Another month has passed, and here we are with another round up of all the things I’ve read, listened to, and watched!
This month, for the first time in years, I played a new game – a folk horror adventure called The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow. It was on sale via Steam so I grabbed it. It’s a Victorian-era story, set in the Yorkshire moors, where a young antiquarian is marooned as she tries to uncover the secrets of a barrow that was the site of a doomed excavation 25 years prior. I really like it.
I don’t have a “Games Played” section as I never really play any apart from the entire Kingdom Rush franchise (I have all of them and keep updated on the new campaigns as they get released), Inscryption, Fate, and Peglin, or logic puzzle phone games like Water Sort variants and Meow Doku (sudoku but you’re placing cats). So I’m just popping this in the intro, as I don’t think I’ll be playing anything apart from the above list for a while! I haven’t really played anything except Peglin and some phone games while listening to audiobooks for months and months.
Anyway, I do recommend The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow. It has such a great, bleak storyline. It’s folk horror, but it’s also Weird Fiction, very reminiscent of Lovecraft et al, so a good blend of my interests. It took me 8.4hrs to play through, spread over a few days. I do want to start it again to get all the achievements now I know how to complete it, and to make different choices to see how that affects the story/dialogue/gameplay.
Now, on to the usual media round-up… read on for books, films, audio dramas, and more!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Musical Greetings
I’ve added the Egyptian hiphop and Turkish rap tracks to my usual playlist from last month, but apart from that, my playlist remains the same and on repeat. I love my 2026 playlist!
My other new addition to it is the explicit sapphic indie track “Pussy Tower” by Starcrawler (NSFW). That led me to check out more Starcrawler, and I’ve also been listening to more Tekir albums (as well as the ROMANESA album that my new fave track is from).
Album of the Month:
ROMANESA by Tekir is a great album, I like a load of the songs on it, and it’s the album that I’ve replayed a lot this month! My favourite tracks are Ale, Yıkamazlar Beni, Bak Nasıl Çatlatacam, and Ağlaya Ağlaya (Roman Version), but it’s hard to pick as I like all of them!
Live Music Event of the Month:
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical presented by Musical Theatre Salisbury. I love pop-rock, and I love Gothic Horror, and I love musicals. I really love watching amateur dramatics companies who look like they’re having fun, and Musical Theatre Salisbury (formerly known as the Salisbury Amateur Operatics Society) definitely did. I like the original Stevenson story.
The score is fine, not my favourite musical score but enjoyable, and the company were very fun to watch. This was also my first time in Salisbury Playhouse! I think the musical is good, but it lacks a real banger of a ballad that people would sing out of context and easily recognise. I did love that the difference between Jekyll & Hyde was the way they wore the same wig. They did a shorter version than the Broadway version, with some of the numbers cut. The players were great – I think one of them has been in every single show they’ve done since he joined. It’s been years since I went to a musical on my own, and I had forgotten the fun part of finding out who you’re sitting by, and having random encounters and chats with people in the seats around you.
I met some new people and had a great time. The man next to me said, “This isn’t a musical though, is it?” when I made a comment about the score, and when I pointed out “The Musical” on the programme, he looked at me in horror and said “I’ve done it again”. At the end of Act One, he turned back to me and said, “You’re right, this is a musical…” We had a really good laugh. His wife says he does indeed do this all the time – and it turns out her family are from Wales too!
It’s not like that happens all the time, but I do love the theatre as a place to meet people and just have random chats with strangers. It was so hot (the theatre isn’t air conditioned) that the staff handed out paper fans to the audience, and there was the tricky juggling of fans and programmes so we could applaud in the right places.
Step into the shadows of Victorian London, where science meets obsession and love battles darkness. With a soaring pop-rock score by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse, this gripping musical reimagines Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic tale of duality and desire.
Follow Dr. Henry Jekyll, a brilliant scientist whose quest to cure humanity unleashes a terrifying alter ego – the savage Mr. Hyde. Torn between two women and haunted by his own creation, Jekyll’s descent into madness is as thrilling as it is tragic.
