Horror Website Bloody Disgusting is one of the strongest pillars of the community it has helped build since it was founded in 2001, and in recent years its growth has been massive. A lot is owed to their acquisition of the SCREAMBOX streaming platform and the burgeoning offering of its Bloody FM podcast and radio programming. Of course, all of this rides on the shoulders of the journalistic trajectory of the site and its foothold on all things horror. It goes without saying that the future is bright for Bloody Disgusting, and it’s become even brighter with the announcement of an expanded focus on podcast and radio and the creation of a new publishing imprint, all a product of its partnership with streaming tech and entertainment company Cineverse.
Cineverse went into specifics in a recent announcement that revealed the new imprint will be named Bloody Press and that it will make its debut with a novelization of Damien Leone‘s Terrifier 2written by Tim Wagoner. It will be available as a prose book, an e-book, and an audiobook, and it’s aiming for a February 2024 release. The now-franchise that turned Art the Clown into a new horror icon will also be getting a podcast.
Leading the charge is Bloody Disgusting’s own Tom Owen in the role of managing director of audio and Pacific Obadiah as head of original programming for the Cineverse Podcast Network. They will be working together to build up the podcast side of things with a series of shows that go deep enough to build a fanbase. Bloody FM has already found success with their new series The Deadset in the George Romero‘s zombie universe and developed in collaboration with The George A. Romero Foundation (also known as the GARF), and it’s also gearing up for the premiere of Dead Space: Deep Cover which is based on the Electronic Arts survival horror video game.
SCREAMBOX has already proven to hold its own with exclusives and originals, namely the two Terrifier movies along with the upcoming Christmas-themed offering that’ll release in 2024. Documentaries like RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop and Who Done It: The Clue Documentary are giving the streamer a much-needed boost in variety and content versatility to help it put up a fight against Shudderthe other horror streaming giant. Takashi Shimizu‘s Village films have all found a home in SCREAMBOXtoo, and Kenichi Ugana‘s ultra gory splatterfest Visitors will be arriving on November 21st as an exclusive.
Bloody Disgusting and Cineverse’s announcements certainly set the stage for a friendly battle between horror streamers for the hearts and minds of fans, viscera and gray matter included. Shudder is certainly the Goliath in this scenario, but SCREAMBOX is no David. These moves signal an intention to claim more horror real-estate from the competition, even though horror fans tend to be pretty supportive of all things dark and bloody. What’s clear is that there’s never been a better time to be a fan of horror, and that Bloody Disgusting and Cineverse are set to make sure there’s enough of it to go around for everyone.
