Never Be Alone, Especially Never After Dark, In This Eerie Thriller

The trick of saying, “I won’t do this, especially Never After Dark” can be a loaded response. In this film’s case, what’s presented hints at all those things lurking nearby rather than hiding in the shadows….

Never After DarkMagnolia Pictures
Please check local listings for screenings

As I kick off October with some more horror films to view at night, Dave Boyle’s latest film, Never After Dark, tries its best to show that this writer/director has an overwhelming interest in the supernatural side of Japan. Although he isn’t of Asian or Japanese ancestry, his movies offer his interpretation rather than follow what’s established. The main character is not an onmyoji. There is no Western equivalent to the diverse skills required to become such a person. In some ways, a person with the skills of a priest, diviner and seer can be labelled as such.

With his latest, once that light dims, secrets will come crawling out of nowhere. In this film’s case, it’s about Airi (Moeka Hoshi), a medium trying to keep those skeletons in her own closet locked up. She’s not a certified one and is self-professed after discovering she can see her dead sister in mirrors. And to have that access around while going out to solve other people’s problems can be helpful and dangerous. When she’s a magnet for the deceased, anyone can come calling. 

When she’s hired by the owner of a fancy, out-of-the-way hotel to clear out those ghosts, well…

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Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2026. Five Essential Top Picks and The ScareScore Experiment! Do We Really Need It?

For those folks able to attend Toronto After Dark Film Festival, it’s time to power up those smartwatches!

Toronto After Dark Film FestivalToronto After Dark Film Festival (TADFF) officially announced its lineup for its 19th year. And although Casey Walker’s films (Home Bodies and Ithaqua) are suspiciously missing from this year’s lineup, there’s no need to be concerned. His work will be playing somewhere as the cold chill strikes Canada. In this case, though, what will befall Cineplex Scotiabank Theatre (259 Richmond St W) and CineCycle (129 Spadina Ave)? The event takes place from October 14 to 18, 2026, and this year’s event is unique, which I will talk about later.

What has my attention this year are works that showcase what Austin Abrams can truly do rather than simply running around and doing nothing. The festival kicks off with the Canadian Premiere of Brian Duffield’s Whalefall. A tense and emotionally charged survival thriller starring Austin Abrams (Resident Evil) and Josh Brolin (Weapons), the film depicts the harrowing story of a scuba diver (Abrams) who finds himself swallowed whole by a sperm whale and trapped inside the animal’s stomach. With a dwindling supply of oxygen in his tank, the young man turns to the nautical and life lessons his father passed on to him in a desperate bid to survive. Jonah’s Whale this tale is not, and honestly, who doesn’t want to check this out?

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DreamWorks Forgotten Island: When All Is Not Lost

Forgotten Island may not be fully amazing, but to offer a tale about two lost souls, one found and another feeling wreched is key to how this tale got formed.

Forgotten IslandIt seems that when DreamWorks releases an original work, not everyone is excited about it. Personally, I’ve been eager to see something that isn’t an adaptation of a children’s book or YA novel, and Forgotten Island fills that gap perfectly! What’s presented is a mishmash of Filipino folklore woven into a tale crafted for the same demographic to watch rather than enjoy on paper.

Here, Raissa Molina (Liza Soberano) and Jo Yuson (Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson) are two kids who meet under the most auspicious of circumstances and quickly become best friends. Years later, as high school graduation looms, Raissa’s parents announce she’s going to Caltech to study, and Jo fears being left behind. What they discover during their “last days” together sends them on a fantasy trip to Wonderland!

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Ten Scary Halloween Themed Comic Books to Read This October!

This year’s lineup of Halloween themed comic books is sure to please readers young and old, and not skip a beat for what’s important for fans of long running franchises (or authors of the macabre) too!

Chibi Ed reading comics resizedThis year marks the return of Hellraiser, and for some of us, that is already enough reason to crack open a new comic book. BOOM! Studios is heading back into Clive Barker’s Cenobite-filled nightmare, and that will be looked at in a separate article. Meanwhile, this year’s Halloween themed comic books offer plenty of room for haunted kids’ clubs, cosmic horror and a few monsters who deserve more than one October night for a reader like me to absorb them all.

