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The October Film Haunt
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Book Presentation:
Horror Movie meets the scope and emotion of Stephen King in this heart-pounding, magnetic tour de force novel, destined to become an instant classic, about a woman pulled into a cult horror film that is determined to have a sequel, by critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.
Ten years ago, Jorie Stroud was the rising star of the October Film Haunt – a trio of horror enthusiasts who camped out at the filming locations of their favorite scary movies, sharing their love through their popular blog. But after a night in the graveyard from Proof of Demons – perhaps the most chilling cult film ever made, directed by the enigmatic Hélène Enriquez – everything unraveled.
Now, Jorie has built an isolated life with her young son in Vermont. In the devastating wake of her viral, truth-stretching Proof of Demons blog entry ― hysteria, internet backlash, and the death of a young woman ― Jorie has put it all, along with her intense love for the horror genre, behind her.
Until a videotape arrives in the mail. Jorie fears someone might be filming her. And the “Rickies” – Enriquez obsessives who would do anything for the reclusive director – begin to cross lines in shocking ways. It seems Hélène Enriquez is making a new kind of sequel…and Jorie is her final girl.
As the dangers grow even more unexpected and strange, Jorie must search for answers before the Proof of the movie’s title finds her and takes everything she loves.
This riveting and layered horror novel unleashes supernatural terror in a world where truth can be manipulated, and nothing is as it seems. Beautiful and horrifying, with an unforgettable cast of characters, The October Film Haunt will shock and delight readers all the way to its breathless final page.
"So unique and steeped in 21st century paranoia and dread you won't be able to read this alone at night." - Paul Tremblay
"The horror in here is palpable, but the writing itself is just as scary: How can one pen have this many good lines in it?" - Stephen Graham Jones
About the Author:
MICHAEL WEHUNT has been a finalist for multiple Shirley Jackson Awards and was shortlisted for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts' Crawford Award. In Spain, his stories have garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. He haunts the woods outside Atlanta with his partner and their dog. Together, they hold the horrors at bay.
Press Reviews:
Most Anticipated by Library Journal * Den of Geek
"The horror in here is palpable, and timely, and sticky, but the writing itself is just as scary: How can one pen have this many good lines in it?" ―Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher and Don't Fear the Reaper
"Michael Wehunt's rabbit punch of a novel is as beautifully written as it is affecting. The October Film Haunt cleverly deconstructs horror stories while at the same time constructing one that is so unique and steeped in 21st century paranoia and dread you won't be able to read this alone at night. Speaking for a friend, of course." ―Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts
"The October Film Haunt is the written equivalent to the feeling you get when you’ve entered a space you hadn’t realized was occult, alarmingly occult, truly occult. The book feels like an ambush; as real as any fear you’ve surprisingly endured. It’s like Wehunt has a bridle on the narrative, his capacity is something to be celebrated; the chapters unfold like a series of perfectly mystic riddles. This is an extraordinary book, carried by an unsettling baritone hum, not dissimilar to the whir of a VCR that should never have been plugged in to begin with." ―Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Incidents Around the House
"Haunting, clever, and flat-out scary. I plan to read it again to figure out how Wehunt pulled it off." ―Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Boogeyman and Memorials
"The October Film Haunt will dig a hole in you, plant roots, and grow. Michael Wehunt's novel is both a meditation on film―its language and its power―and a terrifying exploration of how our pasts can haunt us as persistently as any ghost." ―Nick Cutter, bestselling author of The Queen and The Troop
"Intelligent, emotional, and very very scary. One of the best books I’ve read in years. The October Film Haunt begins personal, zooms out to epic, and then ends with you and the book curled alone, in the dark, with someone or something standing, unwelcome, in the corner. Wehunt’s prose is beautiful and his observations about horror film fandom and horror filmmaking… hit a little too close to home. But maybe that’s just a me thing." ―Adam Cesare, USA Today bestselling author of Influencer and Clown in a Cornfield
