Dec. 30, 2025

This Week in Horror History | New Year Horror — Kwaidan, Witchboard & One Missed Call (Dec 29–Jan 4)

This Week in Horror History | New Year Horror — Kwaidan, Witchboard & One Missed Call (Dec 29–Jan 4)
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New Year’s horror, horror movie history, and messages from the other side—welcome to This Week in Horror History, the weekly horror podcast where we track what happened on these dates across film, books, and cult classics.In this episode, Henrique Couto follows a haunting thread that runs straight through the holiday: a phone that calls from the future, a killer hiding in the power grid, a cursed ghost anthology, and the original “new year, new monster” that’s been chasing us since 1818.This week in horror history (Dec 29–Jan 4):

  • Dec 29, 1964 — Kwaidan premieres in Tokyo, Japan: a gorgeous Japanese ghost anthology that feels like a curse you can’t look away from.
  • Dec 29, 1993 — Ghost in the Machine is released: serial killer + electricity + early internet panic = a surprisingly fun tech-haunting nightmare.
  • Jan 1, 1818 — Frankenstein is published: Mary Shelley’s warning label for ambition, still echoing through modern horror.
  • Jan 4, 2008 — One Missed Call opens in North America: a remake built on dread you can’t silence—because the voicemail is already there.
Horror birthdays this week: Barbara Steele, Eliza Dushku, Anthony Hopkins, Shelley Hennig, and Jaden Martell.

Where to watch / read (U.S., this week — availability changes fast):
  • Kwaidan — HBO Max
  • Ghost in the Machine — Rent: Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube
  • Witchboard — Free w/ ads: Tubi (plus Roku Channel and other ad-supported options); also available via subscriptions on select platforms
  • One Missed Call (2008) — Tubi, Apple TV
  • Frankenstein — Read free via Project Gutenberg / Archive.org
Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Savorista Coffee — premium half-calf and decaf blends. Grab yours at Savorista.com and use promo code SPOOKY for 25% off at checkout (and you support the podcast with every purchase).If you love horror movie history, spooky trivia, and date-driven deep dives, follow This Week in Horror History on the Weekly Spooky feed and ring in the new year the only proper way: with the lights low and the dread turned up.

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👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com
WEBVTT

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This time of year, horror doesn't just celebrate the new year,

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it weaponizes it. Because nothing feels quite as haunted as

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a calendar flipping over, a clean slate, a fresh start,

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and the creeping suspicion that something has followed you into it.

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This is the week of messages from the other side,

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some whispered through a wooden planchette, some delivered by a

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ringing phone, and some carried on humming wires like a

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ghost learning a new language. Welcome back to this week

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in horror history. I'm your host, Enriquekuto, and it's our

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last show of twenty five. This episode covers December twenty

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ninth through January fourth, seven days where the past keeps

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a calling and the line never quite disconnects. We keep

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the show fun, punchy, and spooky. Here's what's waiting for

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us this week. A gorgeous Japanese ghost anthology that feels

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like a curse you can't stop watching. A New Year's

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Eve Wuiji party that turns just for fun into never again,

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the monster that's been chasing us since eighteen eighteen, Frankenstein

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steps into the world, and a cursed voicemail that arrives

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stamped with the time You're going to die then will hit,

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a deep cut spotlight where the killer doesn't hide in

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the dark, he hides in the electricity. Plus horror birthdays

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for the week, then and now, and a weekly recommendation

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to take you into the new year. The Delightfully Wrong Way.

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December twenty ninth, nineteen sixty four. Quaydon premieres in Tokyo, Japan.

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If you've ever wanted a horror anthology that looks like

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a nightmare painted on silk, this is the one. Masaki

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Kobayashi's quite On adapts Japanese folk tales into four long

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form ghost stories, snow spirits, betrayed samurai, living hair, and

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a musician who performs for the dead. It's slow, deliberate,

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and absolutely hypnotic. The scares aren't jumpy, there inevitable, like

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the story already ended and just watching the moment that

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the doom finally lands. And it was a big swing.

