Scratch and sniff 😱 #41
Ever wanted to smell your horror film? Now you can!
Welcome home, horror lover! 👋 It’s that time of year again when Universal Studios reveal the themes for their annual Halloween Horror Nights event and I get terrifying levels of FOMO until it’s all over.
The big name haunted houses are being announced sporadically, with a Sinners-themed one already revealed, as well as a Stranger Things Season 5 scare maze. However, the most exciting theme of all has just been unveiled. More on that below.
I went to the Orlando Halloween Horror Nights event years ago and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I’m counting down the days until we get a Universal Studios theme park in the UK (hurry up 2031) so I can go every year, and I’ve no doubt I’ll see you there.
Horror latest 🩸
💉 The Substance fans are being invited to a unique immersive screening where they can actually smell the film. Each viewer is given a card with a series of numbers to scratch and sniff at certain times. If that’s your thing, it’s happening next week.
🎪 Universal Studios have announced that this year’s Halloween Horror Nights event will include a haunted house based on the original Hellraiser trilogy. Doug Bradley will even reprise his role as Pinhead to record lines for the event.
🤡 Who actually owns the rights to horror icon Art the Clown is being disputed in a lawsuit claiming copyright and trademark infringement. It stems from an agreement director Damien Leone and Ruthless Pictures reportedly signed back in 2013.
💀 More cast members have been unveiled for upcoming creature feature, Skeletons, including Willa Fitzgerald (Fall of the House of Usher). The story follows a young boy who discovers his parents are hiding a huge secret about who - or what - his mum really is.
🍔 One of horror’s most in-demand writers will pen the script for the upcoming Five Nights At Freddy’s 3. Gary Dauberman is known for writing It (2017) and It Chapter Two as well as multiple entries in the Annabelle film series.
On the slab
A note from your editor ✨
If any of my US-based readers go to The Substance scratch and sniff event you absolutely have to tell me how it was.
I’m obsessed with weird and wonderful screenings of things. Remember The Long Walk one not so long ago where they put people on treadmills for the entire film?
Just spit balling here, but if anyone can make the below happen, I’m ready to attend:
It Follows screening where you’re actually followed
Ghost Ship screening on a dilapidated (yet unsinkable) boat
Dead Silence screening where you’re booted out if you make a single noise
Ready or Not screening but you have to play hide and seek while watching
Keep on screaming 😱,
Samantha
Horror bite 👄: Terrifier 2’s bedroom kill scene was inspired by a photo of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims.
To a friend, I recommend… 🎀🩸
Years before the Dune remake and its super CGI sandworm came another giant worm flick that haunted me for years.
Tremors (1990) is like if the game ‘The Floor Is Lava’ was turned into a horror-comedy film, but instead of lava, your death would come at the hands of weird subterranean predators hungry for human flesh should your foot touch the floor.
The 30ft worms in the film are actually called Graboids and gave me nightmares for the longest time. Looking back at clips with my adult eyes today I feel far less fearful, but it’s a fantastic creature feature nonetheless with a solid cast to boot.
Trending 🔥
You know it’s going to be a good trailer when YouTube says it’s age-restricted, and that is exactly the case with the first look at Robert Eggers’ latest film, Werwulf. Double click above if you dare.
The first trailer for the tale of “devotion, damnation and the devil within” arrived this week and it is an all-you-can-eat buffet for fans of the director.
There’s devil worship, gore and Willem Dafoe aplenty, all pressed against an unshakeable bleakness in every frame, and fans have been lapping up every second of it.
We’re expecting this one to release on Christmas Day, so there’s ample time to binge through the entire Robert Eggers film catalogue before then.
Don’t miss… 📅
🔑 Lockbox - Limited theatrical release (Out now)
😱 Wrong Turn - Tubi (Out now)
🍎 Lee Cronin’s The Mummy - HBO Max (Out now)
🔥 Evil Dead Burn - UK cinemas (July 9)
🌹 Rosebush Pruning - Mubi (July 10)
Kill some time 🔪⏰
🦗 A sneak preview of Robert Englund’s naysaying cricket in upcoming slasher Pinocchio: Unstrung.
🎥 Pan’s Labyrinth fans are being asked to share their memories of the film to mark its 20th anniversary.
🦈 If a cave looks like a pair of jaws, it’s better not to go in it.
🧵 Someone just immortalised one of Widow’s Bay’s best scenes in cross stitch.
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Scream Society is written by me, Samantha King (you can call me Sam), a lifelong horror nerd and journalist.
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Oh god, Tremors... I have vague recollections of the same trauma as a child. I now realise why I didn't want to watch Dune...