"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" The spooky, Halloween goodness has only just begun! The clothing store Unique Vintage recently teamed up with Nerdist for a Ghoul Gang photo that's featured in today's Horror Highlights. Also: Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival 2017, Coma Ward board game details, Mortal Kombat hits New York Comic Con 2017,  Final Girls Berlin Film Fest's call for submissions, and release details and a trailer for Bunnyman Vengeance.

Unique Vintage's Ghoul Gang Photo Shoot: "Bring on the gothic glamour! Leading up to Halloween, Unique Vintage is celebrating the spookiest season with Nerdist for a special photo shoot promoting their Ghoul Gang t-shirt and Creepy Collection of retro clothing. Whether you're the daughter of Dracula or a Mistress of the Dark, this collection has something for you!

Inspired by the best-selling t-shirt, the Ghoul Gang includes: Bizarre States podcast host Jessica Chobot as Morticia Addams; Nerdist Editor-in-Chief Rachel Heine as Lily Munster; Unique Vintage buyer, Chelsea Trimble as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; and burlesque dancer, pin-up model, and vintage voyager, Ashleeta Beauchamp as the Bride of Frankenstein!"

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Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival 2017: Press Release: "Razor Reel 2017 is all but ready to gear up. With three more weeks to go until the kick off of the Flemish genre festival’s tenth edition, the full lineup has been revealed.

From October 26 till October 31 Bruges will once more play host to an international selection of fantastic films worth your time. The 2017 program opens on a highly idiosyncratic note with Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a pitch-black tragicomedy that merges myth with psychological revenge. Closing the festivities on Halloween is Joachim Trier’s Thelma, a classy riff on the horror of repressed lust. In between these two showstoppers, there’s no shortage of gems to discover. Read on for the full announcement below.

Leading into the weekend, Friday’s programming starts with Nathaniel Atcheson’s close-quarters sci-fi mystery Domain, which is followed by Hounds of Love, Ben Young’s buzzworthy debut that may well go down as one of the most emotionally gripping survival thrillers of the decade. Also on Friday, Simon Rumley swings by to introduce Belgian audiences to the head-trip that is Fashionista before creatures come knocking to claim the night in B-movie romp It Came from the Desert.

Saturday opens with 78/52, Alexandre Philippe’s expertly researched documentary exploring all facets of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous shower scene from Psycho. From an international master of horror, Razor Reel’s focus hones in on homegrown terror with Steve De Roover’s Forgotten Scares. The documentary sets the record straight on the little-known history of Flemish horror cinema. It is accompanied by retro screenings of Malpertuis and The Antwerp Killer.

For those favoring more international genre offerings, Bill Watterson’s much-hyped Dave Made a Maze stops by for a visit while Benjamin Diouris’ Merrick, a post-outbreak narrative that strikes up a friendship between a former boxer and a teenager, could be a discovery of sorts. The evening promises thrills in spades with the action-packed combo of 68 Kill and Mayhem. Capping things off in perverted fashion is Dominic Brunt’s Attack of the Adult Babies, a midnight nasty if ever there was one.

The home country focus spills over onto Sunday, which opens breezily enough with a family-friendly screening of Zombillenium. The animated film, a Franco-Belgian co-production, is followed by a lecture on the works of the much-missed George Romero, whose legacy is honored throughout the day with screenings of Day of the Dead and The Crazies.

Also on Sunday, the Young Blood competition starts its search for the best directorial debut or sophomore genre film of 2017. Thailand, Brazil, and South-Korea all weigh in. While Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Bad Genius transplants a crime caper to a high school setting and filters its nail-biting suspense through an academic lens, Gabriela Amaral Almeida’s Friendly Beast (O Animal Cordial) sees the veneer of civility crumble away as a few too many people are ensnared in a huis-clos set-up. Cho Sun-Ho’s A Day (Ha-roo), meanwhile finds a troubled father stuck in a time-loop mystery as he desperately tries to save his daughter’s life.

