News

Horror films are increasingly popular nowadays, so there is an abundance of news to keep tabs on every week. Whether it's casting news, release dates, or updates on upcoming films, there's plenty to juggle. It's an exciting time to be a horror fan, but it can certainly be overwhelming to try to keep up with everything.

That's why we've compiled some of this week's most notable horror genre updates all in one place so you can get all the news in one convenient place.

Lily-Rose Depp stars as Ellen Hutter in Nosferatu | Focus Features Robert Eggers teases his next film Werwulf

Many of us are still riding the high of Nosferatu, but filmmaker Robert Eggers is already looking ahead to his next movie, a project about werewolves set in 13th-century England, complete with period-accurate dialogue.

During a recent press panel, the director discussed what fans can expect from Werwulf, neglecting...

After being in Early Access since May of 2022, Steelkrill Studio and Feardemic have announced that The Backrooms 1998 will finally be launching in full “very soon” on Steam, as well as receiving a release to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and the Nintendo Switch. No exact date has been revealed just yet, but we do get a new trailer. The game can also be wishlisted on the PlayStation Store.

This “escape room” title is a first-person psychological survival horror title that centres on a young teen who happens to fall into the depths of The Backrooms. What is The Backrooms? That’s for you to find out. However, you’ve also got to escape. You can roam freely while searching for clues, ways to mark just where you’ve been, medicine to help you to stay sane, and previous batteries to keep your light going. All the while, you’ll come across footage...

Game developers often use loading screens as a handy delivery mechanism for imparting advice to the player. Whether they’re giving you a refresher on important mechanics, clueing you in on the best strategy to overcome a challenge, teasing what the next area has in store, or just fleshing out the lore with some nice worldbuilding; these hints can help minimise frustration and maximise fun.

Yet no such pearl of wisdom has ever been as upfront and revealing as the one that greets you upon booting up Dreamcore. Cautioning that “patience and observation are key” here, it’s one of the most accurate loading screen tips I’ve ever read in any game. Because both of those qualities will indeed be sorely tested during an average playthrough of Montraluz’s new offering.

Especially your patience.

Every time I saw the undeniable, almost taunting, message appear at the bottom of my TV,...

Pools is a game that contains no Ui, no dialogue, no health system, and no objective markers. Normally when a game is described as a, “vibes-only,” experience, it still contains a few other elements beyond sheer vibes. In Pools, vibes is all there is; the whole game depends on an eerie atmosphere that grows more intensely unsettling as the player progresses through each level.

Pools is available now on PC.

It is also a game that requires a great deal of patience and is not going to be for everyone. I have heard it being compared to The Backrooms a couple of times, but I’d argue that there is actually a lot more to The Backrooms in terms of enemies and gameplay mechanics. In Pools, the only gameplay mechanics are walking, running, and controlling the camera.

You cannot interact with anything in the environment; this means that you can’t pick up objects,...

The Backrooms is one of the most popular psychological horror games and is praised for its tense and atmospheric horror experience while focusing on exploration and survival. The story and puzzle-solving are some of the best elements that keep players on the edge of their seats.

A new psychological horror game called Pools has now been unveiled, and it is contesting Backrooms for the top spot. The game is set to launch for PC via Steam on April 26, 2024, and the game’s eerie atmosphere has got the players excited for a horrifying journey across pools.

Pools is the Backrooms but in a Unique Way

Pools is a horror game like The Backrooms but with a twist.

Pools was developed by Tensori, and according to the developer, it is set in a sort of “art gallery” where players look around the place, listen to sounds, and navigate. The developer has released gameplay footage,...

From prehistoric campfire tales to modern movies and video games, storytelling has come a long way since we first began expressing ourselves through fiction. In fact, it seems that every time we invent a form of communication, someone comes along and discovers a way to use it to tell stories in new and interesting ways. And if any medium comes close to defining the spirit of 21st century storytelling, it would have to be Alternate Reality Games.

Commonly defined as a kind of interactive fiction that incorporates several different forms of media into a cohesive narrative that supposedly takes place in real life, ARGs have been steadily growing in popularity since the 2000s – especially when it comes to horror. And with A24 currently developing a big screen adaptation of Kane Pixel’s immensely popular The Backrooms, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six other ARGs that Hollywood should adapt next.