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Reports put the budget around three hundred and eighteen to

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three hundred and eighty million yen, but it earned only

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two hundred and twenty five million yen at the domestic

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Japanese box office. An expensive, gorgeous gamble that somehow lost money.

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It's not just an art film. This was an example

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of a studio betting hard on ghosts and you can

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watch it right now on HBO Max. December thirty first,

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nineteen eighty six. Witchboard gets its first US limited theatrical

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release New Year's Eve. Is a perfect horror setting because

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everybody is a little sentimental and maybe a little reckless.

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Witchboard takes a party trick of hey, let's try the

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Luigi Board and treats it like a loaded pistol. It's

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not the flashiest film of the decade, but it's tight.

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It's got a lot of meanness, but also it's truly

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a funny and engrossing film, and honestly, all of Kevin

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Tenney's films are that way, whether you go for the

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most popular of his films, Night of the Demons, or

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even into his more obscure films like Brain Dead or

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Pinocchio's Revenge, and in my opinion, the truly underrated witch Trap,

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which is not directly related to any Witchboards, but a

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really fun time and with Witchboard it nails a very

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specific kind of fear, the moment you realize you invited

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something into your life and closing the session is not

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the same as closing the door, and this one actually

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had a really good run at the box office, roughly

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seven point million dollars grossed on about a one point

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five to two million dollar budget. An excellent little cult

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movie worth checking out if you've never seen it or

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revisiting this season. It's available to stream completely free on

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two BTV, Pluto TV, Sling TV, the Roku, Channel Plex,

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and Filo. You can also check it out on Amazon

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Prime with a subscription, or on AMC Plus. January first,

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eighteen eighteen, Frankenstein is published new Year, New Monster, one

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that never stopped evolving even now. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or

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the Modern Prometheus arrives like a warning label for ambition,

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a cautionary tale about creation without responsibility. The tragedy isn't

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just the creature, it's the human instinct to build something

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powerful and then abandon it the second it becomes inconvenient.

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Two centuries later, we're still living inside of that very question,

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what do we owe the things we make? When you

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consider that this story came about before computers, before a

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lot of modern technology, before the cotton gym, even let alone,

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before nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence. It gives you a

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lot to chew on, and I definitely recommend picking up

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a copy. The book is in the public domain, so

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you can download a pdf for free at the Gutenberg

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Press website or archive dot org or just about anywhere really.

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January fourth, two thousand and eight, One Missed Call opens

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in North America. A phone rings, you answer, and you

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hear the sound of your own death recorded as a

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voicemail from the future. One Missed Call is the American

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remake of legendary Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miyike's two thousand and

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three film, part of the mid two thousands wave where

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Hollywood tried to translate what was called Jay Horror into

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English and hope the Curse survived the trip. There were

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a lot of these, like Ringu, which became The Ring

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and The Grudge. There were a lot of these in

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the early two thousands. This one is a mixed bag,

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but the core hook is nasty. Your life is reduced

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to a timestamp, a countdown. You can't stop checking because

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ignored oring it doesn't make it go away. And I

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do want to mention I feel like time has been

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oddly kind to these early two thousand horror movies, similar

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ones like Sorority Row or House of Wax. They all

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have a lot to enjoy about them now that they're

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a little older and tapping into some nostalgia. Valentine is

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another one worth checking out if you've never seen it

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or if you remember hating it. Financially, it was the

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definition of a fine release, about forty five point eight

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million dollars worldwide on a twenty million dollar budget. Not

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a smash hit, but not a disaster either, just enough

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to make you wonder why it feels so empty. It's

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available to stream right now, completely free with ads, on

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two BTV as well as the Roku channel, or you

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can watch it on Amazon Prime or AMC Plus with

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a subscription. This episode is sponsored by save Arista Coffee,

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spend the next six hours wide eyed hearing phantom footsteps

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in the hallway, convinced the shadow in the corner is moving, breathing, waiting.

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heat death of the universe side effect. So if you're

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binging horror, working late, or creeping into the new year

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one mug at a time, make it a cup that

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from the break. If you've ever wondered what horror looks

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like when the killer doesn't need a knife or a body,

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in fact, doesn't even need to be alive, our deepcut

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Spotlight is about a serial killer who turns into pure current.

