2026 1st Quarter Review (And Most Anticipated 2nd Qtr Releases)
The first quarter of 2026 is complete. It’s been an interesting three months for horror. Here’s a quick recap of the highlights.
In terms of box office success, Scream 7 was a big winner, making over $200 million worldwide. The horror adjacent thriller The Housemaid earned even greater grosses with more than $400 million globally. It was released in December, but showed remarkable legs and grossed most of its total after January 1st. On the opposite side of the spectrum, The Bride! was a massive flop, grossing $23 million on a $90 million budget.
There was a huge glut of horror films released in the first quarter, and the stiff competition left most of them with mediocre commercial results, often regardless of their critical reception. Sam Raimi’s Send Help won overwhelming praise from critics, as did 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. The former performed well in theaters, but the latter did not.
In streaming, Something Really Bad is Going to Happen, which I’m going to review soon, became a buzzy surprise hit on Netflix. Shudder’s summer camp horror flick Marshmallow also made an unexpected impact, with many critics (including me) praising its twists and characters.
Admittedly, I wasn’t able to catch as many of the theatrical releases as I had hoped in the last three months. I still have yet to see Send Help and Ready or Not 2.
I did manage to review ten horror movies during the first quarter. I also reviewed three books, but none were released in 2026 (although two were published in late ’25) so I don’t yet have an opinion on this year’s crop of horror novels. There are several that I’m looking forward to reading. More on that below.
Here’s a summary of the best and worst of what I reviewed in the first quarter.
Movies:
Highest Rated: (tie) Predator: Badlands and Marshmallow 8/10
Lowest Rated: The Mortuary Assistant 4.5/10
Books:
Highest Rated: (tie) The Burial Tide and Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives 8/10
Lowest Rated: Play Nice 6/10
Looking Ahead
The second quarter has plenty of anticipated horror releases. Here are the ones that I’m looking forward to the most.
Movies:
Hokum – May 1st
Hokum stars Adam Scott (Severance) as an author who travels to rural Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. He discovers that his rental home is haunted by a sinister presence.
I’m excited to see Scott in a horror film. The fact that this is directed by Damian McCarthy (Oddity) also helps land this film on my most anticipated horror movies list. If Hokum lives up to the hype, it will further establish McCarthy as a rising star in the genre.
Obsession – May 15th
Okay, so this is easily one of the most interesting premises of the year. Bear (Michael Johnston), a lonely, lovestruck music store employee, uses a mysterious wish-granting toy to make the girl he’s been obsessed with since childhood fall in love with him.
Obsession reminds me of Companion, one of my 2025 favorites, although the girl in this one is a human being, not a robot. It is likely to cover the same themes about free will, abusive relationships, “real” vs. “fake” emotions, and the monetization of human connection. It’s racked up impressive reviews so far.
Backrooms – May 29th
The hype is building for this feature length adaptation of the eerie liminal spaces YouTube series. A retail employee finds a passageway that takes him into the strange and seemingly endless world of the backrooms.
He tells his therapist about his discovery and mysteriously disappears, convincing the therapist to take a terrifying journey into the backrooms in order to locate him.
This has a chance to be one of the most memorable and unique horror films of the year. I hope the movie is as creepy as the trailer!
Books:
Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman – april 7th
A murderous artist is haunted by the ghosts of his victims. I enjoyed Chapman’s Wake Up and Open Your Eyes and I’m eager to see how this compares.
How to Survive Camping: The Lady in Chains by Bonnie Quinn – April 28th
The second novel in a series based on the No Sleep Podcast will hopefully feature the same demented imagination and wicked humor as its predecessor, The Man With No Shadow.
Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun – May 26th
I haven’t read this author’s prior work, but the plot (a young girl and a bloodthirsty axe-wielding sentient teddy bear seek revenge after the girl’s mom is murdered) has me very much intrigued. I really need to read (and watch) more Korean horror. They have great stuff!
Slasher Summer by E.L. Chen – June 23rd
I’m always up for a fun summer camp slasher! The retro vibes I’m getting from the cover have convinced me that this is right up my alley, despite my lack of familiarity with Chen.
