By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 21 seconds ago

To this day, Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reboot is remembered as a peak example of sci-fi storytelling. There are plenty of reasons for this: the cast was full of insanely talented actors, for example, and every single action scene kept fans on the edge of their seats. But the greatest strength of the show was its writing. The entire premise of the show was that humanity was trying to survive a genocidal attack by the Cylons, enemies who could potentially wipe everyone out at any given moment. It’s a very bleak story, and the tight writing of the show ensured that we felt every single heartwrenching decision.  

Moore got his start by writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation. While that franchise is all about hope and optimism for humanity’s future, Moore ensured Galactica was the anti-Trek, with dark storylines about paranoia and desperation. This filtered into the design philosophy of the show, which is why Galactica feels like a submarine and the Enterprise-D felt like a flying Holiday Inn. However, what most fans don’t realize is that Moore borrowed one aspect of Star Trek’s design: in the Galactica episode “Tigh Me Up and Tigh Me Down,” he introduced an observation deck that was very clearly inspired by Ten Forward from The Next Generation!

The One Chill Spot On Battlestar Galactica

This story comes to us courtesy of the commentary track for “Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down,” just in case you needed a special incentive to bust out your Blu-rays. While this episode had plenty of the show’s signature paranoia (including Adama suspecting that Ellen Tigh is a Cylon and Roslin suspecting Adama was a Cylon), it had plenty of lighthearted moments designed to give audiences a break from the relentless drama of Season 1. It was also an episode that gave its characters a break, as it introduced the Observation Deck, an area where characters could stargaze and generally contemplate the cosmos.

On the commentary track for this episode, Ronald D. Moore said that “It did feel right that, perhaps…there was one area of the ship, which accepted a window or a port to look out and that it would be a fairly confined space for the crew on these very long, deep space missions.” This would be a place “where they can go to and just stargaze. And in this situation, it seemed like there would be a lot of people lining up to try and look out at the stars, you know, a break from the monotony of staring at metal walls.”

 If this sounds a bit familiar, it’s because he’s basically describing Ten Forward from Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Make It Slow

Star Trek: The Next Generation was, to put it mildly, a more hopeful and optimistic show than Battlestar Galactica. Nonetheless, the Enterprise-D crew still experienced a fair amount of stress. Any given week, they could be tossed to the Borg by Q, get caught in a Klingon Civil War, or simply killed on an Away Team mission gone wrong. Because of this, the crew liked to relax in Ten Forward, a bar where they could look at the stars. It is located on Deck 10 in the forward section (hence, the name), offering everyone glorious, panoramic views of the cosmos around them.

Now, Ronald D. Moore didn’t explicitly name-drop Ten Forward during the commentary track. However, the idea of a ship section where beleaguered crew members can relax by gazing at the stars through big windows is very clearly inspired by everyone’s favorite spot to hang out on the Enterprise-D. That means that the showrunner never fully escaped his television roots and that his acclaimed anti-Trek show has a powerful echo of Star Trek: The Next Generation hidden deep within the Battlestar Galactica.

Ryan Lochte is making waves again—this time, it’s for his engagement to girlfriend Molly Gillihan. The Olympic swimmer confirmed that he and Gillihan were engaged after a year of dating, telling the media that he was excited to be “moving on” with his life. Lochte’s major life update comes a year after the gold medalist announced that he and his estranged wife, Kayla Reid, were divorcing.

According to several outlets, including PEOPLE and TMZ, Lochte got engaged to Gillihan on June 19, 2026. He confirmed the news with the media, stating that he was looking forward to “bigger and better things” with his soon-to-be wife.

The special occasion happened at Prime & Pearl in Gainesville, Florida, after Gillihan learned of Lochte’s plans to propose to her on her family’s farm in Missouri. Lochte shared that Gillihan was surprised with a table full of roses and a letter with the big question written in it.

“She immediately started crying and said, ‘What took you so long?’” Lochte said.

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Ryan Lochte Confirmed His Relationship With Gillihan In July 2025 With An Instagram Post

Lochte made headlines last summer when he went Instagram official with his girlfriend, and several months later, faced heat from social media users for flaunting their decision to move in together online, per The Blast.

Lochte said at the time that deciding to come together under one roof was easy because of their special connection and their kids’ growing friendship. “We needed a bigger home to support our blended family, and we’re focused on creating a loving, stable environment for all of our children,” he said in January 2026.

Some netizens believed the former elite athlete was moving too quickly, given that he had announced his separation from his estranged wife, Reid, months earlier. However, Lochte said that he and Gillihan were unable to hide what they’d formed together.

“Everything happens for a reason,” the 41-year-old said. “And it was God’s way of saying enough is enough between both of you, between me and Kayla, of just being miserable and not happy and not living our best life. So we got separated and now I’m living my best life.”

Inside Ryan Lochte’s Divorce From His Estranged Wife

The Blast reported on Lochte and Reid’s separation in the summer of 2025. The latter opened up about her decision to split from the Olympian with a lengthy, emotional Instagram post. While Reid didn’t go into details at the time, she admitted that leaving Lochte was a “challenging” decision.

“Sometimes we face trials we didn’t choose or see coming. And in those moments, we’re forced to make the hardest decisions to protect our peace, our children, and our future. I’ve come to the understanding that staying isn’t always the most loving decision someone can make. For me, leaving was an act of love — for those around me and for myself,” she added.

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Lochte also released a statement about his split from Reid, stating that he was “grateful” for what they’d built together over the years—including their three children, Caiden, Liv, and Georgia. “Although this decision hasn’t been easy, I believe it’s the right step toward peace and well-being for us both. I remain committed to healing, growth, and co-parenting with care and respect as we move forward separately,” he continued.

