Don’t Miss this Haunting

 

 

THE OCTOBER FILM HAUNT by Michael Wehunt (to be released 9/30/25 by St. Martin’s Press / 336 pages)

The title of this book is the name of a trio who visit horror film sites and blog about them. One film, titled ‘Proof of Demons,’ gains a hardcore following, and after a real life tragedy, a sequel is being made by a cult of the film’s fans. But now, Jorie, a member of the Film Haunt who has left the horror scene, is being forced to star in the sequel by the original film’s fans/cult and director, who have oddly enabled a supernatural creature to help them.

I’ve been loving the trend of horror film-themed novels, and author Wehunt blends this with another recent trend, Internet influence, and has created a genuinely unsettling tale where the reader is often required to decipher what’s actually happening or what is part of an otherworldly slant.

This could’ve used a bit of tightening up, as a few areas drag for a bit, making the story slow down at times, which is difficult to say about an otherwise very well-written novel. But the payoff is certainly worth the reader’s time, and one chapter features a possession scene from the human point of view that hasn’t been done this effectively since Michael Laimo’s novel THE DEMONOLOGIST 20 years ago. 

A fine addition to the crop of horror film-themed horror novels, Wehunt’s debut was well worth the wait for those who have been following his short fiction (he has two published collections). I’m eager to see what’s next.

Religious Terror in the Deep South

 

WORDS OF CHRIST IN RED by Robbie Dorman (2025 Independently Published / 304 pp / to be released 4/18/25)

Pastor David Ingram accepts a job in a small church in Georgia, taking over for his friend, the previous minister, who died in a tragic car crash. The job is offered to David by the late minister’s wife, and it doesn’t take long for the super-conservative congregation to split.

David, along with his husband and young son, are accused of bringing Satan into the church and continuing to change things as the previous pastor had begun. As David attempts to preach love and acceptance, Eli, a long standing member of the church, believes it is his calling to bring judgment and punishment to those who refuse to stay on his side. A commissioned statue of Christ is removed from the church, and Eli believes it is giving him commands straight from God.

WORDS OF CHRIST IN RED may be a bit more thriller than flat out horror, but supernatural elements do come in to play, especially when one of the faithful shows David his special way of communing with God.

Anyone who grew up in (or even visited) a small church can easily associate with the turmoils presented here, and the author builds enough suspense and tension that even if religious horror isn’t your thing, you may still find yourself racing through the pages to see what happens … and the final chapter will surely be debated by all who take this emotional trip.