Ryan Prows’ Lowlife, a genre hybrid primed for cult status, and Finish action flick Rendel close out an evening sure to satiate thrill-seekers.

The Young Blood competition continues on Monday with screenings of Sadrac Gonzalez’s Black Hollow Cage and Attila Gigor’s Kút (Well). The former thrives on the uncanniness of its sci-fi mystery and setting while the latter builds up to a tense confrontation at a gas station where different walks of life are forced to intersect as puzzle pieces slowly fall into place.

On Monday, Mariana Palka’s Bitch rattles the foundations of patriarchy with a feminist satire that is sure to leave an impression while Jailbreak provides the bone-crunching action in a prison brawl from Cambodia. Haylar Garcia’s Gnaw sinks its claws into viewers with a unique take on relationship abuse and Simeon Halligan’s Habit proves that all is not well in a massage parlor with debauched appetites.

Before wrapping things up with the paranormal prowess of Thelma, Tuesday finds the final Young Blood filmmaking his way to the big screen. In Housewife, Can Evrenol delivers the unholy offspring of Giallo and H.P. Lovecraft. One last documentary puts a legendary stuntman in a well-deserved spotlight: To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story. Also screening on the final day is Elisabeth Schuch’s The Book of Birdie, a debut that marries piety and sacrilege to offer a singular take – both dark and dramatic – on coming-of-age conventions.

On the short film front, Razor Reel pulls out all the stops to help bring no less than 37 works from 12 countries to Belgian audiences.

A Lovecraftian shorts program on Saturday beckons with both The Call of Charlie (Nick Spooner) and Sound from the Deep (Joonas Allonen and Antti Laakso).

Horror-comedies take center stage on Sunday with screenings of RIP (Alberto Pintó and Caye Casas), Waste (Justine Raczkiewics), Great Choice (Robin Comisar), Meow (Chris Jopp) and Grandma’s House (Joshua Giuliano).

Monday packs thrills: Creeper (Drew Macdonald), Rewind (Rubén Pérez Barrena), Void Chair (Xavier Miralles), There Is No Door (Ward Crockett), Imbroglio (Christopher Zatta), Amy (L. Gustavo Cooper).

Halloween is jam-packed with witchcraft and possession: The Hour of Darkness (Domenico De Feudis), Dryad (Thomas Vernay), Birthday (Alberto Viavattene), The Cleansing Hour (Damien LeVeck).

A talented young film collective hailing from France, Les Films de la Mouche, takes a special spotlight with screenings of Margaux (Rémy Barbe, Josephine Hopkins and Joseph Bouquin) and And the Devil Laughs With Me (Rémy Barbe).

The Méliès d’Argent competition shines a light on Europe, scanning the continent for the best fantastic short film of 2017. Set to compete against one another are Charles Cheval’s Petul, Pablo S. Pastor’s Bye Bye Baby, Josephine Hopkins’ The Day Mum Became a Monster, Marie Dvorakova’s Who’s Who In Mycology, Lieven Vanhove’s Nimmer, Angel Gómez Hernández’s Behind and Waste, co-directed by Alejo Levis and Laura Sisteró.

Finally, eleven more shorts are paired with feature films on the big screen: Oliver Park’s Still, Kim Geon’s Keep Going, Jason Tostevin’s Born Again, David Jeffery’s Girl #2, Remi Weekes’ Tickle Monster, Vanessa Gazy’s Highway, Alex Clark’s Thresher, Charlie Mayforth’s Mister Popular, Spooked (co-directed by Gil Gloom and Emma Gloom), Charlotte Dewulf’s Ampersand, and Darrel (co-directed by Marc Briones Piulachs and Alan Carabantes).

For more information about the feature films, short film lineup, the competitions, and guests, head on over to the Razor Reel website at: https://rrfff.be/.

Follow the Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RRFFF/) for more updates in weeks to come."