Netizens Are Slamming Lochte After Announcing Engagement To Gillihan

While Lochte is celebrating the news of his engagement to Gillihan, social media users are blasting the “Traitors” alum for appearing to have moved on too quickly.

“Bro is one big red flag,” one user wrote, while another posted, “This will end well.” A third user also chimed in on the conversation, criticizing Lochte for getting engaged before even being divorced. “Went from a diamond to a rock,” they shared.

Lochte And Gillihan Are Swimming Into A New Chapter In Missouri

According to a previous report from The Blast, Lochte and Gillihan are starting a new chapter in Missouri after the swimmer accepted a new job as the assistant swim coach at Missouri State University.

Lochte’s contract is worth a reported $30,000, which works out to $34 an hour over the contract period (August 2026 to June 2027).

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Not every movie enjoys the success it deserves. Plenty of films failed when they were first released, either with critics, at the box office, or both, but have gone on to find success as cult films. These are movies that are adored, usually by a small but devoted group of fans. In the age of the internet and now social media, it’s become far easier for these fandoms to maintain their support of these films in a more public fashion, but there are cult classics that still feel far too forgotten, many from the ’70s.

The decade of oil crises, political corruption, and economic instability produced a great many classics which are still loved in this current era of…oil crises, political corruption and economic instability. More now than ever, many audiences can relate to the pessimistic viewpoint that permeated much of ’70s cinema, but there’s even more that the decade had to offer in movies. Cult classics abound from the ’70s, and these are six of the best that should never be forgotten.

6

‘Brewster McCloud’ (1970)

Image via MGM

Idiosyncratic filmmaker Robert Altman’s output in the decade was wild and varied, from masterpieces like Nashville, The Long Goodbye, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller to underrated gems like California Split and 3 Women to debacles like Quintet and Buffalo Bill and the Indians. Altman never stayed stagnant in one genre, and was always making interesting left turns in his career, none more so than the black comedy Brewster McCloud. As his follow-up to M*A*S*H, the film is a strange contemporary fable featuring the enigmatic Bud Cort as a man who dreams of wings.

In Houston, Texas, Brewster McCloud (Cort) lives in a fallout shelter beneath the Astrodome, where he bides his time building a pair of wings that will allow him to fly like the birds he idolizes. His only human contacts are two women, the mysterious Louise (Sally Kellerman), who has distinctive scars on her back, and tour guide Suzanne (Shelley Duvall). There’s so much more freewheeling madness to the film, and we haven’t even mentioned the murders that occur and the hard-boiled detective who believes Brewster might be the cause. There aren’t many films like Brewster McCloud, and fewer still made by filmmakers like Altman, who can maintain a balance in the quirky film that prevents it from folding in on its own affectations.

5

‘Freebie and the Bean’ (1974)

Image via Warner Bros.

There was plenty of action in the ’70s, with the international success of martial arts films and the rise of exploitation filmmakers. It’s the era that gave us cult classics like Vanishing Point, Coffy, and The Gauntlet, and the essential buddy cop movie Freebie and the Bean. Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog and the thriller In the Heat of the Night helped establish the mismatched detective archetypes, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid inspired the comedic banter that would define the buddy action subgenre, but Richard Rush’s Freebie and the Bean is the first true American buddy cop action comedy.

Rush’s film establishes the exact tone between its San Francisco cops Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin) that would define ’80s movies like 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon. The two detectives trade barbs as well as bullets as they strive to protect a crime boss from getting killed before they can arrest him. Their antics practically destroy the entire city, and it’s not hard to see why many critics chided the film for its blasé approach to police violence. It would inspire queasiness if it weren’t amped to such high levels of ridiculousness and if Caan and Arkin didn’t have such scalding chemistry. Freebie and the Bean is to the buddy cop movie what Halloween is to slashers, and it deserves more recognition.

4

‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia’ (1974)

Image via United Artists

Westerns were still a viable genre in the ’70s. They weren’t being produced nearly as prolifically as they were during the genre’s golden age, but riding the wave of success that Spaghetti Westerns started, many filmmakers were able to put their own revisionist stamp on the genre, and no filmmaker made more cult films for it than Sam Peckinpah. The iconic director started the decade with the comedic Western gem The Ballad of Cable Hogue, brought the genre’s sensibilities to the contemporary thrillers Straw Dogs and The Getaway as well as the gentler drama Junior Bonner. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid would be his final official statement on the genre, but he’d make an even bolder one with the Neo-Western cult classic Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

The film follows consummate loser Bennie (Warren Oates), a former soldier turned alcohol-swilling piano player in Mexico who takes on the task of tracking down the titular character who has had a massive bounty put on his head by a crime lord. Shot entirely in Mexico on a low budget, the film is Peckinpah at his most unfiltered, since he was free from the interference of studios. The result is a wild, violent ride that critics hated at the time and bombed at the box office. Since then, it’s rightfully earned recognition, not only as Peckinpah’s most nihilistic film, but also as a clear influence on filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a dirty, nasty little Western thriller that belongs on a double bill with No Country for Old Men.

3

‘The Cars That Ate Paris’ (1974)

Image via British Empire Films

The Ozploitation movement came about during the Australian New Wave, where international attention came to films and filmmakers from the land down under thanks to a resurgence of their film economy. This era of Australian filmmaking would stretch through the ’80s and bring audiences cult classics like the Mad Max franchise, the harrowing thriller Wake in Fright, the Jaws-inspired horror film Razorback, and the feature debut of Peter Weir with the outlandish The Cars That Ate Paris. It’s a strange mix of vehicular horror and macabre humor that would propel Weir to future success in Australia and eventually Hollywood, and it remains one of the most iconic Ozploitation movies.

