Coming to Shudder in October 2022
October 2022 continues Shudder’s streaming dominance as the Home for Halloween. We are now firmly in the fall, the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air, and Shudder is full to bursting who streaming horror goodness.
What does Shudder offer for the back half of the 61 Days of Halloween for 2022? Let’s dive in together. Let’s start with what Shudder has sent us to mark the month.
Shudder is the leading streaming service for thrills and frights year-round. But this Halloween season will feature the best line-up in its history. Shudder members will enjoy a new slate of weekly movie premieres, original series Queer for Fear, 101 Scariest Movie Moments of All Time, and the return of the Boulet Brothers in The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, a Halloween special with Joe Bobb Briggs called Joe Bob’s Haunted Halloween Hangout, a new edition of Shudder’s fan favorite “The Ghoul Log,” a 24/7 streaming jack-o’-lantern, and much, much, more.
So, what can you expect for October 2022? We also have your regional release schedules. Please note that Shudder Originals and Exclusives will be formatted in bold. Additionally, dates will be present regionally.
October 2022 on Shudder: Highlights
New Shudder Original Series and Specials
Mad God Ghoul Log – Premieres Saturday, October 1
The “Ghoul Log” is Halloween’s answer to the Christmas Yule Log: a 24/7 streaming jack-o’-lantern providing the perfect ambiance for all your Halloween festivities. Fan favorites The Ghoul Log, Return of the Ghoul Log and Night of the Ghoul Log are back, along with a very special new edition inspired by Phil Tippett’s Mad God, hand-crafted by the team at Tippett Studios.
The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time – Premiered September 7 – New Episodes Wednesdays
Master filmmakers and genre experts celebrate and dissect the most terrifying moments of the greatest horror films ever made, exploring how these scenes were created and why they burned themselves into the brains of audiences around the world.
Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror – Premiered Friday, September 30 – New Episodes Fridays
Queer for Fear is a four-part documentary series from executive producer Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Steak House (Launchpad) about the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the horror and thriller genres. From its literary origins with queer authors Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde to the pansy craze of the 1920s that influenced Universal Monsters and Hitchcock, through the “lavender scare” alien invasion films of the mid-20th century and the AIDS-obsessed bloodletting of 80s vampire films, Queer for Fear re-examines genre stories through a queer lens, seeing them not as violent, murderous narratives, but as tales of survival that resonate thematically with queer audiences everywhere.
Joe Bob’s Haunted Halloween Hangout – Premieres Friday, October 21
For his fourth Halloween special on Shudder, the World’s Foremost Drive-In Movie Critic leaves no plastic skull, fake spider, or foam tombstone behind in his mission to celebrate the Samhain season the RIGHT way for once! Leaving nothing to chance, Joe Bob and Darcy enlist the help of a special surprise guest.
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans – Premieres Tuesday, October 25
Hosted and created by the Boulet Brothers, “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans” is a ten-episode spin-off series starring some of the most popular drag icons from the show’s previous seasons competing in a grand championship of drag artistry and shocking physical challenges for a one hundred-thousand-dollar grand prize, the headlining spot on the upcoming world tour and the first ever “Dragula Titans” crown and title. Guest Judges include Elvira, Harvey Guillen, Justin Simien, David Dastmalchian, Poppy, Alaska, Katya, Joe Bob Briggs, Bonnie Aarons, Barbara Crampton, and more to be announced later.
Shudder Original and Exclusive Films
Deadstream – Premieres Thursday, October 6
A disgraced and demonetized Internet personality (Joseph Winter) tries to win back his fans by live streaming himself, spending a night alone in an abandoned haunted house. However, when he accidentally unleashes a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life (and social relevance) as he faces off with the sinister spirit of the house and her powerful following. Deadstream stars Joseph Winter, who wrote and directed the film with Vanessa Winter. (A Shudder Original)
Dark Glasses – Premieres Thursday, October 13
In Dark Glasses, an eclipse blackens the skies on a hot summer day in Rome – a harbinger of the darkness that will envelop Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli) when a serial killer chooses her as prey. Fleeing her predator, the young escort crashes her car and loses her sight. She emerges from the initial shock determined to fight for her life, but she is no longer alone. Defending her and acting as her eyes is a little boy, Chin (Andrea Zhang), who survived the car accident. But the killer won’t give up his victim. Who will be saved? The long-awaited return from Italian master of horror and acclaimed writer-director Dario Argento, the film stars Ilenia Pastorelli, Asia Argento, and Andrea Zhang.