A gothic masterpiece packed with passion, suspense, and unforgettable music, Jekyll & Hyde promises a night of drama, danger, and dazzling performances.
Conceived for the stage by Steve Cudden & Frank Wildhorn.
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International. All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI http://www.MTIShows.co.uk
Books
Everything I’ve read in July! I didn’t read very much this month, my concentration just wasn’t there. I have only just started one book and have been enjoying it, but really struggling to focus, so I won’t finish it by the time this post goes out. I’m including it here anyway.
Book I’ve started This month
The Reaper by Jackson P. Brown.
I discovered this book on TikTok and invited the author to do an Author Spotlight, and be a guest on Eldritch Girl for S04: the Dark Fantasy season. We had a great chat! I love this book, and would definitely recommend it. I love my dark urban fantasies, especially UK set, and this one is set in London by a Londoner, so it has that realistic edge. I had so much fun with this and strongly related to Amy’s love of Mango Rubicon, the superior Rubicon flavour. It’s really well written, well paced, and really has me hooked for the series to come.
Amy is an empath, able to sense the auras of the supernatural creatures that stalk London at night. But sorely lacking in knowledge, she spends night after night searching for answers. Gerald is a Reaper – a weapon for hire – on the verge of his Awakening.
Of coming into his power and becoming the man his family need him to be. The man they demand he be. When Amy stumbles onto Gerald one night, she notices his strange aura, unlike anything she has seen before.
And so, against her better judgement she helps him. In thanks he makes her an offer she can’t refuse: become his partner and he will introduce her to a world she has only ever felt the shallow surface of: the underworld. And their first mission together: find a girl who vanished into thin air.
Book I’ve finished this month
The Wives of Herrick Hall by Julie Lew.
This one obviously grabbed my attention immediately when I interviewed Julie Lew for an Author Spotlight and Women In Horror Feature, and I’m very glad I picked it up. It’s a fun Gothic romp with a sapphic heroine, an evil(?) sentient house, and Crimson Peak vibes. If you’re into lesbians, creepy dark houses, secrets, ghosts, and Gothic supernatural melodrama, give this one a try.
Herrick Hall doesn’t let anything go without a fight. Least of all its masters’ dead wives…
After a dalliance with another woman leaves her reputation in shambles, Josephine Carter is banished to the isolated manor to serve as lady’s companion to Herrick’s mistress. Lady Nora Blake is a headstrong, capricious woman, who spends her days convalescing from a mysterious illness—and her nights witnessing her imminent death over and over. Shackled to her side, Josephine is certain life could not get worse. But then she meets the Herrick wives. Ghosts veiled in shadow stalk the halls and trespass into Josephine’s dreams, trapped forever in the fury of their last dying to destroy Herrick and everyone beneath its roof. Josephine determines to escape by any means necessary.
Until she and Nora fall in love.
Together, Josephine and Nora must confront Herrick’s curse to battle their way to freedom. But Herrick has already claimed them as its next ghostly brides, and neither the house nor its vengeful wives will relinquish them without bloodshed…
TV Shows
The shows I’ve watched this month! I’m not going to be watching series much until after October, as I don’t tend to do that while the 100 Horror Movies Challenge is running. This month I’ve checked out some I have had on the watchlist for a while, and found a new comfort anime.
From (2022-) created by John Griffin.
I want to get into Widow’s Bay as well, but I don’t have AppleTV, but this was one I really wanted to watch too! This is one I’ve heard loads of good things about, and so I started it this month as I won’t get around to TV shows during Aug-Oct when it’s all about the horror films. I’m trying to spot clues!! It’s a great premise and I’m really enjoying it so far.
A town with a hidden secret experiences strange occurrences that intensify at night. Mysterious forces disrupt everyday routines as residents try to preserve stability and community while attempting to comprehend their surroundings.
Tensei Shitara Suraimu Datta Ken/That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime (2018-) created by Fuse.