The rural town of Paris has an interesting economy, based on profits earned by causing car wrecks of traveling motorists and stealing their valuables. The wrecked vehicles have also inspired a strange subculture of hoons who turn them into mechanical monstrosities meant for violence and destruction. It’s into this chaos that Arthur (Terry Camilleri) drives with his brother, who is killed in their accident, leaving Arthur to fend for himself in the unstable town. The Cars That Ate Paris is the most unique of all the automotive movies that came out of the car culture of the ’70s, and it’s still a perfect microcosm of the era in Australian cinema that made it possible.

2

‘The Driver’ (1978)

Image via 20th Century Studios

A very different kind of car movie, Walter Hill’s minimalist masterpiece The Driver is a crime classic whose influence is apparent in the careers of filmmakers like Michael Mann and Edgar Wright. Its reappraisal has been slow, and it still hasn’t risen to the cult ranks of Hill’s follow-up The Warriors, but it’s an even better film and among the best cult ’70s crime thrillers, of which there are many. Before digging into Hill’s classic, some honorable mentions should go to The Outfit, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Blue Collar, and The Harder They Come.

The Driver (Ryan O’Neal) is a criminal who’s made a career as a getaway driver, much to the chagrin of the hard-nosed Detective (Bruce Dern), who will stop at nothing to bring him down. It all leads to a high-stakes game set up by the Detective in the form of a heist that leaves plenty of bodies in its wake. The film has some incredibly kinetic car chases, shot at night in Los Angeles with Hill’s distinctive stripped-down efficiency. Hill is one of the most influential action directors of his era, and while he’s often overlooked, his films like The Driver continue to have an immense influence.

1

‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ (1978)

Image via Universal Pictures

Despite becoming one of the biggest Hollywood directors of the ’80s and ’90s, Robert Zemeckis’ career started inauspiciously. He and his early collaborator Bob Gale were mentored by Steven Spielberg straight out of film school, but their first three collaborations with the filmmaker flopped. They wrote the notorious comedic bomb 1941 for Spielberg, and the filmmaker produced their first two films, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars, both of which failed and now have cult followings but are still overshadowed by Zemeckis’ later blockbuster successes. As his directorial debut, I Wanna Hold Your Hand is an incredibly assured comedy that showcases much of what would define Zemeckis’ greatest successes in the ’80s. It’s a madcap movie that charmingly recreates the era of Beatlemania.

Named after the Fab Four’s hit song, the film is structured around the Beatles’ first live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Trying to get to that show are a group of teens, including super fan Rosie (Wendy Jo Spurber), soon-to-be newlywed Pam (Nancy Allen), aspiring photojournalist Grace (Theresa Saldana), and rebellious Janis (Susan Kendall Newman). Their odyssey to the Ed Sullivan Theater is filled with slapstick, hijinks and hysterics, all of which Zemeckis balances with the same heartfelt tone that made Back to the Future such a similarly nostalgic success. I Wanna Hold Your Hand has all the hallmarks of Zemeckis’ later career and deserves to be mentioned among his best films.

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I Wanna Hold Your Hand

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Release Date

April 1, 1978

Runtime

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99 minutes

Director

Robert Zemeckis

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Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for the Widow’s Bay Season 1 finale.Widow’s Bay just wrapped up its first season on Apple TV, and the comedy horror has already been renewed for a second. This is good news because the series, which has earned critical acclaim, has left several unexpected mysteries to be solved as the story continues.

While it seems the curse on the small rural town has been lifted, events in the final episode suggest this may not be the case. Evil may still be lurking, and Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) has a complicated situation to navigate. It seems even more challenging now than ever that he’ll be able to turn this town into the next Martha’s Vineyard, as he was so adamant to do.

Is Evan Really the Last Living Descendent?

Image via Apple TV

In the final episode of the perfect from start to finish fantasy show, Tom learns that his elderly assistant Ruth (K Callan) is actually the biological mother of his wife Lauren (Meredith Casey). Since Tom had earlier learned that Ruth’s linage could be traced back to the cursed Warren family, he believed Ruth was the last living descendent, the person who needed to die for the curse to be lifted. But with this knowledge, it means his son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick) would actually be a descendent as well.

Some theories, however, suspect that Rosemary (Dale Dickey) might have fudged the information for an unknown reason. She is the one who traced the Warren lineage, and it’s suspicious. She would have been around at the time Ruth was pregnant, so she may have known about her connection to Lauren. Whether this is true or not is a mystery that will undoubtedly be explored in the next season.

Is the Curse Really Over?

Image via Apple TV

While the end suggests the curse is over, if Evan is indeed a living descendent, this means it probably isn’t. A good indication is when Evan and his friend find tunnels under the shelter where the town had been staying safe due to the storm. They find a sacrificial chamber, and when the custodian is locked inside, he seems to have gotten dragged into the cellar and was killed by some evil entity.

Once the townspeople discover Ken (Michael Malvesti) is missing, and if Evan discloses what he found, Tom and the others may realize that the horror is far from over. The storm may have ended, but there is probably a lot more to come.

Can Evan Leave Widow’s Bay?

Image via Apple TV

Tom will have a challenging situation trying to explain to Evan that it might not be safe for him to leave the island. He’ll have to reveal at some point that this is why Evan was never able to leave this entire time: Tom was worried about his son, but now so more than ever. While he bought tickets for them to see a game in Boston, Tom will likely be hesitant to try and leave given what he now knows about his son’s lineage.

