Culture Watch
One board for the whole horror culture stack — the 2026 film slate, the television series holding audience attention, and the book properties most likely to become the next adaptation. Heat blends reported performance with the lane's momentum on the exchange.
This week in coverage
Rolling 7-day horror media trackerReading the wire…
Surging now
Highest attention across all mediaCurry Barker · Supernatural horror
United States · Focus Features · $474.7 million worldwide
Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann / HBO · Infection / apocalyptic
Keeps apocalyptic horror in the prestige-drama bracket and pulls the whole APOC lane up with it.
Kane Parsons · Science fiction horror
United States · A24 · $395 million worldwide
Alfred Gough, Miles Millar / Netflix · Gothic comedy
The gateway drug: converts general audiences into horror-adjacent viewers at massive scale.
Stephen King · Crime horror
King remains the single largest source of adaptation supply in the market.
Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan / Netflix · True-crime horror
True-crime horror keeps proving the broadest reach of any lane on the board.
Mike Flanagan / Netflix · Gothic anthology
Flanagan's Poe cycle remains the reference point for prestige gothic on streaming.
Tananarive Due · Historical / social horror
Award-winning social horror; the lane Get Out opened continues to draw prestige buyers.
The full board
Movies, television and booksCurry Barker · Supernatural horror
United States · Focus Features · $474.7 million worldwide
Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann / HBO · Infection / apocalyptic
Keeps apocalyptic horror in the prestige-drama bracket and pulls the whole APOC lane up with it.
Kane Parsons · Science fiction horror
United States · A24 · $395 million worldwide
Alfred Gough, Miles Millar / Netflix · Gothic comedy
The gateway drug: converts general audiences into horror-adjacent viewers at massive scale.
Stephen King · Crime horror
King remains the single largest source of adaptation supply in the market.
Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan / Netflix · True-crime horror
True-crime horror keeps proving the broadest reach of any lane on the board.
Mike Flanagan / Netflix · Gothic anthology
Flanagan's Poe cycle remains the reference point for prestige gothic on streaming.
Tananarive Due · Historical / social horror
Award-winning social horror; the lane Get Out opened continues to draw prestige buyers.
Rolin Jones / AMC · Vampire
Anchor of AMC's Anne Rice Immortal Universe — the clearest book-to-TV franchise build in horror.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · Gothic
The template for the current Latin American gothic wave crossing into English-language TV.
Stephen Graham Jones · Slasher
Closes the Indian Lake trilogy — the strongest literary slasher property not yet on screen.
John Griffin / MGM+ · Small-town mystery horror
Cult streaming performer with unusually loud Reddit engagement relative to its budget.
Steven Spielberg · Science fiction mystery
United States · Universal Pictures · $241 million worldwide
Jason Rekulak · Haunting / supernatural
Illustrated-novel gimmick makes it a natural visual adaptation target.
Grady Hendrix · Domestic horror-comedy
Hendrix converts to screen more reliably than any other mid-list horror author.
Michael Tiddes · Comedy horror
United States · Paramount Pictures · $231.4 million worldwide
Paul Tremblay · Apocalyptic home invasion
Already adapted (Knock at the Cabin); Tremblay's backlist stays a buyer favorite.
Kevin Williamson · Slasher
United States · Paramount Pictures · $213.8 million worldwide
Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk / FX · Anthology
Long-running anthology; the season-theme reveal reliably moves subgenre chatter for a week.
Nat Cassidy · Urban gothic
Rosemary's Baby lineage restated for a rental-crisis era; cheap to shoot, easy to sell.
Ian McCulloch / Peacock · Rural sci-fi horror
Blumhouse's TV arm testing whether film-brand horror translates to episodic.
Sam Raimi · Black comedy survival thriller
United States · 20th Century Studios · $94 million worldwide
Lee Cronin · Supernatural horror
United States · Warner Bros. Pictures · $90.5 million worldwide
Sébastien Vaniček · Supernatural horror
United States · Warner Bros. Pictures · $66.7 million worldwide
Nia DaCosta · Post-apocalyptic horror
United Kingdom, United States · Sony Pictures Releasing · $58.5 million worldwide
Markiplier · Science fiction horror
United States · Markiplier Studios · $51.2 million worldwide
David Ferino · Comedy horror
United States
Adaptation pipeline
IP moving between mediaFrom the Naughty Dog game series
Keeps apocalyptic horror in the prestige-drama bracket and pulls the whole APOC lane up with it.
DetailsFrom Charles Addams' cartoons
The gateway drug: converts general audiences into horror-adjacent viewers at massive scale.
DetailsAdaptation interest active
King remains the single largest source of adaptation supply in the market.
DetailsFrom Edgar Allan Poe's collected works
Flanagan's Poe cycle remains the reference point for prestige gothic on streaming.
DetailsOptioned for screen
Award-winning social horror; the lane Get Out opened continues to draw prestige buyers.
DetailsFrom Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
Anchor of AMC's Anne Rice Immortal Universe — the clearest book-to-TV franchise build in horror.
DetailsSeries in development
The template for the current Latin American gothic wave crossing into English-language TV.
DetailsRights active
Closes the Indian Lake trilogy — the strongest literary slasher property not yet on screen.
DetailsIn development for film
Illustrated-novel gimmick makes it a natural visual adaptation target.
DetailsFilm in development
Hendrix converts to screen more reliably than any other mid-list horror author.
DetailsAdapted 2023
Already adapted (Knock at the Cabin); Tremblay's backlist stays a buyer favorite.
DetailsFrom Robert McCammon's Stinger
Blumhouse's TV arm testing whether film-brand horror translates to episodic.
Details