Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to
horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers
horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website four times and was selected as
AMC's Site of the Week in 2008.
History
Dread Central was founded on July 4, 2006. When a venture to create a horror-themed cable television channel stalled, the web team left and established their own news site. In 2012, a negative review posted by Scott Foy attracted controversy when Foy and the film's director,
Jim Wynorski, engaged in a verbal altercation online. On September 30, 2019, Jonathan Barkan announced he was stepping down as editor-in-chief. As of December 2021, Mary Beth McAndrews is now Editor-in-Chief and Josh Korngut is managing editor.
Website
The site's staff use horror-themed aliases. The website has a broad focus, and it covers both mainstream and fringe topics that range from
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
s to comics to toys. Besides reviews and news, they also host several podcasts.
Steve Persall of the ''
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' states, "if it gushes blood or desecrates flesh, Dread Central covers it."
The site is oriented toward a male demographic and favors edgy, exploitative films.
[
After 10 years, Dread Central became reader-supported via Patreon. This would make Dread Central the first genre news site to switch from being ad-supported to being crowd supported.]
Other ventures
In 2007, Dread Central and VersusMedia announced ''Horror D'Oeuvres'', a competition for independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s. In 2008, the site partnered with several other prominent horror sites and studios in a horror-themed auction to raise money for the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In 2013, they partnered with Gas Lamp Museum and the San Diego Ghost Hunters to organize a ghost hunt at the William Heath Davis House. The proceeds went toward upkeep for the historic site. Also in 2013, they began offering the "Box of Dread", a random package full of merchandise delivered monthly to subscribers, one of whom is randomly chosen to receive a "special edition" valued at $250.
CineMayhem
CineMayhem, a film festival for independent genre films, was founded by Heather Wixson in association with Dread Central's Indie Horror Month. The festival, whose inaugural date was March 2–3, 2013, is presented in Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tr ...
. The festival is backed by Scream Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
, Sideshow Collectibles, Magnet Releasing, and Breaking Glass Pictures.
Reaper Awards
Dread Central and '' Home Media Magazine'' present the Reaper Awards annually for the best home video releases and direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...
features. It is held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and is hosted by Steve Barton, co-founder of Dread Central.
DREAD
In 2017, Dread Central Media was acquired by Epic Pictures Group
Epic Pictures Group is an independent film and television studio engaged in the development, financing, production and distribution of film and television. Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent ...
. The independent studio announced it would be launching a new distribution label specializing in horror films released in theaters and on demand.Director's Cut
A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...
''
* ''Ditched''
* ''Extremity''
* ''The Golem''
* ''Imitation Girl''
* '' Lasso''
* '' The Lodgers''
* ''Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
''Terrifier
''Terrifier'' is a 2016 slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. It stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, Catherine Corcoran, and David Howard Thornton. The film follows partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell), who becomes the target of a se ...
''
* ''To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story''
* '' Uncle Peckerhead''
Reception
Dread Central was chosen as AMC's Site of the Week, in 2008.[
It was nominated for Total Film's Best Horror Blog, in 2010.
It won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website for the years 2009-2012.]
References
External links
* {{Official website
American entertainment news websites
Horror fiction websites
Internet properties established in 2006