Most horror masters take a while to claim their status, and while that label is hyperbolic in most cases, Kane Parsons could be on his way to securing it for himself. At only 18 years old, Parsons is already making enormous waves in this genre, and he has been for a few years now. Ever since he uploaded his first video to his YouTube channel, Kane Pixels, in 2017, this kid has continued to sharpen his skills in visual effects, editing, and telling unconventional, challenging stories. Most recently, he's been working on a web series called The Oldest View and has even recently signed a deal with A24 to make a feature film with them. What will this movie be? An adaptation of the YouTube series that first put him on the map — The Backrooms.

Exclusive: After working with NBC on his shows Siberia and Emerald City, Matthew Arnold has returned to the network as the creator, executive producer and showrunner of Nowhere, a new drama series in development with Atomic Monster, Vertigo Entertainment, Room 101 (Paranormal Activity franchise) and Antihero Entertainment.

Originally conceived by Arnold as a novella, which he’s adapted into a forthcoming novel, the show is billed as a high concept mystery in the vein of Manifest or La Brea, with supernatural thriller elements. It watches as a group of individuals awake to find that all the inhabitants from their remote Vermont town have seemingly vanished overnight. Led by the former sheriff, the remaining citizens embark on a mysterious search for their missing loved ones, uncovering numerous supernatural anomalies along the way.

In addition to Arnold, executive producers for Nowhere will include James Wan, Rob Hackett...

While all of us old folks weren't looking, YouTube became the training ground for the next generation of incredible horror filmmakers. One high-profile example: "Talk to Me" directors Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou learned their craft by making shorts on the internet before crafting their very slick, very scary A24 horror hit. But one less high-profile example is the one that's kept me awake at night, and counts as perhaps my favorite horror experience of 2023.

Let's talk about "The Oldest View," and young director Kane Parsons.

Parsons first hit my radar when he partnered with A24 and producer James Wan to bring his surreal and frightening horror short film series "The Backrooms" to theaters. That project is still in development, but because this guy is apparently nothing if not busy, he's also been working on a separate YouTube horror short film series while that cooks. That second project is called "The Oldest View,...

Molly Moon has attracted nearly two million followers on TikTok by taking inspiration from horror video games. She is now getting a chance to put her spin on that genre thanks to Excuse Me, Sir, a new game co-led by Moon and four indie developers.

Moon’s TikToks resemble the point-and-click adventure games that thrived during the 90s. (The 1993 title Myst was once the best-selling PC game of all time.) By combining garbled vocals, creepy images, and the foreboding aesthetic employed by internet fads like The Backrooms and Slender Man, Moon has become one of TikTok’s favorite horror impresarios. Now she’s inviting her fans to play their way through her haunting world.

For Moon, the transition from TikToker to game designer hinged on a pivotal tweet. Last year, developer Airdorf reached out to Moon and told her that a group of devs wanted to work with her to...

Exclusive: In one of the first big spec sales following the resolution of the WGA strike, Ben Ketai’s script Undying has sold to Netflix for development under its first-look feature deal with Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps.

Deadline hears that the deal was for mid-six against seven figures. 21 Laps brought the project in to Netflix, and Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine are set to produce for the company, with Moera Ainai overseeing. Ketai will serve as executive producer.

Netflix declined comment.

Described as an erotic thriller with a supernatural twist, Undying follows a woman, suffocated by motherhood, who has an affair with a man she hasn’t seen since high school… only to discover a terrifying secret.

Prior to the sale, Ketai had most recently wrote and directed River Wild, a reimagining of Uni’s same-name 1994 thriller. Starring Leighton Meester, Taran Killam and Adam Brody, the film spent a...

Warning: Spoilers for Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2 ahead!

Nightwing confronts his own nightmares, tapping into the internet horror phenomenon of "the Back Rooms" in Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2. The Back Rooms of Arkham, a reference to the urban legend, is a labyrinthine dimension where people get trapped and stalked by monsters. Nightwing's exploration of internet horror allows DC to stay fresh, tapping into the zeitgeist and appealing to general readers and horror fans alike.

Nightwing has often been held as the "modern" face of DC Comics, especially after the critical success of the character's current title. This role has never more been true than when Dick Grayson is confronted with Insomnia and his own nightmares: plunged into sleep and terror, Nightwing's greatest fears tap into the zeitgeist of internet horror, referencing the creepypasta sensation of "The Backrooms."

In Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2 by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Adriano Lucas,...

YouTube has launched a new series to spotlight each month’s viral crazes. Try A Trend, which will be distributed in newsletter, video, and blog post formats, will unpack some of the creators, memes, and products that are defining the current era of social media.