Super cute palate-cleanser from From, and a good one to unwind with before bed. Also as the eps are so short, I get to chill with them on my lunch break. Does what it says on the tin, but also has a really fun fantasy plot in which a slime gets to be a superhero.
Average 37-year-old Minami Satoru dies and is reincarnated as the most unremarkable creature imaginable-a slime.
Ride or Die (2026-) created by Tessa Coates.
Absolutely love this one. I LoVe the fact they are middle-aged besties kicking ass, and there’s Ed Skrein! And Bill Nighy! Hannah Waddington & Octavia Spencer are perfect in this. I love their relationship dynamic so much. This is just so fun. I can’t believe how the writers did us dirty though. While I’m waiting for S02, this is worth watching again and again.
Debbie discovers that her friend of 20 years, Judith, is secretly an assassin. After a hit goes wrong, they go on the run while being targeted by a mysterious enemy, forcing them to confront the secrets between them.
KillJoys (2015-2019) created by Michelle Lovretta.
Absolutely amazing Canadian Sci-Fi Thriller series. It’s queer af, it has twists, turns, and Hannah John-Kamen, who really demonstrates her range in this. I love the writing. This is one of my favourite live action shows, ever since I watched it on the Syfy Channel. This is so emotional and dramatic. I love it. I love how it’s darker in the first few seasons, and then they did good by everyone in the end.
In the Quad, a planetary system on the brink of a bloody interplanetary class war, a fun loving trio of bounty hunters attempt to remain impartial as they chase deadly warrants.
Films
BRACE YOURSELVES, because 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days starts 01 Aug, and it will be wall-to-wall Horror from around the world until Halloween. I don’t tend to watch TV during that time, so there won’t be any series to log. This year, I think I’ll restart the podcast to do weekly round-ups of my watches, or maybe every 10 films I watch so I could perhaps get ahead if I can manage 10+ films in Week 1, and natter about my faves. I don’t know though, that’s… a lot.
For now, all the films I watched this month are included here – highlights are featured with their posters, descriptions, and my thoughts, while films that didn’t quite make the highlights are listed down below.
This month, it’s a mix of Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Magical Realism/Fantasy, and fun-filled Mystery. I’m re-introducing the Highlight Gallery! That’s more in aesthetic/genre order, but the list is in the order I watched them (roughly).
Predator: Badlands (2025) dir. Dan Trachtenberg
This was actually the last film I watched in June, on the plane, and I just didn’t remember to add it to the June Media Round-Up. I’m glad we’re getting films from the Predators’ POVs. This one was very enjoyable: what if two neurodivergent people teamed up and went on a road trip and tried to figure out their respective family issues? A heartwarming hiking trip, that’s what. With friends!
First hunt. Last chance.
Cast out from his clan, a young Predator finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
The Enchanted (1984) dir. Carter Lord.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this one on first watch, but I definitely enjoyed it. It was slow and quiet, very much a slice of life fantasy rather than a folk horror, although it has a bit of that too. It’s just really lovely. It reminds me of some of the Weird Fiction of Algernon Blackwood & Frank Belnapp Long, in a way. The shots of the wildlife and posed owls were fab.
A Strange and Beautiful Place – A Door Between Two Worlds
Royce Hagan returns from the sea to claim and inhabit a 2000 acre ranch in one of the last wild places left in central Florida. Old family friend Booker T Robertson is welcoming but warns him not to get “too close” to a strange family living in the woods nearby. Royce falls in love with Twyla, the oldest daughter, and discovers the bizarre secret of the Hole in the Wall and the enchanted people who live there.
The Sheep Detectives (2026) dir. Kyle Balda.
This is one I wanted to watch in the cinema but didn’t get to, but now it’s streaming! This is really cute, I love talking animals, and I love murder mysteries in small villages, so this one had me sobbing most of the way through. It’s so warm and good-hearted. It’s based on the 2005 novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, first published in German under the title Glennkill: Ein Schafskrimi, and translated into English by Anthea Bell.
