Movies
How To Start Getting Into Horror Part 1: Introduction
I’m sure it’s pretty much totally obvious to everyone here but, just in case you didn’t realize this, horror is a huge and incredibly important part of my life. I love watching horror movies, I read horror novels, I study critical essays on various related topics, I listen to the scores, I play the games, etc… It’s a lifelong passion that I’ve had for as long as I can remember. I honestly can’t think of a time when I wasn’t deeply connected to the genre and all that it had to offer.
However, not all of us start that way. Some get into the genre a little later in life, finding their own way and making their own path that leads them into the dark, foggy forest that holds our favorite tales. And we welcome them with open arms, accepting them into our fold, nurturing them and educating them so that they can further venture down the rabbit hole, experiencing titles that they never would’ve heard of otherwise.
In Judaism, there is a belief that those who convert are given great leeway with their thoughts and sayings. The idea is that they could not know otherwise until they have been educated, so why berate them for making a mistake? In fact, applaud their interest and encourage their curiosity so that they feel embraced and welcomed. In a way, that’s what I want to do.
Starting this week, I will be posting a piece that explains, in my opinion, how one can start getting into horror. I will be offering titles that I believe are gateways into the genre, allowing non-horror fans the opportunity to dip their toes in safely, relatively speaking.
What I will not be doing is throwing you into the deep end. The worst thing one can do is hit you with the complex, terrifying, most intense titles that the genre has to offer. After all, what would that accomplish? Were I to do this, it would destroy the very purpose of this series.
To the Bloody-Disgusting readers, take these posts as a way to introduce your friends and family who hate horror to the genre. They may not love it as much as you do but in the end they will hopefully have a greater understanding of why you hold this passion so near and dear to your heart.
Now, let’s get started, shall we?
To begin this journey, I recommend starting on the outskirts, the films that genre fans, such as myself, don’t really regard as being part of the horror world. However, these are films that have elements, little tastes and teases, which will hopefully draw your interest, igniting that spark that has burned in us for so long.
It is because I believe this is the best way to begin that I recommend films such as The Mummy, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Van Helsing, Underworld, and the like.
These are films that are fun, they’re exciting, and the scares and tension are easily handled because they’re not meant to really be scary, just something to make you squirm for a moment before the action continues. And really, the “scares” are on par with many summer blockbuster “tension moments”. If you can stand seeing the big explosive summer films, you’ll do just fine here.
Let’s take as an example 1999’s The Mummy, with Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weisz. The film is a loose pseudo-remake of 1932 film that starred Boris Karloff, who played the title character.
This is a great start, okay? It’s got the earmarks of a horror film, such as a seemingly unstoppable villain and a “haunted housed” in the form of Hamunaptra, the city of the dead. But it’s also got likable characters, plenty of fun action, and loads of lighthearted comedy. It gives little bursts of horror but that’s not the focus, which makes it a great choice when you want someone to, as I stated before, dip their toes in.
Or how about The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen? While it’s far more in the realm of adventure, the presence of Mina Harker and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde allows for a bit of interest, a little peek into classic horror characters. Additionally, the practical FX when Jekyll transforms into Hyde, and vice versa, can be a talking point for how horror fans appreciate realism over CGI, specifically the craft of actually making something that isn’t real actually appear, well…real!
What it boils down to is that introducing someone to horror shouldn’t be about scaring the pants off of them right away. Watching someone grow to love horror is an amazing experience because we get to see that passion, the same one within us all, ignite within them.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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