Beginning Friday, October 7, Dark Glasses will debut at the IFC Center in New York and at the Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles, ahead of the film’s streaming debut on Thursday, October 13. Additional theaters, to be announced later, will follow beginning Friday, October 14. (A Shudder Original)
She Will – Premieres Thursday, October 13
After a double mastectomy, Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige) goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt). She discovers that the process of such surgery opens questions about her very existence, leading her to start to question and confront past traumas. The two develop an unlikely bond as mysterious forces give Veronica the power to enact revenge within her dreams. Also starring Malcolm McDowell, Jonathan Aris, Rupert Everett, and Olwen Fouéré. Directed by Charlotte Colbert. (A Shudder Exclusive)
V/H/S/99 – Premieres Thursday, October 20
V/H/S/99 marks the return of the acclaimed found footage anthology franchise and the sequel to Shudder’s most-watched premiere of 2021. A thirsty teenager’s home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations. Featuring five new stories from filmmakers Maggie Levin (Into The Dark: My Valentine), Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City), Flying Lotus (Kuso), Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls) and Joseph & Vanessa Winter (Deadstream), V/H/S/99 harkens back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium. (A Shudder Original)
Resurrection – Premieres Friday, October 28
Margaret’s life is in order. She is capable, disciplined, and successful. Everything is under control. That is, until David returns, carrying with him the horrors of Margaret’s past. Resurrection is directed by Andrew Semans, and stars Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth. (A Shudder Exclusive)
“All Hail Argento” Collection
To mark the Shudder premiere of Dark Glasses and Dario Argento’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair, we are proud to present an expanded collection of works from Italy’s master of horror. Opera and The Stendhal Syndrome premiere on October 10, joining titles already on Shudder including Deep Red, Tenebrae, Inferno, Phenomena, Trauma and The Cat o’ Nine Tales along with the Argento-penned Demons and Demons 2.
Opera
A stalker torments an opera star by forcing her to watch her friends being murdered in one of giallo horror god Dario Argento’s most terrifying films. When young operetta Betty is thrust into a leading role in Verdi’s Macbeth, she’s unprepared for the carnage that’s going to be unleashed. Soon enough, she’s being stalked by a black-gloved killer who loves tying Betty up and taping needles around her eyes so she – and by extension, us – are forced to watch the vicious slayings. The great Brian Eno and Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti composed the stellar score.
The Stendhal Syndrome – (Also part of Shudder’s House of Psychotic Women Collection)
A detective suffers strange hallucinations while hunting a serial killer in Dario Argento’s bone-chilling ‘90s masterpiece. Anna (Asia Argento) is on the trail of a psycho when she experiences Stendhal syndrome, a condition that causes people to become overwhelmed by works of art to the point of psychosis. But when the killer kidnaps and rapes her, it begins a process that threatens all who cross Anna’s path. Using CGI to bring Anna’s artistic hallucinations to life, Argento crafts a brutal yet visually stunning thriller that stands on par with his classics.
House of Psychotic Women Collection
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kier-La Janisse’s (director of Woodlands Dark & Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror) groundbreaking and influential dive into female neuroses onscreen and in horror, Shudder will collect films explored in both the original and expanded editions of House of Psychotic Women. New to Shudder beginning October 1 are I Like Bats, Footprints, Identikit, The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here, The Stendhal Syndrome, May and Santa Sangre.
These join current Shudder titles Alone with You, American Mary, Asylum, The Babadook, The Baby, Bleed with Me, Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker, Carnival of Souls, The Corruption of Chris Miller, Darling, Il Demonio, Dream No Evil, I Blame Society, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Knife of Ice, Knocking, The Midnight Swim, May, Ms. 45, Next of Kin, Orgasmo, Phenomena, Prevenge, and Resurrection.
May – October 1
Nobody knows what to make of May (Angela Bettis). Born with a lazy eye, for which she wore a patch while growing up, she became a loner oddball whose only friend was a perfectly kept doll. She moves to L.A. and takes up with a filmmaker (Jeremy Sisto), but the relationship sours quickly — and dangerously. She then befriends an alluring lesbian colleague (Anna Faris), but that, too, along with every connection May attempts to make, turns deadly.