The question is not only if Evan is able to leave Widow’s Bay without being sucked into an abyss, but if Tom will even try to take him out. Or will Evan try to go on his own if his father doesn’t tell him the truth? Evan could hold the key to ending a curse. Since the show is unlikely to kill the character, he may play a more integral role in the second season of the best new Apple TV show in 2026.

Did Richard Really Die At Sea?

Image via Apple TV

Episode 6’s “Our History”, one of the best episodes of the season, explores the backstory of Richard Warren (Hamish Linklater) and his new wife Sarah (Betty Gilpin), and his possession by some devil-like force that resulted in strange illnesses, disappearances, and death in the early 1700s. After digging Richard up to find him still alive in his grave, Tom and Wyck (Stephen Root) set out to release him at sea in a supposed “Dead Zone,” believing this is the only way to end the curse. They succeed, and he appears to have died.

But the question remains if he is really dead. If Evan is one of his descendants and even being buried for centuries didn’t kill Richard, it’s possible Richard could still be alive and return in some form. Before being set out to sea, he changed his mind about dying and Tom had to fight him to get him back in the coffin. So, it’s possible he’s not dead at all.

What Is Wyck’s Full History?

Image via Apple TV

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Through the entire series, Wyck was one of the most vocal townspeople about the curse, having witnessed it with his own eyes. He reveals to Tom while they’re out on the boat that decades prior, he went out on a boat trip with his childhood friend. The waters became violent and as his friend was fighting for his life, Wyck let him go to save himself. He has lived with this guilt ever since.

It seems there’s more to Wyck’s story than he is letting on, and that could be revealed in Season 2. He’s a mysterious character who knows a lot about the history of the curse, even having saved Tom from the horrifying Sea Hag. Wyck’s knowledge ould be far greater than we realize.

Is Tom’s Wife Still Alive?

Image via Apple TV

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One of the biggest mysteries in Widow’s Bay, one of the best Apple TV originals, centers around Tom’s wife, who is believed to be dead. But after finding photos of her with him as a child, Evan is devastated to learn that his mother was alive for some time after his birth. She didn’t die in childbirth as he was told. Tom explains that while she was there in body, something happened to her, and she was not there in mind. She claimed to have lost her sight after leaving the island, which is what happened to one of Richard Warren’s children as the boat got further away when Sarah tried to escape with them. Lauren was eventually sent to an institution where she sent troubling letters, suggesting she had completely lost her mind.

Given that she’s a descendent of the Warrens, it’s likely that whatever happened to her has something to do with the curse. Tom says she had a stroke that left her mentally unstable, and that she later died of an aneurysm. But it’s possible she didn’t die, and Tom continues to lie to Evan to spare him the pain of seeing his mother in the condition she is in. Could this have something to do with the basement of Tom’s house and why he was on edge when he thought Evan had gone down there?

Who Will Be Sacrificed Next?

In the final episode, after Ken disappears and is presumably killed, the storm is over. But then the church bell rings eight times. Based on the video Dale (Jeff Hiller) watched that claimed “one soul for each bell toll,” this supposedly signals that eight more sacrifices are required to keep the island happy. If Rosemary is right and Evan is the last living descendent, the curse has not been lifted and the deaths will continue. What’s more, if Richard had been buried all this time until Wyck exhumed him, who was fulfilling the pact while he was underground?

How this situation is navigated will be important, since Tom now has to balance the idea that residents will die, and the only way to stop it would be the sacrifice his own son. There’s no way he would do that, which leads back to who will perish and how. Most important is if Tom, Wyck, and the others can find a way to stop the curse without anyone else having to be sacrificed.

How Will They Explain Ruth’s Death?

Image via Apple TV

Tom was reluctant but willing to kill Ruth, knowing that sacrificing her life would save the rest of the town. In his eyes, she’s old anyway and likely didn’t have much time left. This idea is squashed when he visits her and finds her on the treadmill in her home, very much still spritely and active. Even though he secretly poisons her tea, he backs out at the last minute once he realizes that she’s his mother-in-law, mother of his late wife and thus Evan’s biological grandmother, which explained why she was always so willing to babysit him.

But before Tom can save her, Bechir (Kevin Carroll) arrives and shoots her to end the curse. Bechir, learning the story from Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), understands he has to protect his town, and his pregnant wife. She’s about to give birth, and if she delivers the baby here, they will never be able to leave with the curse still intact. Still, how will Bechir and Tom explain Ruth’s death? She’s old enough for them to suggest that she died of natural causes. But if someone were to find her body and the bullet hole, they would certainly have questions.

What’s Going On With the Inn?

Image via Apple TV

We know from the series, which is on track to be named one of the best horror comedy shows of all time, that when Tom spends the night at the creepy local inn, weird things happen there. He chats with, drinks, even plays a board game with another guest only to be near attacked by this man later in a clown suit, realizing he was never real. When the innkeeper, Kurt (Neil Casey), is told to go into the captain’s suite where Tom is staying and close the door, he is afraid to do it. Once opened, he acts as though much more than 10 seconds have passed. When he is asked to do it again, this time for 30 seconds, he requests food. He clearly knows something weird in that room, like the passage of time is different.

This was never explored further, which opens questions about lapses in time, time travel, or something else to do with space and time. There’s a lot more we need to know about Breakwater Inn and what sorts of things have gone on, and do go on, there. Also, why did none of this happen to Tom while he stayed in that room?

