing a new book of short stories. Titled Turn Down the Lights, the book will feature new original stories from Clive Barker, Stephen King, Peter Straub, and more:

“It was December 1988: George Bush had just defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential Election. Pitcher Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A’s in five games to win the World Series. People were waiting in line at movie theaters to watch Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Tom Clancy’s The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Anne Rice’s The Queen of the Damnedwere atop the bestseller lists. The most acclaimed genre books of the year were Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs and Peter Straub’s Koko.

And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere...

My advance reading copy of Shivers VII didn’t include an introduction, and the table of contents gave no indication there would be one added to the finished and published edition. I’ve gotten used to anthologies leading off with some sort of mission statement or manifesto (sometimes, these missives are better than the stories that follow), but I guess hitting the seventh entry in a series indicates you know what you’re doing, and readers should know what to expect. After plowing through the 26 stories in Shivers VII, I’d say agree that no introduction is necessary. Like the six volumes before it, this is an anthology of rare quality, a collection of contemporary fiction that provides an excellent snapshot of where the genre stands today, and a roadmap to where it’s going. However, it’s important to remember where the genre came from even as it continues to move forward,...

I was fortunate to read a small mountain of amazing fiction in 2012, but 2013 has the potential to top it with ease. In addition to the books listed below (which I would not be surprised to find sitting in my Top 10 at year’s end), there’s plenty of stuff coming by authors I’ve just discovered, not to mention all of the surprises that the year no doubt holds. In other words, we’ve got a lot to look forward to – here’s just a taste of what I’m anticipating as the new year approaches.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (April 30) (William Morrow)

Joe Hill continues to solidify his voice with each passing project, and what I’ve read about NOS4A2 leads me to believe he’s fully embracing his horrific roots while putting his own gleeful spin on the genre’s tropes. The book is about Charlie Manx,...

Norman Partridge has been pounding out his unique brand of hard-boiled horror since the early 1990s. His short story collection Mr. Fox & Other Feral Tales and his debut novel Slippin' Into Darkness served as a one-two punch introducing Partridge's distinct take-no-prisoners style – a style he's continued to refine in the years since. Partridge found the perfect mix for his noir and horror influences in Dark Harvest, his 2006 novel that reaped a number of accolades, including both the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild awards for achievement in long fiction. Harvest is an uncompromisingly dark, claustrophobic tale about a Midwestern town's bizarre, bloody Halloween night ritual, and became an...

Johnny Halloween: Norman Partridge

“Norman Partridge’s Halloween novel, Dark Harvest, was chosen as one of Publishers Weekly’s 100 Best Books of 2006. A Bram Stoker Award winner and World Fantasy nominee, Partridge’s rapid-fire tale of a small town trapped by its own shadows welcomed a wholly original creation, the October Boy, earning the author comparisons to Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Shirley Jackson.

Halloween night awaits. Join a master storyteller as he explores the layers of darkness that separate all-too-human evil from the supernatural. Let Norman Partridge lead you on seven journeys through the most dangerous night of the year, where no one is safe…and everyone is suspect.”

Introduction – Dark Seasons Past

Johnny Halloween

Satan’s Army

The Man Who Killed Halloween

Black Leather Kites

Treats

Three Doors

The Jack ‘O’ Lantern: a Dark Harvest Tale

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Halloween than...

– While the sun blisters a dying world, a mutant spider battles a squad of toy soldiers and a plastic cowboy on his last ride…

– A gangster, a sheriff, and a mysterious traveler face an army of mechanical vampires burrowing up from hell itself during a wild Montana storm…

– In a desert poisoned by atomic radiation, an abused boy stands between a rampaging giant and the hunter who would make him a grisly trophy…

– Beneath a full Arizona moon, a drifter faces a pack of merciless human animals and the werewolf who butchered his sister…

– In the American West, a legendary gunslinger delivers a cursed bounty to the one-horse town where his partner’s ghost awaits.

Tales of hardboiled horror and Twilight Zone noir. Cross-genre blowtorches with bad guys and worse guys. Love stories both dark and bittersweet. A brand new novella and extensive story notes. You’ll find this and...

By Blood We Live is a massive anthology of vampire fiction clocking in at 500 pages and nearly a quarter of a million words. The book features stories by some of the top names in horror/fantasy literature including Stephen King, Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman, Harry Turtledove, Tanith Lee, Brian Lumley, and more. However despite the star-power of the authors it fails to escape being labeled “uneven” as is the fate of so many anthologies with such a diverse group of authors.

Adams, who edited Night Shade’s “The Living Dead” has proven himself to be a capable anthologist and he presents many outstanding stories culled from over the past few decades (although most are fairly recent). Stephen King’s “One for the Road” is the oldest story in the collection, originally published in 1977 and collected in King’s “Night Shift”. It is a short side story to King’s vampire...