I Like Bats – October 4
Katarzyna Walter stars as a happily single vampire who works in her aunt’s curio shop when not feeding on various suitors and sleazebags. But when she falls for a handsome psychiatrist, she’ll discover that no affliction is more horrific than love. It combines splashes of absurdist black comedy with jolts of old-school gothic horror for a slyly contemporary take on the female bloodsucker mythos.
Footprints – October 4
In the most criminally underseen giallo of the ‘70s, Florinda Bolkan (A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin, Flavia The Heretic) stars as a freelance translator who wakes one morning missing all memory of her past three days. But will a trail of odd clues lead her to a place where perception and identity are never what they seem? Directed by Luigi Bazzoni (The Fifth Cord) with cinematography by three-time Oscar®-winner Vittorio Storaro (The Bird with The Crystal Plumage).
The Rats are Coming the Werewolves Are Here – October 4
The Mooney’s are a typical English family, except for one tiny detail… they’re all werewolves. One member of the family is of a mind to change their legacy, which stirs up family drama of the worst kind. The second of gutter auteur Andy Milligan’s productions made in England, this werewolf family saga is filled with the bitter worldview, and confrontational hysteria Milligan is known for.
Identikit – October 10
In what remains the most obscure, bizarre, and wildly misunderstood film of her entire career – and perhaps even ‘70s Italian cinema – Elizabeth Taylor stars as a disturbed woman who arrives in Rome to find a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence, and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all. Academy Award® nominee Ian Bannen (The Offence), Mona Washbourne (The Collector) and Andy Warhol co-star in this “unique, hallucinatory neo noir” (Cult Film Freaks) – barely released in America as The Driver’s Seat – directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi (‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore), adapted from the unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor).
Shudder in October 2022: US Region
Here is a list of scheduled additions to Shudder’s streaming library for October 2022 in the US. Dates will be presented as regionally formatted.
10/1
Mad God Ghoul Log
Secret Screening (Update: Dark Glasses)
The Descent
The Descent Part 2
The Gate
May
10/3
The Collingswood Story
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
10/4
Footprints
I Like Bats
The Other Side of the Underneath
The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!
10/5
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 5
10/6
Deadstream
10/7
Queer for Fear, Episode 2
10/10
Identikit
Opera
The Stendhal Syndrome
10/11
Lux Aeterna
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, Season 1
10/12
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 6
10/13
Dark Glasses
She Will
10/14
Queer for Fear, Episode 3
10/19
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 7
10/20
V/H/S/99
10/21
Queer for Fear, Episode 4
Joe Bob’s Haunted Halloween Hangout (9 ET on Shudder TV)
10/24
Aenigma
Demonia
Fulci for Fake
Manhattan Baby
10/25
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Episode 1
10/26
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 8
10/28
Resurrection
Shudder in October 2022: CA Region
Here is a list of scheduled additions to Shudder’s streaming library for October 2022 in Canada. Dates will be presented as regionally formatted.
10/1
Mad God Ghoul Log
Secret Screening (Update: Dark Glasses)
10/3
47 Meters Down
The Bye Bye Man
The Collingswood Story
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
10/4
Footprints
I Like Bats
The Other Side of the Underneath
The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!
10/5
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 5
10/6
Deadstream
10/7
Queer for Fear, Episode 2
10/10
The Crucifixion
Frankenstein
The Inheritance
Identikit
Opera
The Stendhal Syndrome
10/11
Lux Aeterna
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragul,a Season 1
10/12
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 6
10/13
Dark Glasses
She Will
10/14
Queer for Fear, Episode 3
10/19
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 7
10/20
V/H/S/99
10/21
Queer for Fear, Episode 4
Joe Bob’s Haunted Halloween Hangout (9 ET on Shudder TV)
10/24
Aenigma
Demonia
Fulci for Fake
Manhattan Baby
10/25
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Episode 1
10/26
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 8
10/28
Resurrection
Shudder in October 2022: UK Region
Here is a list of scheduled additions to Shudder’s streaming library for October 2022 in the UK. Dates will be presented as regionally formatted.
