Gastro horror fans are eating well in 2025 (pun intended)! We’re getting documentaries, comedies with cannibalism, and even a gastro creature feature called Haunted House of Pancakes! The writer of Attack of the Killer Donuts, Nathan Dalton, is back with this being his directorial debut!
In Haunted House of Pancakes, “on Halloween night an evil waffle maker transforms all the food in a sleazy diner into killer creatures out for revenge against the patrons.” It’s obvious that I carry a bit of bias when it comes to gastro horror, but with that said, I really had fun with Haunted House of Pancakes. It’s a silly gastro creature feature in the same vein as Attack of the Killer Donuts, with a few cast and crew reappearances.
There are even a few similarities that led me to question whether we’d be seeing a shared universe. According to co-writer and producer Paul Newton, “By no means are we planning an Avengers-like crossover or anything at the moment. Nate hadn't realized that he used the same town name of Shady Grove for Attack of the Killer Donuts and his follow-up movie, Shady Grove. Same name, very different cities. I insisted that we had to place Haunted House of Pancakes in Shady Grove too. Which I think is spoken by the newscaster in the background. That's as subtle of a reference as we had planned. Then Chris adlibbed the Dandy Donuts line with Aaron and we kept it in." If I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing more films within this universe, but again, I’m biased.
When looking at Haunted House of Pancakes versus Attack of the Killer Donuts, it’s easy to compare the two but also see that the former is a more evolved vision. The use of practical effects and CGI are blended well. I dare you to not fall in love with Toasty! I appreciate that while this film has a few locations, it primarily stays put in the diner versus traveling around town. As Nathan mentions in the interview below, it does give the film a feeling of claustrophobia. This and the blood landing on the waffle iron serving as a catalyst for the killer food shenanigans sort of remind me of Gingerdead Man (but honestly, better).
Curiosity got the better of me, so while watching the film, I was writing down all sorts of questions. Luckily for us, the director, Nathan Dalton, was able to answer and gave me even more to appreciate about Haunted House of Pancakes. He even made mention of my new favorite little evil waffle ball! (What I wouldn’t do to get my hands on one!)
Having written Attack of the Killer Donuts in 2016, what made you decide to return to gastro horror almost a decade later and jump into the director's seat as well?
Nathan Dalton: I've always had a love for horror-comedies, and Attack of the Killer Donuts was such a silly and outlandish experience that I knew I wanted to revisit the genre at some point. The idea for Haunted House of Pancakes came when I watched a short from my pancakes co-writer, Paul Newton, called Lego My Soul, about a serial killer whose soul possesses a waffle maker and wreaks havoc on a family. At the time, my producing partner Niki McElroy and I were doing the festival circuit with our film Shady Grove, and we were meeting so many people who had crowdfunded their own films. The campaigns that were high concept and fun were the ones that were really resonating with people so I thought I'd write a silly killer food script, put together a little campaign and see if anyone was foolish enough to give me money. As for directing... I didn't have enough money to hire anyone else.
How do you feel your writing evolved since Attack of the Killer Donuts?
Nathan Dalton: Back when I wrote Attack of the Killer Donuts with Chris DeChristopher (who plays owner of both Dandy Donuts & Franks House of Pancakes) we were writing a lot of bad movies for Roger Corman and Jim Wynorski that we didn't want to put our real names on. But Attack of the Killer Donuts was different. It was silly and outlandish, and attacked the standard creature horror movie from a fun new angle. For us, the finished script really was something special. But once we started getting investors, they all wanted a say, and the project was largely taken away from us, and changed in a few significant ways that we weren't fans of. With Pancakes, my co-writer Paul Newton and I wanted to keep that same silly fun of Attack of the Killer Donuts, but we also made a huge effort to dial up the horror elements and claustrophobia of being stuck in a diner. We wanted it to work as both a silly movie you don't take too seriously, and a movie that takes itself completely serious.
Between waffles and donuts, you seem to lean into mostly breakfast foods, at least in the initial parts of the film. Is there a reason, or do you just enjoy them?
Nathan Dalton: Personally, both diners and breakfast food are things of comfort. I think everyone can agree that the most non-threatening meal of the day is breakfast. It's so bright and soft and colorful... so I want to subvert that and ruin it for everyone.
Were there any movies that inspired this one?
Nathan Dalton: Definitely! Gremlins 2, Hatching, and Rubber were big influences—films that fully embrace their absurd premises but still deliver on character and tension. We also have a few visual nods to a wide range of movies, from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, to Irreversible's fire extinguisher kill (my favorite).
Out of the various food creatures in the film, did you have a favorite? Is there one you wish worked out better?
Nathan Dalton: My answer to both questions is the same. Our waffle ball creature (we call him Toasty). I designed Toasty, sculpted him in Blender, and 3D printed him out. My practical effects supervisor, Nathaniel Barton made molds and created our puppet version. He looks absolutely incredible. Everyone who sees him loves him... But he was SOOOO difficult to puppet. The practical version of him is only in the film a handful of times, and for the rest he's CG (I tried, but couldn't avoid it). So Toasty is awesome, but also a bit of a diva.
Do you have any advice for folks wanting to make their own creature feature or gastro horror film?
Nathan Dalton: Go all-in on the concept. If you’re making a creature feature, make sure your creatures have personality, or at least are something we've never seen before. And if you’re doing horror-comedy, commit to the balance—treat the horror seriously while letting the humor come from the absurdity of the situation. Most importantly, have fun with it! These kinds of movies work best when they embrace their own insanity, and you can tell the people making it are all having fun.
---
Haunted House of Pancakes is still in its festival run (also picking up awards while it's at it), but you can still head over to their IndieGoGo to secure a physical copy when they release! If you want to find out their festival schedule, you can follow them on Instagram for the most current updates! If possible, I recommend seeing the film with a crowd, as I think it would make for a great time!
[Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
Sarah Stubbs is an online content creator with a passion for all things pop culture, especially food and horror. The latter were both early passions of Sarah’s. Her mother taught her how to cook at a young age fostering that passion. Additionally, her mother was instrumental in her love of horror movies showing her movies like House on Haunted Hill and all of the Universal Monster movies before the age of 10. All of these passions played into her creating Spooky Sarah Says as well as her other projects including the #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge. Sarah co-founded the site Geeks Who Eat with her husband Matthew in 2015 and is the co-host of Final Girls Feast.
Sarah Stubbs is an online content creator with a passion for all things pop culture, especially food and horror. The latter were both early passions of Sarah’s. Her mother taught her how to cook at a young age fostering that passion. Additionally, her mother was instrumental in her love of horror movies showing her movies like House on Haunted Hill and all of the Universal Monster movies before the age of 10. All of these passions played into her creating Spooky Sarah Says as well as her other projects including the #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge. Sarah co-founded the site Geeks Who Eat with her husband Matthew in 2015 and is the co-host of Final Girls Feast.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
