ComingSoon is excited to debut the exclusive First Word on Horror trailer for the upcoming fifteen-part documentary series, which hails from Philip Gelatt, Will Battersby, and Morgan Galen King’s Etch. This marks the independent animation and production company’s first-ever project.
“The documentary profiles five of the finest horror writers working today. Across multiple episodes, each author discusses their life, their inspirations, their philosophies, and their writing techniques while reading one of their short stories,” reads the logline. “As fact and fiction blend, secrets are revealed and the delicate alchemy that turns human experience into creative expression begins to emerge. The series is a love letter to writers of all ilk, to the primacy of the human experience, and to the simple act of reading a damned good story.”
Check out the exclusive First Word on Horror trailer below (watch more trailers):
When is the First Word on Horror release date?
First Word on Horror is scheduled to make its debut on February 7, 2025, exclusively on Substack. The writers who will be featured in the documentary are New York Times best sellers, multi-award winners, and cult favorites. Season 1 will include Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Elizabeth Hand, Laird Barron, and Mariana Enriquez.
The series is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Philip Gelatt (Love Death + Robots), with Will Battersby serving as a producer. The creative team also includes director of photography Sean Kirby, composer Peter Scartabello, editor April Merl, and sound designer Ben Cheah.
“Before I loved film or video games or comics, I loved books and writers. In particular, Horror writers were seminal to how I viewed the world. I was raised on King and Rice, on Barker and Lovecraft. As with so many other people, their work made me,” Gellatt said in a statement. “The series is purposefully human-forward, designed to remind us of the humanity at the core of creativity. Especially now, in the current moment of technological advancement and uncertainty, with the future so unknown, it’s important to remember that it’s human beings who give us our dreams and our nightmares; that it’s as human to hope as it is to fear; and that it’s human to want to find someone there in the dark with you.”
