Horror bookstore opens in Virginia

Chanthal Harris opened Long Dark House in Alexandria, Virginia, a bookstore devoted exclusively to horror and the supernatural. After just over a month, she reports steady traffic from both longtime fans and newcomers.

“I've had people comment about the curation and how they're finding something unexpected.”

Harris's path to horror retail

Harris grew up surrounded by horror.Her father was an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction, while her mother loved horror.After a career in aviation, Harris decided to follow her passion and open the bookstore.

“My love of horror started from an early age. And I joke, but I do truly blame my parents.”

Horror market surges 26 percent

Market research by Nielsen shows profits from the horror genre have jumped almost twenty-six percent year over year. The numbers reflect growing demand across books, film and streaming platforms.

Backrooms breaks box office records

Last May, Backrooms, about a horrifying liminal space beyond our own reality, smashed box office records. With just a ten million dollar budget, it grossed over four hundred million dollars worldwide.

Backrooms started as YouTube short

The Backrooms feature film started as a short on YouTube. It is one title from the newly merged studio Blumhouse Atomic Monster, headed by Abhijay Prakash as president and CEO and Michael Clear as president…

Studio scouts YouTube for talent

Blumhouse Atomic Monster reached out to Kane Parsons, who created the Backrooms short when he was fifteen or sixteen and still in high school. The studio has a history of finding filmmakers on YouTube.

“David Sandberg, the director of that film, was actually himself a YouTube creator.”

Horror's post-COVID boom

Abhijay Prakash says the COVID-nineteen pandemic had an outsized impact on the horror film industry.Pre-COVID, horror was never more than ten percent of the box office.

“Horror as a share of the box office…pre-COVID, was never more than 10% of the box office.”

Blumhouse dominates horror market

Blumhouse Atomic Monster controls over fifty percent of the horror box office. Prakash says the studio lives and breathes horror, focusing exclusively on the genre while the wider industry diversifies.

“So our market share is over 50% of the horror box office. And that's where we're focused.”

Why audiences crave collective fear

Michael Clear thinks the pandemic drove people toward more social activities.People are craving collective experiences and going to movies in larger groups.

“Maybe all the isolation has just driven people towards more social activities.”

AI tools democratize horror filmmaking

Many scary shorts on social media are products of AI. Michael Clear says anything that makes filmmaking more democratic can be great, enabling more talented people to enter the space.

“Anything that makes filmmaking more democratic can can be great.”

Authenticity matters more than AI

Clear cautions that audiences want horror to feel authentic and genuine. The scariest things are those that feel most real. Blumhouse focuses on doing things as practically as possible rather than relying on artificial imagery.

“The things that are scariest are the things that feel the most real.”

Blumhouse aims to be Disney of horror

Abhijay Prakash told The Ankler early this year that his goal for Blumhouse Atomic Monster is to be the Disney of fear.

“Every place that consumers engage with scary stories is a place that we as a business will be.”

Horror expands beyond existing fans

Michael Clear says Blumhouse's idea is not just to cater to existing horror fans but to grow the fanbase for all things spooky.

“We like to think that we can provide a kind of gateway horror.”