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Widow’s Bay

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Release Date

April 28, 2026

Network

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Apple TV

Showrunner

Katie Dippold

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Directors

Sam Donovan, Andrew DeYoung, Hiro Murai, Ti West

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If you like the horror genre and reading, there’s a very good chance Stephen King is a name you’re familiar with. You might not even like horror, nor reading, and you’ve still probably heard of him, since he’s had, on average, a book or two published every year since 1974, and plenty of those books have belonged to the horror genre. You’ve got Carrie, The Shining, ‘Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Long Walk, and The Dead Zone… and all those are just from the 1970s.

There’s plenty to read when it comes to an author so prolific, but all good things come to an end, including a very prolific author’s body of work. So, if you’re a fan of King’s and lost when it comes to horror books to read, the following ones might be worth checking out. Some of these you do need to stretch a little, to classify them as horror, since they might technically be more horrifying than they are horror books in the classic sense, but if something’s unnerving and likely to get under your skin (and, most importantly, not written by Mr. King), then it qualifies for inclusion here.

8

‘Swan Song’ (1987)

Image via Pocket Books

It feels right to mention Swan Song first, since this one is quite easily comparable to one of Stephen King’s best (and most famous) books: The Stand. King’s book is about the world continuing on, in some capacity, after a deadly flu kills off much of humanity, and there’s a struggle between two main groups that’s built to throughout. Swan Song does something similar, being a post-apocalyptic story about the fight for humanity’s future, too.

Then again, it’s nuclear war that brings about the end of the world, with Swan Song, and there are some ways that it feels maybe a tiny bit more optimistic than The Stand (though The Stand isn’t without its idealistic moments, and Swan Song does have undeniably dark passages, too). It’s a long book, so it does more than just try to scare you, as a reader, but there is quite a lot here that is horrific and intense, with it also proving surprisingly readable and compelling for something as long as it is (also, not as long as The Stand’s uncut version, but comparable to the original 1978 version of The Stand, page-wise).

7

‘The Raw Shark Texts’ (2007)

Image via Canongate Books

The Raw Shark Texts is a somewhat difficult book to describe, since it’s a rather distinctive blend of horror, some science fiction, and then other concepts that are more obscure, and not really tied to any particular genre. Maybe even saying it’s a work of horror and/or science fiction isn’t entirely accurate, but what can be said is that it’s about someone with amnesia (or something like it) having to work out where and who he is.

There are notes left seemingly by himself, and from there, The Raw Shark Texts finds a good many ways to get weird and head-spinning in nature. Horror can be derived from confusion, and the sense of not really knowing what’s going on here – or what to trust – goes a long way toward making this a compelling and effectively unnerving read, for much of its duration.

6

‘World War Z’ (2006)

Image via Crown Publishing Group

There is a movie version of World War Z, but it didn’t really capture what made the book special, and it couldn’t really, either, with just a single film’s runtime to play around with. The original World War Z is expansive and also not really a traditional narrative, since it wants to look at how the entire world would react to – and fall apart because of – a genuinely global zombie outbreak.

It came out at a time when zombies were more or less everywhere, so it’s fair to have a bit of fatigue with the whole sub-genre now, but World War Z can still be admired and appreciated for doing something a bit different with familiar horror monsters. Whether it’s genuinely accurate, hopefully no one will ever be able to judge, seeing as that would mean an actual outbreak having to happen and all, basically dooming the world, but for now, this feels about as grounded as a book about zombies could be.

5

‘Dracula’ (1897)

Image via Penguin Classics

Naturally, Dracula has to go here, just as another influential book from the 1800s that helped codify the idea of monster horror will also be featured here. Dracula is more or less the vampire story to which all others are compared, a little like how Night of the Living Dead (1968) is the definitive zombie movie. Dracula didn’t invent the idea of the vampire, and the word zombie did indeed exist before 1968, but both works recontextualized and popularized such monsters.

Dracula is also an interesting read thanks to its structure, with it being one of the best-known – and also one of the best – epistolary novels, made up of letters, newspaper articles, and other documents. You’ll likely know the story, or what to expect, if you’ve seen your fair share of vampire movies or read other vampire books before getting to Dracula, but it’s still a rewarding and maybe even necessary read, if you’re into horror and especially so if you’re interested in the history of horror, as a genre.

4

‘Blonde’ (2000)

Image via HarperCollins

Blonde reimagines and reinterprets the life of Marilyn Monroe, controversially turning it into something like a work of horror. It’s the kind of psychological drama that’s heavy enough to more or less become horrific, certainly at points. The film adaptation was controversial for doing this, while the book didn’t seem to create quite the frenzy, even if both do the same thing, and it would be weird to criticize one while giving the other a pass.

You have to approach it as something other than a biographical book, in any event, even if Monroe and other people in the novel were real people. Blonde takes Monroe’s tragically short life and frames it as one filled with exploitation and an unfathomable amount of pressure, with the plight of Monroe standing in here for various other young women who’ve been chewed up and spit out by the film industry. So, sure, not horror in the typical sense of “Ooh, spooky ghosts” and whatever, but horror in an arguably more visceral and hard-to-sit-with sense. It really gets under your skin, and uncompromisingly explores a life defined by an almost non-stop barrage of genuinely horrible things.

3

‘Blood Meridian’ (1985)

Image via Random House

There’s a stronger argument to be made for Blood Meridian being a work of horror than Blonde, so if you were still with this whole ranking after that pick, then hey, that’s good you stuck around. Blood Meridian, right? What a nightmare. It’s a Western, technically, but a nightmare of a Western, more specifically, being about a teenager who falls in with a group of scalp-hunters who rampage around the United States–Mexico border, killing countless people purportedly for bounties, but maybe for other reasons, too.