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The wall outlet becomes a doorway, the phone line becomes

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your throat, and every glowing screen becomes a window he

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can look through. Welcome back, my Spookies, Let's plug in

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and see what's on the other side of the circuit.

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Released on December twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three, Rachel Talalay's

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Ghost in the Machine is one of those early Internet

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panic movies that feels oddly prophetic. Now the premise is

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gloriously be movie. A serial killer dies during a storm

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and his consciousness gets absorbed into a computer system. Now

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he can travel through phone lines, power lines, and appliances,

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anything connected to the grid. This immediately gives me memories

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back to Christmas morning when I was trying to hook

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up the Bluetooth record player I had received, and instead

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of it connecting to my surround sound system, it just

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kept connecting to my stove. I was listening to Christmas

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records from my stove. So this film is not far off.

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It's it's the nightmare version of convenience. I suppose your

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life is smart, so it listens your devices are connected,

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so they invite him in. And here's the sad part

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though the movie was basically dead on arrival. This was

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the follow up film for Rachel Talalay, who had previously

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directed Freddie's Dead The Final Nightmare, and just two years

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after this film, she would make the cult classic Tank Girl.

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Ghost in the Machine had a lot going for it,

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including a phenomenal cast including Karen Allen and Chris Mulkey,

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but it just didn't seem to connect with audiences in

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the theaters. It cost around twelve million dollars to produce

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and only brought in around five point one million domestically.

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Most would call that a flop, but flops, as you

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should learn from listening to this program, can be treasures

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because when it works, it works like a comic book

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come to life in neon and electricity. And what makes

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it worth pulling off the shelf this week? You might ask? Well,

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Number one, it's a time capsule of nineties tech fear scanners, payphones,

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CRT monitors, and the belief that the system is bigger

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than you are. How can you not love that? Two?

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The set pieces are truly inventive, death by modern convenience,

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staged like the house itself is turning on you. And

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of course Talay directs it like she's having an absolute blast, sleek,

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fast and weirdly stylish for something this mean in the

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best possible way, And honestly, I feel like Freddy's dead

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and tank Girl also feel like she's just having a

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ball making her movie, which always makes me smile. As

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far as where to watch it right now, there's nowhere

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to watch it free with ads or with a subscription,

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but you can rent it at the usual suspects like

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Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and YouTube.

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I really do recommend you dust this one off and

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give it a little love that it so desperately deserves.

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But the real question is are you brave enough to

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spend New Year's Week staring at a glowing screen knowing

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something might be staring back? I read that off of

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a glowing screen. Now let's replace the eerie blue glow

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of electronics with the fun, festive, and deadly orange glow

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of birthday cake candles. I know right, these are horror

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birthdays for dis November twenty ninth through January fourth. First

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up born on December twenty ninth, nineteen thirty seven, it's

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Barbara Steel, and I have to say she is Gothic

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horror royalty, most known for Black Sunday. But I love

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her and Danza Macabra. I think she's bewitching. Her eyes

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just draw you in. She's a fascinating and beautiful person

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to look at. She basically taught cinema how to look haunted.

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So happy birthday. Barbara Steel born on December thirtieth, nineteen

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eighty is Eliza Douschkou. She brought strong survivor Energy to

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Wrong Turn, even though the woods were clearly a bad idea.

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She was also very memorable in the two thousand and

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eight film The Alphabet Killer. I think it's kind of

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an underrated flick. I definitely recommend checking it out. Happy Birthday,

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Eliza born on December thirty first, nineteen thirty seven is

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Anthony Hopkins, a chilling reminder that the scariest monsters can

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be brilliant and polite. Anthony Hopkins didn't dip his toe

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into a ton of horror, but his depiction of the

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terrifying Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and Red

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Dragon it's something you'll never quite get over. But at

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least while he's eating your flesh, you know he's using

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the right fork. Happy Birthday, Anthony Hopkins born on January Tewod,

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nineteen eighty seven is Shelley Hennig, a modern genre staple

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featured in films like Unfriended and Wigi, which, by the way,

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I think are both pretty underrated films. Although I'm a

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bigger fan of Ouigi two Origin of Evil, but I

