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Horror Fuel

It’s Up To A Group Of Friends To Stop A Demon In ‘Kandisha’ – Premiering On Shudder

Shudder is set to unleash the demonic folklore-inspired horror film Kandisha later this month. Ahead of its release, we’ve got the brand new haunting trailer. From the directing team of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, best known for the cult hits Inside and Livid, comes this dark tale starring Mathilde Lamusse, Samarcande Saadi, and Suzy Bemba. Described as a stylish and gory take on the Morrocan folk legend of the vengeful female demon Aicha Kandicha, the film is set against the backdrop of modern-day Paris. “It’s summer break and best friends Amélie, Bintou and Morjana hang together with other neighborhood teens. Nightly, they have fun sharing scary stories and urban legends. But when Amélie is assaulted by her ex, she remembers the story of Kandisha, a powerful and vengeful demon. Afraid and upset, Amélie summons her. The next day, her ex is found dead. The legend is true and now Kandisha is on a killing spree— and it’s up to

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 13, 2021
Horror Fuel

New Amazon Anthology Series “Unknown” Combines Horror & True Crime

Horror anthologies are big right now with several movies and series being released this year. Craig MacNeill who brought us series like “The Twilight Zone” and “Castle Rock” and Clay Chapman, who teamed up with MacNeill for the SXSW hit The Boy (pictured), have teamed up once again, this time with Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films for the genre anthology series “Unkown” that will show on Amazon, Deadline reports. & “Unknown” is a psychological horror anthology series that plunges into the corners of the American landscape, probing the intersection of folklore and our bloody history of true crime.” Expected to tackle a different story each season, “Unkown‘s” first season centers on an estranged brother and sister who return to the infamous Texas Killings Fields, only to encounter a dark spirit that inhabits the land from their childhood. The Texas Killing Fields is the true-crime part of the story. Located along Interstate Highway 45, the strip of land that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 8, 2021
Horror Fuel

Legend Meets Real Life: The Kappa Of Kyuushuu And Kappa-dera

WARNING: Some subject matter may be disturbing to some readers. The Kappa is an adorable turtle-like creature with a Moe Howard haircut, big teddybear eyes, and rosy cheeks that make it just so darn cute that you want to pick it up and hug the daylights out of the little critter! This is all in part thanks to animes like Youkai Watch, How to raise a Kappa, and Summer days with Coo as well as little trinkets you can get from a vending machine. In reality, the Kappa is a creature of Japanese folklore that needs to be feared, why? Well for starters they can literally suck the life out of you…by way of your butt. The Kappa whose name in Japanese means “Water Child” is probably one of the most recognizable Yōkai (Japanese mythological creatures), a nymph/goblin-like creature who can be found in rivers and that’s said to be no bigger than a child but have tremendous strength. Kappas

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jan 25, 2018
Horror Fuel

The ‘Lore’ T.V. Show Has An Official Trailer

Last week, we announced that the upcoming Lore T.V. show has an official release date of Friday, October 13th. We included a brief teaser trailer in that article. As with most teaser trailers, we really weren’t shown a lot of what we can expect from the television show itself. Well, this morning a new, “official” trailer was released and it is chock-full of creepy images! The Lore T.V. show will be based on the popular Lore podcast, hosted by Aaron Mahnke, and it will give us 6 distinct episodes. Each episode will cover a piece of folklore that has given us many of our modern horror staples–werewolves, vampires, changelings and many other paranormal entities. The shows will use a combination of animation, narration and live action re-enactments. Rest assured, the likelihood of this series being a flash in the pan is slim, due in large part to the amazing talent that is backing the production up. Executive producers include an

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 13, 2017
Horror Fuel

Krampus: The Christmas Demon

It’s been in vogue the past couple of years to address Santa’s counterpart, Krampus. Cartoon appearances, a few movies (one of which was a major motion picture), t-shirts and sweaters, various other media are all filling up with this Christmas Demon. But, where did he come from? Why did he disappear? And why is he back? So, sit back, get cozy on a chair in your new Christmas pajamas, and let’s explore the legend of this anamorphic demon. The origin time period of Krampus is unknown. Like St. Nicholas, he pre-dates Christianity and has been found in Alpine regions, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, he has stretched all through Europe and around the world. It seems, however, that his origins are in Norse folklore. The daughter of Loki (yup, Thor’s brother) is named Hel and oversees the land of the dead. Legend is it that she bore a son to an unknown father who she named Krampus