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Coma Ward Board Game Kickstarter: Press Release: "BLOOMFIELD, NJ.— Everything Epic, a leading publisher of story-driven board games today announced the launch of a brand new hospital themed horror board game: Coma Ward, the terrifying creation of Florida based game designer Danny Lott. The game has been developed and is now ready for crowdfunding. Additional details and art assets will be continually revealed throughout the campaign set to run through November 2, 2017.

In Coma Ward, you are a patient abruptly awakened in an abandoned, yet still functioning hospital with no memory or idea of what is happening. You must search the hospital for clues and necessities. In your search, you may find unspeakably terrifying things.

Each time you play, you explore an ever-changing St. Dymphna Memorial General Hospital as you search for the clues to your identity and the cause of the environment's unsettling emptiness. Balance your ever worsening terror and neurosis while monitoring your health and physical attributes. Dangers lurking in the empty hospital can destroy your already fragile psyche. Once clues are uncovered, the real horror begins. You may discover what is happening and find out who you can trust — if anyone — and how to win.

Coma Ward is an homage to the visceral and psychological horror of Clive Barker and David Cronenberg,” said Danny Lott, Designer of Coma Ward. “Horror is a mystery with a terrible solution. Horror, for me, is derived from two key elements: disempowerment and a lack of information,” said Lott about the game's design. “Those ingredients run contrary to the archetypal foundations of board game design. The upcoming game extends the boundaries of tabletop board games, entering a new realm of psychological horror."

“Carefully crafted RPG-like Choose-Your-Own-Adventure narratives precariously balanced with individual disempowerment caused by a lack of circumstantial knowledge fuels the game,” said Chris Batarlis, Everything Epic President and a lead developer on Coma Ward. “The Player is forced to embrace the futility of agency, yet still cling to the illusion of control.”

Everything Epic representatives met with Lott at Gen Con 2016, and after playing the game, they agreed that Coma Ward was a perfect fit for their brand. President Chris Batarlis enthused, “With every turn, Coma Ward drew us further into its immersive narrative. It offers players a myriad of ways to interact with the environment and each other without getting bogged down in arcane rules. We knew right away that Coma Ward has that special something -- that epic-ness -- that makes it a natural fit in our catalog.” Vice President Jim Samartino agreed. “The first time I played Coma Ward, it gave me nightmares. I knew then that it was a truly gripping experience -- one we can’t wait to share with the rest of the tabletop community!”

The base game includes over 30 unique rooms to explore, a highly thematic map gameboard, 20 dice, and 8 *sealed and secret* scenarios, called Phenomenon. More content will be added to the game as the Kickstarter meets its various stretch goals. There are three pledge levels to choose from in the campaign from a $50 core pledge, to a $75 mid-ranged pledge with an expansion, as well as the $100 premium pledge with all the shiny bells and whistles.

Coma Ward will mark Everything Epic’s "Lucky 13th" Kickstarter campaign, most recently successfully funding their independent space epic board game, Secrets of the Lost Station. Big Trouble in Little China the Game is for Pre-Order now on www.BigTroubleGame.com and Rambo the Board Game will be coming to Kickstarter as the 14th campaign in January of 2018! (www.RamboGame.com).

For more information about Coma Ward, please visit:

For more information about Everything Epic, please visit:

  • Tamika Jones
    About the Author - Tamika Jones

    Tamika hails from North Beach, Maryland, a tiny town inches from the Chesapeake Bay.She knew she wanted to be an actor after reciting a soliloquy by Sojourner Truth in front of her entire fifth grade class. Since then, she's appeared in over 20 film and television projects. In addition to acting, Tamika is the Indie Spotlight manager for Daily Dead, where she brings readers news on independent horror projects every weekend.

    The first horror film Tamika watched was Child's Play. Being eight years old at the time, she remembers being so scared when Chucky came to life that she projectile vomited. It's tough for her to choose only one movie as her favorite horror film, so she picked two: Nosferatu and The Stepford Wives (1975).