The inaugural edition of Try A Trend hit inboxes and YouTube’s Culture & Trends Blog on April 26. Topics covered in the newsletter include VTubers, the 2023 NFL Draft, majorette dancing, and narrative horror. The last of those subjects was also discussed on YouTube’s Like & Describe podcast, so it’s clear that the folks on the Trends & Culture team are really into The Backrooms.

Each edition of Try A Trend also includes a “Creator Spotlight” that celebrates a rising videomaker on YouTube. The individual in the Spotlight is Lisa Nguyen (pictured above), the YouTube Shorts foodie known for her affable vibe and her high tolerance for spicy food.

YouTube star Markiplier is set to direct and star in a film adaptation of horror video game Iron Lung. The game, created by David Syzmanski, features an unnamed character tasked with canvassing a distant planet's ocean of blood from the safety of the Iron Lung, the titular miniature submarine. Iron Lung, which first hit the PC in early 2022, has received positive reviews for its minimalist presentation, claustrophobic atmosphere and immersive sound design.

According to Deadline, influential YouTube gamer Markiplier will be directing and starring in a film adaptation of Iron Lung, which is based on a script he penned. The movie has started production in Austin, Texas and will be funded by Markiplier himself. The film will also star Caroline Rose Kaplan. Accompanying the news is an image of the YouTuber in the film and a teaser from Markiplier himself, which can be viewed below:

What To Expect From Markiplier's...

Sometimes we just want the supernatural voices to stop.

A24 film “Talk to Me” follows a friend group that becomes addicted with speaking to the dead. Sophie Wilde stars as teenager Mia who asks her friends to help with a seance using an embalmed hand on the anniversary of her mother’s death. However, things take a dark turn as the underworld collides with the living, and Mia becomes haunted by supernatural visions.

“Talk to Me” is the feature debut from directors Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou. The Australian twin brothers are behind the YouTube page RackaRacka. “Talk to Me” uses a script co-written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman.

Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Zoe Terakes, and Miranda Otto also star.

The film premiered at 2023 Sundance during the Midnight Selections lineup. “Talk to Me” was acquired by A24 for a high seven-figure deal, and screened at SXSW.

The...

If you were looking forward to Steelkrill Studio’s upcoming atmospheric horror game The Voidness, you’ll unfortunately have to wait a little while longer. Originally scheduled to be released on Steam later this week, Steelkrill has announced that The Voidness has been bumped to April 7.

Per the press release, Steelkrill stated they had some problems they needed to fix before the launch of The Voidness, hence the April delay.

The Voidness comes from the folks behind Trenches and The Backrooms 1998. You play as a space specialist named Francesca Lee, one of the eight astronauts sent into a void filled with darkness to study its existence. The only way to see in The Voidness when you’re out and about is by utilizing the gameplay mechanic of scanning the environment with your range finder device.

However, as you might expect, you’re not alone in the void. You’ll have to tread carefully,...

The gaming community is one of the most vocal niches of the internet, so it makes sense that when a certain online trend is born, gamers are usually the first to interact with it. That’s why nearly every internet legend has its own videogame adaptation, with developers taking inspiration from bizarre creepypastas like The Backrooms and Sirenhead years ahead of Hollywood studios and network television.

Of course, the most famous of these internet-derived horror experiences is likely Mark J. Hadley’s freeware hit, Slender: The Eight Pages, a title that took the indie gaming scene by storm back in 2012. Adapting Victor Surge’s faceless creation into a Found-Footage-inspired gauntlet of lo-fi hide-and-seek, this short but sweet romp through spooky woods became infamous once online influencers began to challenge each other to endure these scares in exaggerated Let’s Play videos. At one point, Slender’s official website even crashed due to excessive downloads,...

With The Voidness releasing in a matter of weeks, developer Steelkrill Studio has released a new gameplay trailer for the upcoming sci-fi horror game. Obviously, the game’s main mechanic of scanning the environment in order to see just what’s out in the blackness of space takes centre stage with the new trailer, along with the dread that comes along with finding out that you’re not quite alone in the void.

Releasing on March 17 for PC via Steam, The Voidness comes from the folks behind Trenches and The Backrooms 1998. You play as a space specialist named Francesca Lee, one of the eight astronauts sent into a void filled with darkness to study its existence. The only way to see in The Voidness when you’re out and about is by utilizing the mentioned gameplay mechanic of scanning the environment with your range finder device.