A new breed of mystery.
George Hardy is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.
Project Hail Mary (2026) dirs. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller.
This is pretty good – man stranded in space alone makes alien rock friend, discovers how to save their respective planets from pesky little astrophages who nibble on stars (like our sun). Loads of fun moments, some tension, and it’s a good ride. I love a good friendship story. To be honest, I wasn’t convinced it would be a highlight until about halfway through. The ending really lifted it for me.
Believe in the Hail Mary.
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.
Baskın [trans. Raid] (2015) dir. Can Evrenol.
What an absolute fever dream this is – so much body horror and visceral blood-soaked drama going on in this film. One of the few Turkish horror films I’ve seen so far that isn’t djinn-focused, but is still along the lines of shamanism and Turkish mythology, e.g. the frog symbolism. Really enjoyed this, it was absolutely wild. House of 1000 Corpses meets The Void. I loved the lean in to surrealism, and because of that vibe it was within the limits of my dismemberment tolerance (just about).
Enter a world of suffering and madness.
A squad of unsuspecting cops go through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.
Sisu (2022) and Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025) dir. Jalmari Helander.
A fantastic action duo featuring the one-man army of Finnish commando-turned-prospector Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila), with the kind of cartoonesque action I love, alongside some really touching moments for him that made me tear up at the end of the second one.
SISU – Vengeance is golden.
When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, German soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.
SISU 2: ROAD TO REVENGE – When they took his family, he took revenge.
Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the commander who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues.
Enola Holmes 3 (2026) dir. Philip Barantini.
I do enjoy these films. They are an infectious kind of fun. I especially enjoy how much fun Sharon Duncan-Brewster seems to have playing Moriarty. I also appreciated the critique of Empire. This isn’t my favourite in the trilogy, as standing up someone at the altar when they don’t deserve it (how the film opens) is my least favourite trope. But it’s sweet and funny, and has some nice action moments. The end was just silly, but fine, I’m not watching for historical accuracy.
Tis I do?
Adventure follows detective Enola Holmes to Malta, where her plans to tie the knot unravel when Sherlock’s disappearance plunges her into a perilous case.
Soy Frankelda/I Am Frankelda (2025) dir. Arturo Ambriz, Roy Ambriz.
A really stunning fantasy-horror from Mexico, with a disintegrating kingdom on the brink of civil war and the overthrow of its royal family, and a young woman fighting the prejudices of her time to become a writer of horror stories. It’s Mexico’s first feature-length stop motion animation, and it’s a riot of colour and detail, underpinned with some gorgeous philosophy about the nature and importance of fiction to reality.
What you imagine has long been imagining you.
Frankelda, a frustrated young Mexican writer from the 19th Century, travels in the form of a ghost to a kingdom of her own invention inhabited by Spooks, which are all the monstrous characters she created in her horror tales. Her guide is Herneval, the Prince of Spooks, who takes her to help him save the balance between the Realm of Fiction and the Realm of Existence by using her talent as a writer.
The Princess (2022) dir. Le Van Kiet.
I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of this film. It’s the perfect comfort film when I want to watch a load of men being smacked around and thrown out of windows. The fight scenes are fun, and I really enjoy mindless action films where people just fight for 90+minutes. The fact this happens in a medieval castle and she’s a fairytale princess is even better. I wish a young Alan Rickman could have played Julius, though. Dominic Cooper does his best. Also, I love her little sister so much, and Whip Lady (played by French-Ukrainian actress Ольга Костянтинівна Куриленко/Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko) is amazing. More Whip Lady, please.
Bow to no one.
A beautiful, strong-willed young royal refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed and is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.