The violence is undeniably graphic and also near-constant, which makes things shocking early on, and then it becomes shocking later when you find yourself almost desensitized to all the terrible things happening (which is almost certainly intentional, on the part of Cormac McCarthy). Judge Holden is also a big reason for Blood Meridian feeling like a work of horror quite a lot of the time, since he’s one of literature’s best – and most fearsome – antagonists, and stands out as especially horrible, which is saying something, considering the already-high immorality of so many characters throughout this novel.

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‘Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus’ (1818)

Image via Oxford University Press USA

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You could laugh at the fact that Frankenstein’s full title includes the word “Modern,” if you want, but at the same time, it does feel startlingly timeless for a book that’s more than two centuries old, so the “Modern” kind of earns the right to be there. Also, it’s a defining work of science fiction and horror, helping codify certain conventions regarding the former, and then also working well enough as an example of the latter to still be decently unsettling to read in, like, the 2020s, instead of the 1820s.

Presumably, it would’ve been weird and unsettling in the 1820s, too. It’s just harder to verify that. It comes down to Frankenstein being influential and continually adapted and reinterpreted by who knows how many other creatives at this point. Further, Frankenstein is potentially most compelling as a drama, really, given what it says about human nature and the human condition, so on just about every front, it succeeds and more than endures.

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Frankenstein

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Release Date

October 17, 2025

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Runtime

149 Minutes

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1

‘House of Leaves’ (2000)

Image via Doubleday

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Scratching the same itch horror-wise as the recent Backrooms movie (and all the stuff online related to that movie), House of Leaves was ahead of the curve, in terms of really diving into what’s been popular, not to mention genuinely scary, for people lately. House of Leaves is about an impossible and otherworldly space that’s entered into through a mysterious house, and it’s also about various people trying to grapple with the horrors of it all. And someone grappling with someone else’s grappling of the situation.

It’s a very layered novel, and uses all the confusion and ideas upon ideas to make something that’s particularly effective as a psychological thriller/horror read. House of Leaves has a passionate cult following, so there’s a risk here of just adding to all the love that’s been sent the book’s way, and possibly contributing to it being hyped up too much, but maybe it is also just that good, and genuinely one of the scariest books of the past few decades, too.

Jelly Roll just turned his divorce drama into a punchline.

The country star filmed a phone call with his soon-to-be ex-wife and posted it online for the world to see. Fans were not expecting this level of humor mid-split.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo have made it clear their breakup will not follow a typical script. Their unconventional approach has only added fuel to an already wild news cycle.

Jelly Roll’s YouTube channel featured a new vlog titled “The Divorce Vlog” and featured a phone call with Bunnie XO that was played on speaker for fans to listen to. Before turning to the camera, he said, “Mama bear!”

“Yeah, y’all thought we were gonna hate each other, didn’t you? “Plot twist, b-tches,” he said with a smile and held the lens to his face. The clip rapidly grew viral on social media, captivating viewers with its light-hearted tone.

The singer also teased fans with “the piping hot tea about the divorce” before holding up his phone for Bunnie to plug her own podcast episode on the split.

The pair’s playful tone throughout the call stood in sharp contrast to the typical bitterness associated with celebrity breakups. Many viewers praised the couple for showing that a divorce does not always have to end in hostility.

Bunnie Xo Also Dropped Her Own ‘Plot Twist‘

Despite their split, the estranged couple is not abandoning plans to start a family. The Blast reported that Bunnie addressed the topic directly on a recent episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast.

“We’re still having a baby. We’re still having a baby together,” she said. “So, we have been the most unconventional couple that you guys have ever encountered.”

She also revealed the divorce settlement moved unusually fast, joking that the process took only two or three weeks once both sides reached an agreement. Bunnie attributed the smooth process to how much common ground she and Jelly Roll still shared.

The revelation left fans stunned, with many questioning how the pair could remain so amicable while planning to welcome a child together after their divorce.

Jelly Roll And Bunnie Xo Remain Committed To Co-Parenting

Bunnie made clear that despite the divorce, she still considers her estranged husband her best friend and someone she deeply loves. She described their bond as unshakable, even amid the split, in the same podcast episode.

After years of struggling with fertility, the couple has decided to co-parent. Bunnie has previously shared about the emotional aspect of their IVF journey.

The pair’s decision to move forward with a joint family despite the breakup has caught the eye of their fans, who expected the breakup to mean the end of their joint plans.

Is The Country Singer Already Dating?

Bunnie took a direct hit at rumors of her husband’s love life. On her open-minded podcast, she revealed that he’s been back in the dating scene, according to Us Weekly. “So, has my husband begun dating? Yes, he has, and we’re glad he has,” she said. 

The 46-year-old has closed the door on swirling rumors about his relationship with singer Jessie Murph, calling the speculation “disrespectful” because of their age difference.

Bunnie then hailed her estranged husband’s looks and vitality, saying he was in his “finest season” so far. She attributed his recent improvement in health and weight loss to his increased confidence.

She even told her listeners to look into him, and said she’d be a matchmaker to her soon-to-be ex-husband. It was such an unusual setting for their divorce, given the light mood in which it was made official.

Bunnie has expressed that she is not looking to try anything new either and wants to put in the effort to heal her relationship first.

Jelly Roll And Bunnie Xo’s Split Was Reportedly Years In The Making

Despite their public displays of affection, insiders claim the cracks in Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO’s marriage ran deeper than fans realized. As reported by The Blast, a source said that their relationship “has always been complicated” since its start.

The insider explained that the pair were in very different places when they first met, and their relationship endured years of personal and financial challenges as they tried to build a life together.