However, as you might expect,...

Microbudget independent horror is certainly having a moment. Kyle Edward Ball’s experimental haunted house flick Skinamarink has grossed $2 million to date on a $15,000 budget, and 17-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons will turn his lo-fi viral series The Backrooms into a feature film for A24. Similarly reinvigorating a long-reliable medium for first-time horror filmmakers, Robbie Banfitch’s found footage gem The Outwaters defies genre expectations while showing seasoned gore hounds exactly what they want to see (and perhaps a few things they’ll probably wish they hadn’t). The film’s writer, director, cinematographer, editor and producer, Banfitch also stars as Robbie Zagorac, the camera-wielding […]

The post “Everything Looks Better if You Throw Some Dirt and Blood on It”: Robbie Banfitch on The Outwaters first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Microbudget independent horror is certainly having a moment. Kyle Edward Ball’s experimental haunted house flick Skinamarink has grossed $2 million to date on a $15,000 budget, and 17-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons will turn his lo-fi viral series The Backrooms into a feature film for A24. Similarly reinvigorating a long-reliable medium for first-time horror filmmakers, Robbie Banfitch’s found footage gem The Outwaters defies genre expectations while showing seasoned gore hounds exactly what they want to see (and perhaps a few things they’ll probably wish they hadn’t). The film’s writer, director, cinematographer, editor and producer, Banfitch also stars as Robbie Zagorac, the camera-wielding […]

The post “Everything Looks Better if You Throw Some Dirt and Blood on It”: Robbie Banfitch on The Outwaters first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A creator known for his scary YouTube videos will get an opportunity to reinvigorate the “found footage” subgenre of horror filmmaking. Kane Parsons, the 17-year-old behind the Kane Pixels channel, will direct a feature film inspired by the liminal space known as The Backrooms.

The Backrooms horror film will be directed by Parsons during his summer break from school. A24, Chernin Entertainment, 21 Laps Entertainment, and Atomic Monster will helm the project, which will be based on a screenplay from Roberto Patino. The film will have a powerful group of executive producers, including Stranger Things vet Shawn Levy and seasoned horror producer James Wan.

The Backrooms is an example of a creepypasta — a scary story that spreads across the internet. After first circulating on forums like 4chan, The Backrooms came to life on YouTube thanks in large part to Parsons’ efforts. While The Backrooms can be filled with just about anything,...

Some of today’s biggest genre companies – A24, James Wan‘s Atomic Monster, the Stranger Things makers at 21 Laps, and Planet of the Apes producers Chernin Entertainment – have joined forces on a new project called The Backrooms, which is set to mark the feature directorial debut of 17-year-old director and VFX artist Kane Parsons.

The Backrooms is based on a series of viral videos Parsons has been releasing through his YouTube channel Kane Pixels over the last year. There are currently sixteen Backrooms videos on the channel – with the number of total views being well past 100 million – and if you were to splice them together they would reach feature length, but the feature version of The Backrooms is going to be something entirely new. The screenplay for the feature has been written by Roberto Patino (Dmz). Parsons is still in school, so production will have to wait for his summer vacation to begin.

Spoonful Of Sugar: "A disturbed babysitter experiences a sexual awakening while using LSD to alternatively treat a seemingly “sick” child from a family with dark secrets of their own."

Directed By Mercedes Bryce Morgan

Starring Morgan Saylor, Kat Foster, Danilo Crovetti, Myko Olivier

Streaming Exclusively On Shudder March 2

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The Backrooms: "A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and 21 Laps Entertainment team up to adapt Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube horror universe The Backrooms. Chernin Entertainment will co-finance alongside A24.

Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine are producing for 21 Laps Entertainment. Lucas Ford from 21 Laps brought the project into the company. James Wan and Michael Clear are producing for Wan’s Atomic Monster, with Judson Scott executive producing and Alayna Glasthal overseeing for the company. Chris White brought the project to Atomic Monster and will be executive producing.

Roberto Patino (Dmz) is attached to write the screenplay and produce. The...

The YouTube-to-feature-filmmaking pipeline will only become more common in the years to come as young creators who develop their voice on the platform get scouted for bigger projects, but for now, each major success story is making headlines. As the 15,000-budgeted Skinamarink––the directorial debut of Kyle Edward Ball, who honed his craft on YouTube for years––is about to cross the 2 million mark at the box office, another horror film creator on the platform is getting his shot in the big leagues.

