TerminalIssue · September 2026 · filed 03 Sep 2026 · 18:07 PDT

The Shock & Horror Report

A monthly deep dive into where horror is actually moving: which genres and sub-genres are compounding, which countries are shooting the most of it, and which effects houses are building the creatures behind it. Every figure below is counted from the 2026 release slate (147 titles across 29 countries, $1.92B reported worldwide) and compared against 2025 (234 titles).

Lead genre
Psychological · 50
Cooling watch
Ritual / Occult · -100%
Busiest location
United States · 86
Most-booked FX shop
Spectral Motion

This month: Psychological leads the slate with 50 of the 147 2026 titles (34% share, -22% vs 2025, $335.0M reported) — bellwether Disclosure Day. United States filed 86 titles (-31% year over year), mostly horror. On the craft side, Spectral Motion is exposed to 42 slate titles worth $1.32B.

Trending genres

PsychologicalPSYC50 titles · $335.0M-22% vs 64 · COOLING

34% of the slate · leading modes: Horror thriller (13) · Psychological thriller (4) · Psychological horror (2) · bellwether Disclosure Day

SupernaturalSUPR29 titles · $631.9M-26% vs 39 · COOLING

20% of the slate · leading modes: Supernatural horror (12) · Supernatural Horror (4) · Supernatural horror thriller (2) · bellwether Obsession

Horror ComedyCOMH21 titles · $325.4M-19% vs 26 · COOLING

14% of the slate · leading modes: Comedy horror (9) · Comedy drama horror (2) · Horror comedy (2) · bellwether Scary Movie

Techno / AI HorrorTECH13 titles · $687.2M-24% vs 17 · COOLING

9% of the slate · leading modes: Science fiction horror (5) · Science Fiction Horror (2) · Science fiction mystery (1) · bellwether Backrooms

Survival / WildernessSURV10 titles · $94.0M-33% vs 15 · COOLING

7% of the slate · leading modes: Action horror (2) · Action Horror Thriller (1) · Action thriller zombie (1) · bellwether Send Help

ApocalypticAPOC6 titles · $58.5M-25% vs 8 · COOLING

4% of the slate · leading modes: Post-apocalyptic horror (1) · Action thriller zombie (1) · Disaster horror (1) · bellwether 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

SlasherSLSH5 titles · $213.8M-67% vs 15 · COOLING

3% of the slate · leading modes: Slasher (5) · bellwether Scream 7

Folk HorrorFOLK5 titles · -29% vs 7 · COOLING

3% of the slate · leading modes: Gothic folk horror (1) · Folk horror (1) · Found footage folk horror (1) · bellwether Motherwitch

Creature FeatureCRTR4 titles · -33% vs 6 · COOLING

3% of the slate · leading modes: Monster (4) · bellwether Godzilla Minus Zero

Found FootageFOUN3 titles · -67% vs 9 · COOLING

2% of the slate · leading modes: Found footage Supernatural Horror (1) · Found footage horror (1) · Found footage folk horror (1) · bellwether 402 Haunted Korean Hospital

Body HorrorBODY2 titles · -33% vs 3 · COOLING

1% of the slate · leading modes: Body horror (1) · Musical Body Horror Romance (1) · bellwether Clayface

Gothic RomanceGOTH2 titles · -50% vs 4 · COOLING

1% of the slate · leading modes: Gothic folk horror (1) · Gothic horror (1) · bellwether Motherwitch

Domestic HorrorDOMS1 titles · -50% vs 2 · COOLING

1% of the slate · leading modes: Coming-of-age Drama Horror (1) · bellwether Don't Come Out

Ritual / OccultRTL0 titles · -100% vs 2 · COOLING
SplatterpunkSPLT0 titles · -100% vs 1 · COOLING

Sub-genre deep dive

Sub-genreGenresTitles2025YoYGrossOutlook
Horror thrillerPSYC132+550%ACCELERATING
Supernatural horrorSUPR129+33%$631.9MACCELERATING
Comedy horrorCOMH95+80%$231.4MACCELERATING
Science fiction horrorTECH50+100%$446.2MACCELERATING
SlasherSLSH511-55%$213.8MCOOLING
Psychological thrillerPSYC42+100%ACCELERATING
MonsterCRTR45-20%COOLING
Supernatural HorrorSUPR412-67%COOLING
Psychological horrorPSYC23-33%COOLING
Comedy drama horrorCOMH PSYC20+100%ACCELERATING
Horror ThrillerPSYC212-83%COOLING
Action horrorSURV20+100%ACCELERATING

Locations

United States86 titles · $1.92B-31%

Dominant mode: Horror. Bellwether: Obsession ($474.7 million).