With baby plans intact, playful banter on camera, and new dating chapters already underway, can anyone really predict what comes next for Jelly Roll?

Kathy Bates shared a surprising story about “The Waterboy,” admitting that she initially tossed the script and had no idea who Adam Sandler was. The Oscar-winning actress nearly passed on the hit comedy before reconsidering and joining the project. The two ultimately formed a genuine bond, with Bates reflecting warmly on her experience working with Sandler.

Kathy Bates is considered one of the most versatile actresses in Hollywood, and she has built a versatile career stepping into diverse roles across different genres. When she received the script for “The Waterboy,” which Adam Sandler co-wrote, she gave it a chance but threw it out after reading a few pages.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress said, “I didn’t know who Adam Sandler was, and I got a script. It was a football script, and I was like, ‘Oh, let’s give me a football.’ Twelve pages I read and I thought, ‘Oh, man, I can’t do this thing. This is ridiculous.”

“The Waterboy” follows Bobby Boucher (Sandler), a socially awkward 31-year-old working as a waterboy for a college football team, who discovers an unexpected talent for tackling.

Bates tossed the script in the trash and her niece, who worked with her, found it. Thankfully, her niece knew of Sandler. “So I took another look at it, and I thought, well, I’ll do this for Linda,” Bates said.

The Actress Had The ‘Most Fun’ On Set

Bates agreed to play Helen “Mama” Boucher, Bobby’s devoutly Christian, overprotective, and domineering mother who keeps him sheltered.

“Turns out we have the most fun. He’s brilliant. He’s a genius,” Bates said about Sandler. “I dove in the deep end and just had a great time. Just screwed around. And I loved working with him,” she continued.

Bates recalled Sandler’s reaction after the movie’s release in 1998. “‘We made 34 million dollars in one weekend.’ He was so taken aback. It was a lot of fun,” the actress said.

“The Waterboy” was a success, earning $185 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $23 million.

Adam Sandler Knew Kathie Bates Tossed His Script

At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February, Sandler recalled how Bates almost passed on the role of Mama Boucher. “I remember we sent Kathy Bates the script for ‘The Waterboy’ to play my Mama. I don’t know if I have the story 100% right, but apparently she kind of read the first page and threw it in the garbage,” Sandler said.

After Bates agreed to take part in the movie, she met up with Sandler to talk about the film. The latter said he enjoyed spending time with the award-winning actress, adding that they forged a genuine friendship. Sandler also revealed that when he has a serious role, Bates calls him to give support and encouragement. “We’re very close. I love her very much,” Sandler said.

What The Actress Said To Adam Sandler About His Critics

Sandler knew that not everyone would appreciate the movies that he did. When “The Waterboy” came out, he had already done other films, such as “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” and he read the negative reviews.

On the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in 2022, Sandler told host Josh Horowitz that after shooting movies, people would tell him how critics would like the film. “And I’d be like, ‘Oh no, no, they’re going to say bad things, and they’re probably going to say bad things about you being in it’,” Sandler said.

The “SNL” alum then recalled talking about it with Bates, telling her that she probably shouldn’t read the “bad stuff” about “The Waterboy.” “She’s like, ‘I liked it, so that’s all that matters,’ or something like that. She was cool,” Sandler said about Bates.

Kathy Bates And Adam Sandler Support Each Other

Bates and Sandler have remained close over the years. In 2020, there was buzz around Sandler after he was snubbed at the Academy Awards. Many believed he deserved a Best Actor nomination for his role in “Uncut Gems.” That same year, Bates was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Richard Jewell.”

Sandler tweeted that he got “no love from the Academy,” but congratulated the other nominees and gave a special shoutout to Mama Boucher.

In response, Bates wrote, “I love you my Bobby Boucher!!! You was robbed!! But Mama loves you!!! I learned a new urban slang word for you! You da GOAT!! Not the one we eat at home, Son.”

Meghan Trainor‘s husband, Daryl Sabara, is mourning the loss of his estranged father, Roland Sabara. The “Spy Kids” star, who has previously spoken candidly about growing up without a father, shared the heartbreaking news with fans in an emotional social media post on Friday. Sabara revealed that his father had passed away, despite the pair having only spent limited time together throughout his life.

The actor announced Roland’s death on Instagram alongside a rare photo of the two together.

“My Dad, Roland Sabara, passed away last night,” Sabara wrote. “We only saw each other a couple of times, and I will cherish those memories forever. I know he did the best he could, and I know he’s in a better place now.”

The touching tribute reflected the complicated nature of their relationship, which was marked by years of separation after Roland left the family when Sabara was still an infant.

The ‘Spy Kids’ Star Grew Up Without His Father

According to previous interviews, Sabara was just one year old when his father walked out, leaving his mother, Sandra “Sandy” Sabara, to raise him and his twin sibling as a single parent.

Despite the challenges, Sabara found success at an early age, landing the role of Juni Cortez in the blockbuster “Spy Kids” franchise alongside Alexa PenaVega. The films launched him into international stardom and helped establish him as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable child actors.

Over the years, Sabara has remained open about how his father’s absence shaped his outlook on family and parenthood.

Fatherhood Helped Daryl Sabara Heal

Long before Roland’s passing, Sabara spoke about how becoming a father helped him process his own childhood experiences. After welcoming his first son, Riley, with wife Meghan Trainor, the actor shared a heartfelt message reflecting on what parenthood meant to him.

“Growing up without a Dad…I didn’t know what starting a family would mean to me,” Sabara wrote in a social media post while Trainor was expecting their second child. “But I get to be the Dad I always wanted, and I’m loving every second [of] it.”