"Michael Wehunt has given us a book as ominous and slippery as the grainy, uncanny fright flicks its protagonists are consumed by. Full of unshakeable imagery and gorgeous, can't-peel-your-eyes-away prose, The October Film Haunt feels like a cursed tape you’re not sure you should’ve watched, but can't bring yourself to stop." ―Nat Cassidy, author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Nestlings
"Infused with atmospheric, seeping dread that slowly creeps down your spine, this is a captivating story not to be missed. Perfectly fuses unhinged online cult fandoms with found footage horror films. Your heart is going to crawl up your throat in the best way." ―CG Drews, New York Times Bestselling author of Don’t Let The Forest In
"Deliciously creepy! Michael Wehunt’s The October Film Haunt deftly pairs emotional heft with nightmare fuel against the eerie backdrop of a cult horror film whose obsessed fans are determined to resurrect with a very real sequel. Character-driven, dramatically powerful, and with a distinct creepy flavor, this is my favorite kind of horror." ―Craig DiLouie, author of How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive
"The October Film Haunt is a masterpiece of miasma. Imagine The Truman Show helmed by Wes Craven. Author Michael Wehunt manifests one unsafe space after another on nearly every suffocating page of this horror film fever dream, hereby inhabiting his own liminal pedestal of dissonant dread alongside such unparalleled practitioners as Paul Tremblay, Laird Barron, and John Langan." ―Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
"A labyrinthine and devastatingly complex exploration of lore and trauma, Michael Wehunt’s impressive debut novel The October Film Haunt recalls the exemplary unease of his short fiction while forging exciting, new territory in horror. Each page of Wehunt’s novel sighs with the terrifying promise of dread, the soft whispers of legends and mythologies aching to be exposed. I remain a dedicated fan of Michael Wehunt." ―Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
"What Stephen Graham Jones's Indian Lake trilogy does with slasher films, Wehunt's The October Film Haunt does with the found footage and occult genres. A smart, genre-savvy book that gets very, very weird. An excellent and uncompromising debut." ―Brian Evenson, author of Good Night, Sleep Tight and Songs for the Unravelling the World
"Sometimes, a horror novel becomes something more. A deepening. A lengthening of thought. An examination turning on its own fulcrum. What Michael Wehunt has done with The October Film Haunt is nothing short of astounding. This is a love letter to horror and the films blessed with that name. I have never read anything quite like this novel, and I don’t think I will again." ―Kristi DeMeester, Georgia Author of the Year Finalist and author of The Dark Sisters, Such a Pretty Smile, and Beneath
"I’m forever awestruck by Michael Wehunt. His imagination is dark and lyrical, his prose transportive. The October Film Haunt is a masterful work by a horror writer whose talents I want the world to know and love―and fear." ―Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
"The October Film Haunt delves into the realm of the cursed horror film as it asks: Why do some horror movies refuse to stay confined to their screens? But alongside the riveting genre metatext, Wehunt redefines what the supernatural means in the 21st century. Smart, gripping, and utterly terrifying, this book will make you rethink your relationship with both the camera and social media." ―Wendy N. Wagner, author of The Deer Kings
"Michael Wehunt’s The October Film Haunt builds on the masterful foundation of his short story collections, Greener Pastures and The Inconsolables. A thread of genuine, bone-chilling unease runs throughout all of his work; here it reaches a fever pitch; this is a terrifying novel. There are sequences and images that have invaded my sleep and my daydreams. Read, but beware." ―Alison Rumfitt, author of Brainwyrms and Tell Me I'm Worthless
"For a few years now, Michael Wehunt has quietly been producing some of the most unsettling horror short stories in the country. With his first novel, The October Film Haunt, he shows he's even scarier in the long form. This is an eerie and savage work of meta-horror made all the more effective for the delicacy of its psychological portrayals. Slide this one into the VCR and let it wreck you." ―Nathan Ballingrud, author of Crypt of the Moon Spider and The Strange
See the publisher website: St. Martin's Press
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The Screen Chills Companion, 1931–1939 (2025)
Films of the Golden Age of Hollywood Horror
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