This list excludes established annuals like Hello Halloween and Scream! Halloween Special. Sadly, it seems Dark Horse Comics is not continuing with what they tried to establish from a few years ago. After Headless Horseman 2023, and 2024, and 2025 having come and gone, it’s a shame this spirit has lost his mojo. Instead, what we got is Mad Cave Studios’ Terrorbytes Halloween Annual. But with this being its first issue, it’s too early to assume it will become an annual tradition.

So what I got on my pile of books to read are the following. Some works are already out and others waiting to be picked up!

A Ghost Arm Made of Angry Ghosts

A GHOST ARM MADE OF ANGRY GHOSTS _1354x2048Release Date: September 2, 2026
Publisher: Oni Press

Sixteen-year-old Ari Ackerman has just witnessed a murder, or perhaps two. He is not entirely sure, and that uncertainty is only one more strange thing to process while his cancer-stricken father repeatedly hovers near death. Ari would rather lose himself in Washington, D.C.’s punk scene with his best friend Maya Meng, especially if it means seeing Jawbox at the Black Cat, but unexplained deaths have a way of wrecking even the best plans.

That mix of grief, adolescent confusion and peculiar supernatural trouble makes this sound like more than a standard ghost story. The comparison list, which ranges from Love and Rockets and David Lynch to Agatha Christie and Fugazi, suggests a book with its own scruffy rhythm. Readers who like their horror a little offbeat, personal and steeped in music-scene energy should give this one a look.

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To the West Coast and Not Beyond! Shot in Vancouver: Adventures in Hollywood North Dives Deep Into Pop Culture History in BC!

Shot in Vancouver traces the productions that helped shape British Columbia’s screen industry. Sam Wiebe’s book rewards curiosity with familiar favourites and local discoveries, although its preview copy leaves some gaps.

Shot in Vancouver
Available to order on Amazon USA

The one thing I immediately noticed in Sam Wiebe’s book, Shot in Vancouver: Adventures in Hollywood North, is the lack of an index in the preview copy I received to read. When I’m trying to find out whether a certain movie or television production was filmed in town, at Terminal City, or somewhere else, having an index would come in handy. If that’s intentionally part of this book’s design, I hope the retail copy will be different. That’s because of the way he’s built the chapters, which move back and forth in chronology and purpose.

And along the way, the details he offers can make or break a section. That includes historical anecdotes about when Yvonne De Carlo made this city her home and why some Asian movies were filmed here. When downtown Vancouver was part of the Rumble in the Bronx set and the biggest running joke amongst fans during release was why are there mountains in the background? Even I looked at this chapter rather than to start on page one to see if that concern was ever addressed by the producers. Even today, there’s no official statement. Had this film historian sought an answer, I’d be pleased. But instead, all he wrote about is how this film helped certain talents begin their legacy.

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Halloween 2026 in Victoria, BC: From Spooky Performance Theatre to Wicked Markets, This List Has ‘Em All

No this in’t Pokemon, but it seems Halloween 2026 in Victoria, BC will be packed with enough variety to please little ones and big ones with this collection of top picks on what to do that isn’t corporate sponsor related.

Halloween 2026 in Victoria, BC with Chibi EdThis year’s list of theatrical style events for Halloween 2026 in Victoria, BC is looking good. How much I can take on depends on whether these ol’ bones can still rattle with the best of them! If I had to limit myself, my top picks would include High Moon, which the producers say will be louder and bloodier. It’ll be an improvement upon what I said in my review, or one can read my interview with the creators here. And along with Dread Noir, Final Curtain, and Witches in the Closet, this year promises to be a spooky good time.

That’s technically four, but I’d include Halloween Market YYJ because it has an entertainment component, music from DJ Brian Boitano, workshops, and pumpkin beer. Now in its fifth year, it’s worth mentioning! The following is a list of everything I’ve compiled with the assistance of the great community of Theatre Victoria on Facebook!

Live Theatre Productions

An All-Drag Cast: Rocky Horror

Rocky Horror LipsDate(s): Oct. 22–25, 2026
Venue: Greenhouse (1411 Quadra Street)

Drag Sunday Productions’ all-drag parody of The Rocky Horror Picture Show returns for its fifth year. This strictly 19+ audience-participation event invites guests to dress up, shout callbacks, and use props while the cast serves up a campy, high-energy take on the cult classic. ID is checked at the door.

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