India13 titles · +86%

Dominant mode: Psychological horror thriller. Bellwether: 99/66.

United Kingdom12 titles · $58.5M-29%

Dominant mode: Dark fantasy. Bellwether: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ($58.5 million).

Canada10 titles · -23%

Dominant mode: Horror. Bellwether: Ancestral Beasts.

Japan6 titles · -25%

Dominant mode: Horror. Bellwether: Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island.

Indonesia5 titles · -62%

Dominant mode: Found footage Supernatural Horror. Bellwether: 402 Haunted Korean Hospital.

Australia5 titles · -38%

Dominant mode: Horror. Bellwether: Dead Eyes.

South Korea4 titles · -60%

Dominant mode: Action thriller zombie. Bellwether: Colony.

Philippines3 titles · -77%

Dominant mode: Adult animated urban fantasy supernatural horror. Bellwether: Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko.

France2 titles · -60%

Dominant mode: Comedy horror. Bellwether: Cold Storage.

Spain2 titles · -50%

Dominant mode: Supernatural horror. Bellwether: Evil Dress.

Vietnam2 titles · +100%

Dominant mode: Folk horror. Bellwether: Phi Phong: The Blood Demon.

FX houses

Glendale, US · Animatronic characters that carry dialogue

42 2026 titles in its lanes · $1.32B reported · e.g. Obsession, Backrooms, Disclosure Day

Del Toro's creature shop; built the Demogorgon for Stranger Things.

HellboyPan's LabyrinthStranger ThingsSUPRTECH
Fractured FXdemand 39

Los Angeles, US · Character prosthetics for anthology horror TV

52 2026 titles in its lanes · $335.0M reported · e.g. Disclosure Day, Send Help, 99/66

Resets the creature brief every season — built for limited-series horror.

American Horror StoryThe TerrorDoctor SleepBODYPSYC

Wellington, NZ · Practical creatures, prosthetics, miniatures

31 2026 titles in its lanes · $631.9M reported · e.g. Obsession, Lee Cronin's The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn

Born in splatter — Braindead's blood rigs, now a full physical department.

BraindeadThe FrightenersKrampusSUPRBODY

Los Angeles, US · Studio-scale creature suits and animatronics

19 2026 titles in its lanes · $745.7M reported · e.g. Backrooms, Disclosure Day, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Suit performers inside the monster on the day — Alien, Tremors, The Thing.

TremorsAlien 3The Thing (2011)TECHAPOC
KNB EFX Groupdemand 17

Los Angeles, US · Gore, prosthetic makeup, creature suits

11 2026 titles in its lanes · $272.3M reported · e.g. Scream 7, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Colony

The reference shop for slasher and zombie prosthetics on a TV cadence.

Evil Dead IIScreamThe Walking DeadSLSHAPOC
Millennium FXdemand 14

Buckinghamshire, UK · Prosthetics, creature effects for UK productions

11 2026 titles in its lanes · $58.5M reported · e.g. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Colony, Deep Water

Fast-turn prosthetic pipeline feeding British folk and infection horror.

Doctor WhoBeing HumanDraculaFOLKAPOC

Method: genre, sub-genre and location counts are tallied directly from the release slate (147 titles for 2026 vs 234 for 2025); gross figures are the reported worldwide totals published for each title, so genres carrying unreported indie titles will read light. 2026 is still filling in, which is why year-over-year counts skew negative this early. FX-house demand is scored from the slate volume, gross and growth of the lanes each shop works in. Want a genre, territory or shop added to the roster? Ask on the About page.