1/10
Mad God Ghoul Log
Cold Skin
3/10
The Collingswood Story
The Diabolical
The Ninth Configuration
5/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 5
6/10
Deadstream
7/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 2
10/10
Discopath
Stage Fright
11/10
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, Season 1
12/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 6
13/10
Dark Glasses
14/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 3
17/10
The Changeling
Lovely Molly
19/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 7
20/10
V/H/S/99
21/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 4
Let’s Scare Julie
24/10
High Tension
Frontier(s)
25/10
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Ep. 1
26/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 8
Shudder in October 2022: ANZ Region
Here is a list of scheduled additions to Shudder’s streaming library for October 2022 in ANZ. Dates will be presented as regionally formatted.
1/10
Mad God Ghoul Log
4/10
The Collingswood Story
Honeydew
5/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 5
6/10
Deadstream
7/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 2
11/10
John and the Hole
12/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 6
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, Season 1
13/10
Dark Glasses
She Will
14/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 3
18/10
The Night
19/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 7
20/10
V/H/S/99
21/10
Queer for Fear, Episode 4
25/10
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Ep. 1
26/10
101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments, Ep. 8
What do you think about the lineup of movies and series this month? Let us know in the comments!
Also, what is a Halloween movie marathon without plenty of candy? Use out sponsored Amazon link below to order yourself a sizeable supply of candy to help your screenings while also helping out Haunted MTL!
Look, I’m a simple guy. Sure, I like my Small Town Monsters and my silly-billy movies about cats eating people.
But sometimes there comes a film that’s smartly written, full of humor and social commentary, plus great acting. Oh, and scares that actually scare the shit out of me.
Almost a year to the date, I got to watch such a film called #CHADGETSTHEAXE that I saw as a screener for FilmQuest Fest in October, 2022. And I was blown away by the talents of director/co-writer Travis Bible and co-writer/producer Kemerton Hargrove; starring Spencer Harrison Levin (Black Jesus), Michael Bonini (New Amsterdam), Taneisha Figueroa (Duck World), Cameron Vitosh (Walker), Brandon Doyle (Murder Made Me Famous), and Shun Hagins (Snitch).
Mini-Review, I swear it’s short:
And, I know, I know, I know. ‘But Brannyyyyk, isn’t livestreaming horror movies just a flash in the pan? Hasn’t it been done beforeeee?’ For one, stop saying it like that, it’s weird. For two, not like this. The care and attention that went into #CHADGETSTHEAXE is wickedly clever with such tongue-in-cheek humor of influencers, humanity, and the toxic culture of fandom. It’s the shining example of live-streaming movies because it’s so f-ing smart.
Case in point, the characters are living up to their personas. However, even when the personas are ragged and driven to the edge of life and death, we never see them as people, fully dimensional people, because we never see them break away from their devices. There’s never a shot that shows us ‘hey, this is a film, now let’s see them as the real character they are’. The actors are really carrying dual roles as the personas and the real people underneath; as they are struggling to keep up appearances in front of the millions of viewers.
Plus, don’t get me started on the characters within the livestream feed, along with running jokes and clues to the haunted house.
Anyway, I don’t want to give too much away as I’m going to be covering it on Streamin’ Demons soon. But I wanted to also tease about the fact that I’m going to be interviewing some VIPs from the movie for What’s Kraken? So, shhh, only tell your closest friends because it’s going to be incredible.
Join the Hype Train:
Adapted from an award-winning short with the same title, #ChadGetsTheAxe follows four social media influencers as they live-stream their trip to Devil’s Manor, former home to a Satanic Cult. Things don’t go well. And as the violence ramps up… so do the views.
The film premiered at FilmQuest in October 2022 and Internationally at FrightFest Glasgow in March 2023 where it was well received by critics. #ChadGetsTheAxe was produced by Travis Bible, Eric Gibson, Kemerton Hargrove, and Frances O’Hanlon, while Dream Big Group serves as executive producers.
The Horror Collective is the genre label of Entertainment Squad — a production and distribution company founded by veteran producer Shaked Berenson (TURBO KID, TALES OF HALLOWEEN). The label’s latest releases include the Daytime Emmy nominated Limited Series DOOMSDAY, the killer-pants Shudder Original SLAXX, and the critically acclaimed horror-comedy SUMMONING SYLVIA.
Website: https://thehorrorcollective.com/
I’m hoping it gets DVD distribution one day because I’m old and I need DVDs for when the zombie apocalypse happens.
Welcome to June! There’s so much on the hopper for Arrow that I just have to give you, my friends, the hot goss.
