Horror All Year Calendar

There's way too many great horror comics, movies, books, video games and TV shows to enjoy them for only one month a year. This calendar is to help you spread the thematic scares through all 12 months. Trevor Henderson is the originator of this great idea, and special thanks to Magen Cubed and Drew Rausch for helping me put this together.

For horror fans, this is a starting guide for the different sub-genres of horror and thematic months to dig in.

For horror creators, this can help you plan when to promote your back catalog work OR when to spotlight/review older works you've had in your sights. (A link to the calendar and/or a shout-out in anything you make would be appreciated.)

Below are my reasons for the (scary) seasons as well as a sporadically updated list of suggestions to help get you started. Click the links below if you want to jump to a particular month.

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

(Click the box above to expand it and see all of the text)

January | Cosmic and Sci-Fi Horror

Long nights, short days, and New Year's Resolutions. Time seems to move way too fast or it barely moves at all. It's enough to make you think about your place in the universe. The large, cold, unending, universe that humankind's entire timeline barely counts as a blink within. It's probably not as bad as what Cosmic and Sci-Fi Horror protagonists are dealing with. Probably.

Suggestions:

Memetic by James Tynion IV, Eryk Donovan, and Adam Guzowski

February | Psychological Horror

Is that love in the air, or is that obsession? Are you just a little stir crazy after staying in from the cold, or is it something else? Sometime what's scariest isn't the unknown, but realizing your mind, or the minds of those around you are not as familiar as you'd like them to be.

Suggestions:

PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama

March | Supernatural Horror

March brings Ash Wednesday and Lent: The Catholic tradition of fasting prayer and repentance. What better way to spend that time than witnessing the terrors that Lent is supposed to protect you from? Witches, vampires, demons, exorcisms, and devils, these Supernatural creatures might be scary enough to get you to go back to church.

Suggestions:

Hello Sunshine by Keezy Young

The Arrangement by J Clarke and Mollie Cortes

Hector Plasm by Benito Cereno, Nate Bellegarde, and Derek Hunter

April | Body Horror

Seasons are turning over and Spring is finally here. Ice shatters and melts, new growth bursts from the once-barren soil. Something is there that wasn't just a few days before. Good thing that's happening to the environment and not your flesh and bones right? Right?

Suggestions:

Mage and The Endless Unknown by SJ Miller

May | Folk, Fantasy and Backwoods Horror

Spring, and Memorial day weekend? Let's go camping! Leave town, leave far enough that the customs seem strange to you. Pull out the maypoles and the old traditions. Visit forests where you are engulfed by the pines and brush, no steel or concrete in sight. Escape to horror stories featuring fantastic places that you should never find yourself in.

Suggestions

Things are AFoot! by Emilie Kelly

Cardinal Junction by Crimson Keeper

June | Creature Features

It's blockbuster season and nothing busts the block like a creature feature. Fangs, claws, and a face that only a very passionate part of the internet could love, these horror stories feature nasty beasts of all stripes and sizes. Bonus points if the creature is made with a rubber suit, prosthetics, and good old-fashioned special effects.

Suggestions:

Brand Echo by Charlotte Finn and Ing

July | Slashers

There's a story told around the campfire (you might've heard about it) about a killer who killed a frankly ridiculous amount of teenagers. These horror stories are about killers (usually person shaped) who kill human beings in the most imaginative and brutal ways possible. As subtle as the heavy metal tracks that feature on the credits, the best slashers know what they're about and bring the buckets of blood to match it.

Suggestions:

Maniac of New York by Elliott Kalan, Andrea Mutti, and Taylor Esposito

Grim Reefer by Claudio Munoz, Kote Carvajal, and Thatcher E. Cleveland

August | International Horror

“Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” is a quote from Director Director Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Mickey 17) about international film.

It's also the motivation behind this month. It's a scorcher, so take a terrifying vacation with a horror story, movie, or game outside your home country. Who knows, maybe you'll find something new you didn't even know you could be frightened of!

Suggestions:

H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth by Gou Tanabe and translated by Zack Davisson

Hel's Poem by Mihael B. Peralta

September | Pre, During, and Post-Apocalypse

Summer's over and school's back (which is pretty much the end of the world). Might as well deal with the stress by watching folks who are dealing with something much worse than you. These stories are about the end of everything, how it happens, and what it's like after. If the good folks over at Dead Meat's The Kill Count need to bring out the calculator, you're probably on the right track. (It might also be a good time to check on your bug-out bag.)

Suggestions:

AinoloniA - Return to Parascythe by J.K.Borealis

Last Band on Earth by Elaine M. Will

Mythpocalypse by Alex Smith, April Brown, Claudio Munoz, Daniel Caval, Morrighan Corbel, and Thacher E. Cleveland

October | Halloween

Alright, if you've made it this far, then I know you're a horror-head through and through. You go to Spirit Halloween in August and your October schedule is packed tighter than a Trick or Treat bag at 11pm on October 31st. Because of that, I have a few suggestions.

1. There's enough horror specifically about Halloween that you could just enjoy that and cartoon Halloween episodes all month.
2. If you're trying to get the most scares per day this month: Horror Anthologies. You'll get to see more monsters, frights, and spooks in a few hours than most will in a week.
3. Use this as a chance to make your normie friends watch that one thing you've been waiting on.
4. Do whatever you feel like doing because it's also just a month on the calendar and no one is grading you on this.

Suggestions:

This Place is Full of Fiendish Things! By Drew Rausch

Hellaween by Moss Lawton

The Last Halloween by Abby Howard

November | Noir and Monochrome Horror

Just because the palette is limited doesn't mean your bones will be any less chilled. Someone who knows too much, someone who is in over their heads, and the damn city who has to bear witness. Stories where the revolver weighs heavy in your hands, but it's nothing compared to the dread climbing up your back. Black, white, good, evil, it all fades together.

Suggestions:

The Crossroads At Midnight by Abby Howard

Horror on Hogger Hill By Jamil Scalese, Claudio Muñoz, Nikki Powers

December | Ghost Stories and Gothic Horror

Nights drag on and the frigid tendrils of winter are closing their grip. The winds blow outside as you enter times filled with friends, family, memories, and ghosts. Horror stories to be told by the hearth, these feature Old haunts, old loves, people and places you probably shouldn't go to.

When I Arrived At The Castle By E.M. Carroll

Our Grand Illusion by Mariah Currey

Great news: The year is cyclical, so you can just go back to the top when January's here again. Wild!