He later described fatherhood as both “cathartic” and an “existential experience,” explaining that raising his children gave him a new perspective after growing up without a father figure.

Today, Sabara and Trainor share three children together: Riley, 5, Barry, 2, and baby Mikey, who was born earlier this year via surrogate. “It wasn’t our first choice, but we had endless conversations with our doctors on this journey, and this was the safest way for us to be able to continue growing our family,” Trainor told PEOPLE regarding the decision to move forward with a surrogate. “We are forever grateful for that option.”

Meghan Trainor Recently Opened Up About Welcoming Daughter Mikey Via Surrogate

The Grammy winner also used the opportunity to speak out in support of surrogacy, encouraging people to view it as another valid way to build a family. “I want people to know that surrogacy is just another beautiful way to build a family. It’s not something to whisper about or judge. It’s rooted in trust, science, love, and teamwork,” she said. “Every family’s journey looks different, and all of them are extremely valid.”

Trainor went on to praise the woman who carried Mikey, describing her surrogate as “one of the most selfless, strong and loving people I’ve ever met.” “Our surrogate is one of the most selfless, strong and loving people I’ve ever met. We felt so connected throughout the entire journey, and I’ll always be grateful for the care and love she showed our daughter,” Trainor added. “She gave us the greatest gift of our lives.”

Family Loss Comes Months After Meghan Trainor Canceled Her Tour

The heartbreaking family news arrives just months after Trainor made the difficult decision to cancel her planned summer tour in order to focus on her family. At the time, the Grammy-winning singer explained that balancing a new album, a nationwide tour, and life with a newborn had become overwhelming.

“Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now,” Trainor said. “I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time.”

If you have plans to go out this weekend, you should probably cancel them.

There’s a good reason why – Netflix, HBO Max and other streamers just dropped hours and hours of high-quality shows.

Watch With Us are huge fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books, so it’s no surprise our top pick is House of the Dragon, which returns for season 3 on Sunday.

If you need a good spy show to watch, we have two we can recommend: Paramount+’s The Agency, starring Michael Fassbender and Richard Gere, and The Capture, a British TV series about deepfake technology gone wrong.

Last but not least, Netflix just premiered its latest Harlan Coben adaptation, I Will Find You, and it’s just as bingeworthy as the author’s previous crime thrillers.

‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 – HBO Max

It’s been way too long since we’ve seen epic dragon fights and devious royal backstabbing that only the citizens of Westeros can dish out. After a two-year absence, House of the Dragon returns for a third season filled with feuding siblings, illicit affairs and brutal battle sequences.

Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and her Team Black squad continue their quest to take back the Iron Throne from half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his ruthless Team Green supporters, which include his mother – and Rhaenyra’s former bestie – Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke). The season premiere chronicles the infamous Battle of the Gullet, which changes the course of the war and sets up the final endgame for all involved. In addition to the returning cast member, new faces join this season, including former Grantchester vicar James Norton as Ormund Hightower, who helps Team Green fight back against their deadly usurpers.

‘The Agency’ Season 2 – Paramount+

In 2024, Paramount+ debuted the excellent spy series The Agency, which starred Michael Fassbender as a CIA agent who risks his career and life to help the woman he loves. The show was enough of a success to bring it back for a second season, which drops all of its 10 episodes on June 21. It’s a good thing they’ll all be available at once because you probably can’t stop yourself from watching more than one episode at a time.

After last season’s events, Brandon Colby (Fassbender) is now a double agent working for MI6. His No. 1 priority, however, hasn’t changed – to get back his lover, Samia (Jodie Turner-Smith), at any cost. That’s going to be difficult as she’s a political prisoner in Sudan. To free her, Colby will have to take on Viking (Clayne Crawford), a powerful mercenary who is as smart as he is ruthless. How far will Colby go to get what he wants? After season 2 is over, we can safely say the answer is pretty damn far.

‘The Capture’ Season 3 – Peacock

Peacock is also getting into the spy game this weekend with the return of the British series, The Capture. After exposing her corrupt employers in season 2, Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) is now the head of a Counter Terrorism Command unit and oversees the launch of a new mass surveillance program, Operation Veritas. When a mass shooting occurs in London, Rachel sees the shooter in real-time – but it’s not the same person identified by Veritas. Who is manipulating the surveillance system to hide in plain sight? And what do they want with Rachel?

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The Capture blends standard-issue spy thrills (expect lots of fancy gadgets and tech talk) with a not-so-subtle commentary about the dangers of technology in the age of Big Brother. All six episodes of The Capture season are available to stream right now.

‘I Will Find You’ Season 1 – Netflix

Another season, another Harlan Coben Netflix mystery series for you to binge. After hits like Fool Me Once and Missing You, the streamer just premiered another Coben mystery series that’s sure to be its most popular one yet. I Will Find You stars Sam Worthington as David Burroughs, who is in prison for the murder of his 3-year-old son, Matthew. He claims he didn’t commit the crime and that the real killer is still out there. After five years have passed, his whole world is turned upside down when his ex-wife shows him a photo of an 8-year-old boy who looks exactly like Matt. David knows that’s his son, but the only way to prove it is by breaking out of jail and finding Matt himself.

That’s a hell of a premise, but it’s also a classic Coben setup that sets the stage for an array of red herrings, crazy plot twists and a shocking ending. Hey, if the formula works, why not use it again and again? Like previous adaptations, I Will Find You boasts an impressive cast that includes Madeleine Stowe, Milo Ventimiglia and Britt Lower as Rachel, who helps David find out who is behind Matt’s disappearance. All eight episodes of I Will Find You are available to stream right now.