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Dec 27, 2016
Horror Fuel

Slenderman – The Modern Terror

A simple contest on June 10, 2009 by the internet forum Something Awful created a modern and unique monster. The contest challenged people to take everyday photographs and make them appear paranormal. Complete with comments from faux eye –witnesses, forum poster Victor Surge used images of groups of children and inserted a man. This man was tall, thin, white-faced and wearing a dark suit with a red tie. As this man stood ominously over the children, a phenomenon was born. Slenderman was not developed from ancient myths, or fairy tales. He is not found in a book and merely brought to life via media or film. This man is a wonderful piece of modern folk-lore. Generations from now, Slenderman will be included in the cannon of horror along with gremlins, trolls, the boogieman and everything else that goes bump in the night. One of the scariest things about Slenderman — and it was absolutely intended by his creator — is

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

Elizabeth Bathory – The Blood Countess

For the most part, I try (especially in this series of articles concerning serial killers and mass murderers) to stick to the facts. I am of the opinion that these people’s deeds and lives are spicy enough without tarting them up with fantastical myths, rumors and opinions. With that disclaimer, the focus of today’s article has her life so twisted and ensnared by folklores and guesswork that it is hard to syphon through what is real and what is legend. I have corroborated with multiple sources and weeded out the obvious falsities to give the best possible outline of this The Blood Countess. It is rare to find a woman as vicious Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed. I do not know why women masochists and murderers are not as prevalent as men– maybe they are simply smart enough not to get caught and be awarded with grim notoriety, or maybe they don’t act upon the blood lust that their male

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

‘Thale’ Is Getting A Sequel

In Norwegian folklore exists a creature known as a Thale. In ‘Thale’ two men encounter one of the creatures in a basement during a job. What starts out as a regular job turns into a fight for survival. The 2012 movie, written and directed by Alexsander Nordaas, is getting a sequel. The 2016 movie will continue to follow story of the creature, that was the focus of the first movie. Nordaas will also be writing and directing the sequel, which should be out in 2016. Shaked Berenson, Patrick Ewald and Bendik-Heggen Stronstad will be serving as producers. Gudrun Giddings will be the executive producer for ‘Thale 2’. The release date has not been announced at this time.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Apr 18, 2015

More from folklore

Horror Fuel

It’s Up To A Group Of Friends To Stop A Demon In ‘Kandisha’ – Premiering On Shudder

Shudder is set to unleash the demonic folklore-inspired horror film Kandisha later this month. Ahead of its release, we’ve got the brand new haunting trailer. From the directing team of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, best known for the cult hits Inside and Livid, comes this dark tale starring Mathilde Lamusse, Samarcande Saadi, and Suzy Bemba. Described as a stylish and gory take on the Morrocan folk legend of the vengeful female demon Aicha Kandicha, the film is set against the backdrop of modern-day Paris. “It’s summer break and best friends Amélie, Bintou and Morjana hang together with other neighborhood teens. Nightly, they have fun sharing scary stories and urban legends. But when Amélie is assaulted by her ex, she remembers the story of Kandisha, a powerful and vengeful demon. Afraid and upset, Amélie summons her. The next day, her ex is found dead. The legend is true and now Kandisha is on a killing spree— and it’s up to

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 13, 2021
Horror Fuel

New Amazon Anthology Series “Unknown” Combines Horror & True Crime

Horror anthologies are big right now with several movies and series being released this year. Craig MacNeill who brought us series like “The Twilight Zone” and “Castle Rock” and Clay Chapman, who teamed up with MacNeill for the SXSW hit The Boy (pictured), have teamed up once again, this time with Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films for the genre anthology series “Unkown” that will show on Amazon, Deadline reports. & “Unknown” is a psychological horror anthology series that plunges into the corners of the American landscape, probing the intersection of folklore and our bloody history of true crime.” Expected to tackle a different story each season, “Unkown‘s” first season centers on an estranged brother and sister who return to the infamous Texas Killings Fields, only to encounter a dark spirit that inhabits the land from their childhood. The Texas Killing Fields is the true-crime part of the story. Located along Interstate Highway 45, the strip of land that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 8, 2021
Horror Fuel