June 2nd: Paul Joyce Documentaries
June 2nd kicks off the month with ARROW’s latest curation of Paul Joyce documentaries, this time looking at legendary filmmaker John Cassavetes, straight from the mouth of his friend and collaborator co-star Peter Falk (Columbo) in Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes.
After a six year directing hiatus, Monte Hellman sat down with Paul Joyce and just talked for an hour while Joyce filmed. The result is Plunging on Alone: Monte Hellman’s Life In a Day.
June 2nd: the wild world of Ero Guro
What is Ero Guro? Well, the Japanese sub-genre of horror and pink films Ero Guro combines the erotic (ero) and the grotesque (guro) to deviant, decadent and unforgettable effect. ARROW’s Ero Guro collection features the unholy trinity of core Ero Guro films, Teruo Ishii’s Shogun’s Joy of Torture and Horrors of Malformed Men and Yasuzo Masumura’s Blind Beast, plus plenty more exciting, explicit and enticingly depraved delights to delve into.
Titles Include: Shogun’s Joy of Torture, Blind Beast, Irezumi.
June 6th: Warriors Two (US/CA)
After making his directorial debut with the intense The Iron-Fisted Monk and firmly solidifying his worth at Golden Harvest, Sammo Hung would be given more creative control behind the camera. Now able to inject more of his own personality, Hung would bring to life the more upbeat (yet only slightly less violent) Wing Chun cult classic: Warriors Two!
Predating the Ip Man tetralogy by three decades – as well as Hung’s own The Prodigal Son (starring Yuen Biao as the younger incarnation of Leung Tsan) by a few years – Warriors Two is one of the earliest films to authentically portray the teachings of Wing Chun while also delivering the kind of kinetic and pulse-pounding fights synonymous with the name Sammo Hung!
June 16th: Eli Roth Selects (UK/IRE/US/CA)
Splatter icon Eli Roth takes a stroll through the archives with Eli Roth Selects (UK/IRE/US/CA). “I absolutely love Arrow and have been a collector of their editions for years, and Arrow Player is the most streamed channel in my house. I’ve seen a lot of Select lists, and while I agree with them, I wanted to highlight some that people might have otherwise overlooked.”
Titles Include: Basket Case, Contamination, Madhouse.
June 19th: Toru Murakawa’s Game Trilogy (UK/IRE/US/CA)
Made at the end of the 1970s, Toru Murakawa’s Game Trilogy launched actor Yûsaku Matsuda as the Toei tough guy for a new generation. Matsuda was the definitive screen icon of 1980s until his career was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 40, following his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain.
The Most Dangerous Game (UK/IRE/US/CA): In this career-defining triptych, Matsuda is Shohei Narumi, an ice cool hitman of few words, a steely trigger finger, and a heart of stone, hired in The Most Dangerous Game by a company bidding for a lucrative government air defence contract to take out the competition.
The Killing Game (UK/IRE/US/CA): Narumi finds himself caught in the midst of violent yakuza gang warfare, while his own brutal past catches up with him in the form of two beautiful women still bearing the emotional scars of his past assignments.
The Execution Game (UK/IRE/US/CA): Narumi falls for a mysterious saloon bar chanteuse who may or may not be part of the same, shadowy underworld organization as the rival hitmen he is employed to rub out. (I’m assuming the tough-guy way and not the sexy way)
June 23rd: SHAAAARKS!!!
Yessss, Cruel Jaws is coming to Arrow!
ARROW heads to the beach for some terror with shark attacks.
Cruel Jaws (US/CA): A huge shark terrorizes a beach in Florida, and the locals try everything to kill it.
Deep Blood (US/CA): Several young men have to stop an ancient native American evil in the form of a killer shark which is attacking a small beach community.
June 23rd: Sci-fi Stunners (UK/IRE/US/CA)
For the penultimate Season, ARROW boldly goes to the stars on June 23, seeking out new life and new cinema.
Sci-fi Stunners (UK/IRE/US/CA): There are other worlds than these. Come and explore them in this collection of cybernetic, planet-probing, time-travelling, cosmos-trotting, aliens-zapping, virtual and far-too-real adventures in Sci-fi Stunners – ARROW’s home world for the coolest Cult science-fiction films in the galaxy.
Titles Include: No Escape, Donnie Darko, Crimes of the Future.
Last but not least
Cosa Nostra Collection (UK/IRE/US/CA):
The most American of directors according to celebrated critic Paolo Mereghetti, Damiano Damiani (A Bullet for the General) nevertheless surveyed his own country’s mafia history unlike anyone before him, to critical and box office success.