Jekyll & Hyde The Musical (2001) dir. Don Roy King. David Hasselhoff is not bad in this. He has a decent voice, though I get the criticisms about his vibrato on occasion. He plays the Hyde transformation so well. Having watched a live stage production of this musical, I really enjoyed this one. Again, even “This Is The Moment” doesn’t really work on its own outside of the musical, but it’s one of the best songs. I found it interesting that the production I saw used “Bring on the Men” for Lucy’s song at the Red Rat, and this filmed one had her singing “Good ‘n’ Evil”, so I got to hear both.
There were a few differences between the productions I noticed, staging choices and so on, and I like comparing things like that! It’s a romantic tragedy, which the original story isn’t, with two women who are meant to be mirrors of each other, in the way Eponine and Cosette are in Les Mis. Both women are only complete with Henry Jekyll, much like Eponine and Cosette revolving around Marius, and Lucy of course gets the abusive counterpart because that’s all her unfortunate station affords her (see also: Nancy and Rose as foils for each other in Oliver Twist/Oliver the Musical). That’s a choice of the writers, not adapted from Stevenson, and I have a lot of thoughts about that choice. Especially since, although the score tries, Les Mis it ain’t. HOWEVER: it’s a fun time, and if you like Gothic Horror, give it a go.
Musical version of the Robert Louis Stevenson story about a doctor who conducts an experiment on himself that results in his bringing out the dark, murderous side of his inner self, “Mr. Hyde”.
- The Wind (1986) dir. Nico Mastorakis. This is a rewatch – I like this one but it’s not a highlight. It’s a fun Euro-slasher, set in Monemvasia, a walled medieval fortress town in the Laconia region of the Peloponnese, which is one of my favourite places in Greece. I was just craving the setting and this is a reasonable cat-and-mouse plot.
- Transmutations/Underworld (1985) dir. George Pavlou. Clive Barker wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with James Caplin, but reportedly didn’t like the finished film, and that inspired him to keep tighter control of his future adaptations (hence, Hellraiser). It’s too slow for me, but I loved the character of Roy Bain and how he was played by Larry Lamb (whom I mostly know from Gavin & Stacey, to be honest). Roy gives me strong demisexual vibes. I actually kind of like the queer vibes and the music, lighting, and general aesthetic, but the film itself just didn’t grab me much. The concept was great but (for me) they didn’t do enough interesting stuff with it.
- Silent Hill (2006) dir. Christophe Gans. I’ve been wanting to see this for ages, and I am glad I have finally done so. It’s definitely one of those video game adaptations that you can tell was adapted from a video game – and there are moments where I was like, oh, this feels like gameplay? It doesn’t really get into the lore of the game, though, so while Pyramid Head is in it, there’s no real exploration of who he is or why he’s Like That. And I think his role in the films is different to his role in the games? Curious about how people might do other versions of this and pull out a structured story in feature film format with this setting that fans of the games would enjoy as well as people who haven’t played them.
Previous Media-Round-Ups
June 2026 Media Round-Up
A round-up of all the things I read, listened to, and watched, over June! This month had a lot of travel, so there are way more books on the list than usual!
May 2026 Media Round-Up
My media round-up for May! Everything I watched, listened to, and read over the previous month, with highlights and recommendations.
Media Highlights: The Best of the Best
I began my media round-ups in Nov 2025, so I thought I’d do a media highlight post of my Top 5 books, short stories/collections, TV shows, and films from Nov-Apr. Find out what made the ultimate cut!
April 2026 Media Round-Up
Everything I’ve watched, read, and listened to in April! Skim the highlights, or expand the details to see the full lists.
February 2026 Media Round-Up
What I read, listened to, and watched in the month of February! Skim the highlights, or expand the details to see the full lists and my thoughts.
January 2026 Media Round-Up
My monthly media round-up for January 2026 – all the books, podcasts, tv shows, and films I’ve been enjoying this month!
December 2025 Media Round-Up
My monthly media round-up for December 2025 – all the books, podcasts, tv shows, and films I read/listened to/watched this month.
November 2025 Media Round-Up
I’m starting a new monthly series where I post a round-up of all the media I’ve watched/read/listened to for the previous month. Here is November’s media round-up!
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