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think Unfriended in particular deserves a lot more love than

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it gets of course, at the box office it got

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a ton of love, so maybe I'm just in an

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echo chamber. She really has a gift of making dread

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feel personal. And she's only one year younger than me,

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so I don't know if that makes me feel younger

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or older, but either way, Happy Birthday, Shelley hennig And

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Finally born on January fourth, two thousand and three, is

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Jaden Martel, a big screen face of fear, known particularly

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for It Well It being the It chapter one and

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briefly in chapter two. The kid knows how to sell

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terror without blinking. His facial expressions are highly, highly powerful,

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and if you haven't seen him in the film from

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twenty twenty four, Arcadian, that's another one I really recommend.

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Jaden Martel stars across Nicholas Cage as a father trying

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to raise his sons in an apocalypse of relatively unknown origin.

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Happy birthday, Jaden. You do make me feel old, but

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have a good one. I hope you all have a

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very happy birthday, you beautiful weirdos, and I mean that

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with all the love in the world. May your candle

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stay lit and may nothing blow them out from behind you.

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For our then and now, we again fall back to Frankenstein.

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That's how intensely in the nomenclature in the Zeitgeist Frankenstein is.

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We've talked about it multiple times. Just doing a few

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months of horror history brings up Frankenstein again and again.

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But now, on the eve of its original publication on

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January first, eighteen eighteen, let's take a look at how

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it's all affected everything up to now. When Frankenstein hit

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shelves in eighteen eighteen, the fear wasn't technology the way

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we mean it today. It was creation itself, the nightmare

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that you could reach too far, make something alive and

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then lose control of what you made. It was a

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concept not only birth from Mary Shelley's mind, I mean

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in Jewish culture they had been referencing a creature called

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a golum, a kind of automaton made out of clay

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that got out of control. Fast forward to now, and

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Frankenstein is basically the unofficial patron saint of modern horror.

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Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, viral experiments, even cursed apps and haunted algorithms.

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Over and over. The story mutates, but the spine stays

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the same. If you can create it, you can be

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responsible for it, and if you refuse that responsibility, it

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will come looking for you. As far as how to

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Rea Frankenstein. As mentioned before, it's public domain, so you

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can check it out on Project Gutenberg and other sources.

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Free to read on ebook or find literally hundreds of

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print editions dirt cheap at your favorite used bookstore. And

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if you need a double feature suggestion, read a few chapters,

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then watch Frankenstein from nineteen thirty one for the classic,

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then jump to something more modern like maybe Netflix's adaptation

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where the creation bites back. And now wrapping it up

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with our weekly recommendation, I have to recommend the aforementioned

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Witchboard from nineteen eighty six. Even though it doesn't take

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place explicitly at New Year's it kind of feels like

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New Year's. I mean, a group of friends are together,

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drinks are flowing, and the vibe is just a little well,

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a little too confident for lack of a better term.

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Witchboard is a great pick because it's not just about

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pozzes as spectacle. It's about possession as a slow, humiliating

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takeover a bad decision that starts as a joke and

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ends as a life sentence with a great sense of

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humor throughout. And look, if you've got a Wiji board

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in your closet for parties, well maybe just don't. As

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far as where to watch, as we mentioned before, which

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board is readily available on two BTV, Roku channel and

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of course AMC Plus with a subscription, so check it out,

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give it a watch, enjoy yourself, and you can thank

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me later. That's your this Week in Horror for December

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twenty ninth through January fourth. I hope you enjoyed it,

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and I hope you have a great and fun, safe

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and Ouiji board free new Year. And right here tomorrow

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on the Weekly Spooky Feed, we'll be dropping a brand

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new scary story. It takes place on New Year's Eve,

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so it'll make sure you feel very festive, so don't

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don't miss that. And on Friday, we'll begin our series

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of best of twenty twenty fours every Friday in January,

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so you can remember the scares of the year and

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I can take a much needed break, but not for long,

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because there's always something new here at the Weekly Spooky Feed,

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so subscribe and I'll see you all next Tuesday. But

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until then, remember our days are numbered because that's how

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we tell them, apart until next week.