Full of twists and a fascinating meta-commentary on cinema, Damiani points the camera at himself and the genre as he investigates the social impact of mafia violence, a fitting end to this survey of Damiani’s Cosa Nostra.
Titles Include: Day of the Owl, The Case is Closed, Forget It, How To Kill a Judge.
About ARROW:
From Arrow Films, a recognized world-leader in curation and creation, ARROW is a premium platform giving audiences an unparalleled viewing experience across multiple devices, so fans can explore the films and TV shows that the Arrow brand is famous for.
Specially curated by members of the ARROW team, ARROW is home to premium film and TV entertainment, exclusive new premieres, cutting edge cinema, international classics and cult favorites – such as the works of Lars Von Trier, Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, David Cronenberg and Park Chan-wook, and brand-new short films from both new and established filmmakers.
In the coming months, ARROW will be adding Oscar-winning hits, European classics, Asian cinema masterworks, rediscovered Westerns, offbeat gems and much more as part of ARROW’s international strategy to support and celebrate the medium of film.
For more information on ARROW and its titles, please contact: justin@justincookpr.com or visit https://www.arrow-player.com.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ArrowVideoUK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arrowPlayer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Arrow_Player
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo
The Science Fiction, Fantasy Writers Association is one of the most prestigious organizations in America for speculative fiction writers. While horror is not specifically mentioned, we all know that it’s nearly impossible to discuss fantasy and science fiction without the shadow of horror creeping in.
Each year, SFWA hosts a convention for writers called Nebula Con. I have virtually attended the convention for the past two years. And if you’ve never attended, you might want to consider it. Even if your writing, like mine, is long in the shadows and short on the elves.
First off, I do want to be clear that Nebula Con is a convention for speculative fiction writers. There are some fan panels, like the one on the works of Robin McKinley, this year’s Grandmaster. But the majority of the panels and events are for writers.
That being said, there are panels for writers at every stage of their careers.
For writers interested in crafting better stories, craft panels abound. My favorite panel was the one titled For The Love of Short Fiction. This panel started with a reading of some of the best short works from 2022. Then, each panelist dug into what made that piece work for them.
There were several other terrific panels, including one all about constructing a realistic legal system in your fictional world and writing fictional podcasts. (Like I do.)
But, you might say, these are panels for sci-fi and fantasy writers. No, these are panels for speculative fiction writers. Horror authors who want to have any kind of career would do well to master the short story. And if you don’t think there’s room for some legal horror in the market, you are wrong.
While the craft panels were wonderful, the career and marketing panels were probably the most useful and valuable of the whole convention. Are you, like many other online creatives, worried about the effects AI-generated writing is going to have on our field? There were two informative panels regarding that. Are you wondering how writers’ relationships with agents have changed now that self-publishing is so prevalent? There’s a panel for that.
A lot is going on in the publishing world. It’s confusing as hell, my friends. And one of the ways we keep each other up to date is with conventions like this. What I got out of the panel most was that having a career in writing is possible. My fellow participants and I learned from writers who are doing the thing. It’s hard, but it’s possible.
Of course, a convention is more than just panels. There’s the chance to meet with other authors. This might be where a virtual convention seems to have a deficit. And while I’ll admit that meeting online isn’t the same as meeting in person, there are certainly perks. I was able to meet, chat with and share stories with other writers in a Zoom chat room. And I came away feeling much like I did as a kid, having met new friends at summer camp. Even if I wasn’t sitting across from them, it was great to be surrounded by other people who want to make a living scaring the hell out of other people.
All of this writing joy culminates with the Nebula Awards Ceremony. If you’re interested in catching the awards but didn’t make it to the convention this year, you can watch it all on Youtube. Each year speculative fiction authors of all kinds of honored, from written work to gaming to television. This year’s toastmaster was Cheryl Platz, an author, and actress. As a critic, awards ceremonies are usually something I usually force my way through. The Nebula Awards are a rare treat in that scene. Partially because there’s a chance I’ve met the people up for the awards. But also because the people involved are, first and foremost, writers. It’s amazing how much more entertaining events are when the people being honored are, you know, talented storytellers.
If you’ve been on the fence about attending Nebula Con virtually, I suggest giving it a try. The world certainly needs more stories that go bump in the night.
