
Nerd Horror Newscast | Ep. 4
We’re back with another earful of blood-soaked headlines and horror nerdery. In today’s episode, your scream shepherd Justine Norton-Kertson dives into the genre’s latest madness

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: THE KINDRED GLITCH

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: Sasquatch’S AWAKENING
Alone in the woods, Dave had eaten way too many psychedelic mushrooms. So when a massive figure—hairier than an overgrown lawn, with eyes that glowed like fireflies emerged from the shadows and stood over his campfire, he didn’t even panic.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: CHAMP 2.0
Billy Walsh was a shitty, mad scientist whose anger caused a lot of issues in his life. With an emphasis on mad—he was also an arrogant, grudge holding asshole with mommy issues, whose rich parents footed the bill for his life. The people of Ticonderoga, NY, had shunned him after The Incident (which involved a genetically mutated squirrel, a taser, and an unfortunate explosion at the Stewart’s gas station). But tonight, revenge would be his.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: MARIO’S SPECIAL PIZZA
Mario, the lab’s most promising chimpanzee, had always been curious. His handlers, marveled at his growing intellect as they pumped him full of experimental pharmaceuticals. The VR headset, designed to boost his cognitive abilities, was his gateway to a new world. The only thing Mario loved more than the pizza he was given for doing a good job in VR by his favorite scientist, Dr. Kim, was the world itself. He excelled at navigating through it unlike the other chimps—those vibrant landscapes, the endless possibilities were a respite from the real world and cruelness at the hands of Dr. Keller. But today, something was different.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: RABBIT MEAT
Ben awoke violently to the sound of a large thud. The smell of damp earth and rot filled his nose as he opened his eyes. His wrists burned from the ropes binding him to the cold, wooden floor of the dilapidated house. He turned, realizing now, that the noise that brought him back to consciousness was his best friend, Jake. His lifeless body leaked a pool of blood onto the floor. A grotesque, half-rabbit figure stood over him menacingly. Ben looked into its eyes, glowing with malevolent hunger. The cultists, draped in filthy, ragged rabbit masks, left the room. Ben could see them through the open door in the hallway as they circled the altar, chanting in a language that made his skin crawl.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: THE DEMON’S DESERT
Grandma rocked in her chair, the firelight flickering in her cloudy eyes. “Your great-grandfather told me stories, bambina. From Calabria, where he was a boy. Dark stories.”

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: WOLFMOTHER
Rachel crouched in the darkness, fingertips brushing the metal band at the base of her skull. Below, five men laughed—her family’s murderers.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL
Stephanie had always been curious about the mushroom gummies her friends raved about. One warm July evening, she donned her mother's vintage Motley Crue "Shout at the Devil" shirt and snuck out to meet Fiona and Katie behind the library. Eagerly, she grabbed a handful of Katie's psilocybin treats, consuming four times the recommended dosage before they all shared a joint to kickstart the experience.

GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: LENA
Lena had never seen the app before. A black icon with a blinking red eye sat on her home screen, though she didn’t remember installing it. Curious, she tapped it.

Companion (2025) Review: Setting The Standard for Nerd Horror
Companion not only cements itself as one of the most socially relevant horror films of our time but also solidifies its place as a defining work of .nerd horror.

Taylor Time and the Rise of Niche Social Media
Taylor Time represents something potentially more significant: the emergence of highly specialized social media platforms designed for specific communities. As public trust in mega-platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (or X, depending on whom you ask) continues to erode, niche platforms like Taylor Time may hold the key to a more authentic, user-centric future.

Nosferatu (1922): a Timeless Delight for Nerd Horror Fans
On Day 5 of my 365 Days of Horror adventure, I continued my journey into the origins of cinematic terror by watching the original Nosferatu, F.W. Murnau’s iconic silent horror film from 1922.

Les Vampires (1915) and The Birth of Episodic Horror
Often considered one of the earliest and most ambitious examples of serialized filmmaking, Les Vampires holds a unique place in film history, offering insights into the evolution of horror and its intersection with serialized storytelling. 365 Days of Horror, Day 4.

Exploring Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912): A Silent Horror Pioneer
For fans of horror—and especially for those drawn to the genre's nerdier, literary side—the 1912 silent film adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde offers a fascinating glimpse into early cinematic storytelling. 365 Days of Horror Day 3.

The First Frankenstein Film: 365 Days of Horror
Long before Karloff’s Monster graced the silver screen in Universal’s 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein, an earlier version of Mary Shelley’s timeless tale flickered to life in a short, silent 1910 film made by Thomas Edison’s production company. 365 Days of Horror, Day 2.

365 Days of Horror: Day 1 - The First Horror Movie
Take a trip with us through 365 Days of Horror, where we watch and write about one horror movie per day during 2025, starting with what is considered to be the very first horror movie, made in 1896, Le Manoir du Diable.

THE CRYPT OF MUPPET HORROR
Welcome to a world where horror meets Henson’s Muppets. In a dark corner of reality that is familiar, yet eerily different, prepare for terror, laughter, and an existential crisis as your favorite felt friends star in their creepiest and most iconic roles yet.

Fare Thee Well Gizmo: A Nerd Horror Love Letter to WWDITS
What We Do in the Shadows stands as a distinctive blend of horror and comedy that appeals to both horror aficionados and comedy enthusiasts by artfully twists common character tropes and intertwining supernatural elements with sharp humor, earning its place as a nerd horror masterpiece.

The Fleshy Frontier: Body Horror’s Morbid Influence on Star Trek’s Utopian Vision
Body horror in Star Trek serves as a thematic counterbalance to its utopian vision. While Star Trek often portrays a hopeful representation of humanity’s potential, body horror highlights the precariousness of the human condition. By showcasing characters’ bodies transformed against their will, these episodes interrogate themes of bodily autonomy, personal identity, and existential vulnerability.