17-year-old Kane Parsons, whose viral video series The Backrooms has racked up nearly 100 million views on YouTube, has now been set by A24, James Wan’s Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment, and 21 Laps to direct a feature adaption of the sci-fi horror feature, Deadline reports. Scripted by Roberto Patino, there are no plot details on this feature adaptation, but the original series is set in the mid-...

Summer jobs for high schoolers are getting a lot cooler.

IndieWire has confirmed that Kane Parsons, the 17-year-old creator of “The Backrooms” YouTube series, has been tapped by A24, Chernin Entertainment, 21 Laps Entertainment, and Atomic Monster to direct a feature-length adaptation of the series. The film is being written by “Dmz” creator Roberto Patino, who will also serve as an executive producer on the project. Production will take place during Parson’s summer vacation.

“The Backrooms” became a viral phenomenon in 2022 when a YouTube user named Kane Pixels (which has been revealed to be an alias for Parsons), uploaded a nine-minute found footage video of people exploring creepy empty rooms. The video capitalized on the Internet’s fascination with liminal spaces, a.k.a. spaces that exist adjacent to our reality without being a part of it. The initial video received an overwhelmingly positive response, with viewers praising the...

[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart.

In our U.S. Top 50 charts, there are rarely more than one or two channels with more than 500 million weekly views. In our latest American ranking, 500 million views was the gap between first place and fifth.

Here are some takeaways from the 16 long-form channels and 34 short-form hubs that cracked the U.S. Top 50:

Chart Toppers

Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes had an incredible week on YouTube, even by its own lofty standards. The California-based animation producer surpassed 150 billion lifetime views while also taking first place in both the global and American editions of our weekly charts. Cocomelon’s seven-day tally...

The nightmarish and surreal bit of Internet folklore about a never-ending maze of empty fluorescent hallways known as the Backrooms is getting a proper film adaptation. A collaboration between four different production companies including A24, the film will be the feature-length product of 17-year-old Youtuber Kane Parsons. Roberto Patino, the showrunner of HBO Max's "Dmz" and a writer and executive producer of HBO's "Westworld," will pen the script. Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Entertainment, the production company behind "Stranger Things," as well as James Wan's Atomic Monster, which most recently produced "M3GAN," are also on board to finance the project. In addition, Chernin Entertainment, which has historically produced for 20th Century Fox but is currently working with Netflix on releases like "Fear Street," is signed on.

Known by his channel name "Kane Pixels," Parsons piqued the interest of horror aficionados with his short film "The Backrooms (Found Footage...

The viral YouTube series is coming to the big screen with horror powerhouse production companies A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment, and 21 Laps set to produce a film adaptation of The Backrooms, according to Deadline.17-year-old Kane Parsons, the original creator behind the videos, is attached to direct. While details on the project remain under wraps, Roberto Patino is set to pen the film's screenplay.

A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and 21 Laps Entertainment are joining forces to adapt Kane Parsons’ massively viral YouTube horror universe The Backrooms, Bloody Disgusting has learned. Chernin Entertainment will co-finance the film alongside A24.

Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine are producing for 21 Laps Entertainment. Lucas Ford from 21 Laps brought the project into the company.

James Wan and Michael Clear are producing for Wan’s Atomic Monster, with Judson Scott executive producing and Alayna Glasthal overseeing for the company.

Chris White brought the project to Atomic Monster and will be executive producing.

Roberto Patino (Dmz) is attached to write the screenplay and produce.

The science fiction horror film is based on the world of Kane Parsons’s viral videos. The film plot is being kept under wraps. The press release details, “Kane Parsons is a 17-year-old director and VFX artist. His viral found footage YouTube series The Backrooms has amassed nearly 100 million views.

Exclusive: Over the last year, director and VFX artist Kane Parsons has shot his YouTube following into the stratosphere with the viral success of his mysterious short, “The Backrooms (Found Footage).” It’s the first in a series of found-footage horror videos which have thus far garnered nearly 100 million views and will now be adapted for the big screen by A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and 21 Laps.

Parsons — who’s just 17 years old — will direct from a script by Roberto Patino (Dmz). He’ll just have to wait till his summer vacation.

Details as to the plot of the sci-fi horror feature are under wraps. But in the ’90s-set original short (which you can view below), a young filmmaker’s fall into another dimension leaves him wandering through an unsettlingly yellow, empty and labyrinthine office space, which may or may not be home to otherworldly beings. The film’s title...