Legend Meets Real Life: The Kappa Of Kyuushuu And Kappa-dera

WARNING: Some subject matter may be disturbing to some readers. The Kappa is an adorable turtle-like creature with a Moe Howard haircut, big teddybear eyes, and rosy cheeks that make it just so darn cute that you want to pick it up and hug the daylights out of the little critter! This is all in part thanks to animes like Youkai Watch, How to raise a Kappa, and Summer days with Coo as well as little trinkets you can get from a vending machine. In reality, the Kappa is a creature of Japanese folklore that needs to be feared, why? Well for starters they can literally suck the life out of you…by way of your butt. The Kappa whose name in Japanese means “Water Child” is probably one of the most recognizable Yōkai (Japanese mythological creatures), a nymph/goblin-like creature who can be found in rivers and that’s said to be no bigger than a child but have tremendous strength. Kappas

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jan 25, 2018
Horror Fuel

The ‘Lore’ T.V. Show Has An Official Trailer

Last week, we announced that the upcoming Lore T.V. show has an official release date of Friday, October 13th. We included a brief teaser trailer in that article. As with most teaser trailers, we really weren’t shown a lot of what we can expect from the television show itself. Well, this morning a new, “official” trailer was released and it is chock-full of creepy images! The Lore T.V. show will be based on the popular Lore podcast, hosted by Aaron Mahnke, and it will give us 6 distinct episodes. Each episode will cover a piece of folklore that has given us many of our modern horror staples–werewolves, vampires, changelings and many other paranormal entities. The shows will use a combination of animation, narration and live action re-enactments. Rest assured, the likelihood of this series being a flash in the pan is slim, due in large part to the amazing talent that is backing the production up. Executive producers include an

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 13, 2017
Horror Fuel

Krampus: The Christmas Demon

It’s been in vogue the past couple of years to address Santa’s counterpart, Krampus. Cartoon appearances, a few movies (one of which was a major motion picture), t-shirts and sweaters, various other media are all filling up with this Christmas Demon. But, where did he come from? Why did he disappear? And why is he back? So, sit back, get cozy on a chair in your new Christmas pajamas, and let’s explore the legend of this anamorphic demon. The origin time period of Krampus is unknown. Like St. Nicholas, he pre-dates Christianity and has been found in Alpine regions, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, he has stretched all through Europe and around the world. It seems, however, that his origins are in Norse folklore. The daughter of Loki (yup, Thor’s brother) is named Hel and oversees the land of the dead. Legend is it that she bore a son to an unknown father who she named Krampus

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Dec 27, 2016
Horror Fuel

Slenderman – The Modern Terror

A simple contest on June 10, 2009 by the internet forum Something Awful created a modern and unique monster. The contest challenged people to take everyday photographs and make them appear paranormal. Complete with comments from faux eye –witnesses, forum poster Victor Surge used images of groups of children and inserted a man. This man was tall, thin, white-faced and wearing a dark suit with a red tie. As this man stood ominously over the children, a phenomenon was born. Slenderman was not developed from ancient myths, or fairy tales. He is not found in a book and merely brought to life via media or film. This man is a wonderful piece of modern folk-lore. Generations from now, Slenderman will be included in the cannon of horror along with gremlins, trolls, the boogieman and everything else that goes bump in the night. One of the scariest things about Slenderman — and it was absolutely intended by his creator — is

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

Elizabeth Bathory – The Blood Countess

For the most part, I try (especially in this series of articles concerning serial killers and mass murderers) to stick to the facts. I am of the opinion that these people’s deeds and lives are spicy enough without tarting them up with fantastical myths, rumors and opinions. With that disclaimer, the focus of today’s article has her life so twisted and ensnared by folklores and guesswork that it is hard to syphon through what is real and what is legend. I have corroborated with multiple sources and weeded out the obvious falsities to give the best possible outline of this The Blood Countess. It is rare to find a woman as vicious Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed. I do not know why women masochists and murderers are not as prevalent as men– maybe they are simply smart enough not to get caught and be awarded with grim notoriety, or maybe they don’t act upon the blood lust that their male

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

‘Thale’ Is Getting A Sequel

In Norwegian folklore exists a creature known as a Thale. In ‘Thale’ two men encounter one of the creatures in a basement during a job. What starts out as a regular job turns into a fight for survival. The 2012 movie, written and directed by Alexsander Nordaas, is getting a sequel. The 2016 movie will continue to follow story of the creature, that was the focus of the first movie. Nordaas will also be writing and directing the sequel, which should be out in 2016. Shaked Berenson, Patrick Ewald and Bendik-Heggen Stronstad will be serving as producers. Gudrun Giddings will be the executive producer for ‘Thale 2’. The release date has not been announced at this time.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Apr 18, 2015