As the year winds down, we’re taking a moment to look back. The Etch team shares our favorite Etch Cast episodes of 2025 — the conversations that lingered, made us laugh, and reminded us why we do this.

What scares you never really disappears. Bestselling author @elizabethhand.bsky.social on memory, fear, and the stories that haunt us. FIRST WORD ON HORROR is now streaming FREE on YouTube.

Christmas may be over — but we’ve got one more gift. Part Two of Mariana Enriquez’s FIRST WORD ON HORROR episodes is here. A conversation about place, memory, and the violence that lingers.

From the shadows, with gratitude. ’Twas the night before deadlines, in studios dim, Stories took shape — dark, sharp, and born on a whim. First Word on Horror spoke from the page and the screen, Cassie Workman Is Witchy AF burned bright — bold, and seen.

“Narrative resists control.” @lairdbarron.bsky.social on writing like survival. Part 2 of his FIRST WORD ON HORROR episodes is now FREE on our YouTube Channel.

Some people root for the hero. We root for the thing with too many teeth. 👹 Episode 12 of the Etch Cast — featuring @theartofskinner.bsky.social and an unhealthy love of monsters.

Give a gift from the shadows this holiday season. 🎁🖤 Our FIRST WORD ON HORROR merch drop is live — eerie tees, exclusive art, and pieces inspired by the storytellers who keep us up at night.

The world ending is scary. The world ending when you have kids? Terrifying. @paultremblay.bsky.social opens up about how becoming a parent changed the way he writes fear — because now, the stakes are real.

What does fear sound like? Composer Peter Scartabello takes us behind the score of FIRST WORD ON HORROR — the strange instruments, warped strings, and unsettling beauty that pull you into the dark.

Part 2 of our @sgj.bsky.social episodes have officially arrived — free on YouTube. More fear. More craft. More SGJ doing what only he can do. A little something to go with your leftovers.

Set the table, sharpen the knives, pass the mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving at Etch looks a little different. One horror author. One villain. One final girl. And you, clutching a casserole like your life depends on it. 👉 Drop your picks in the comments — bonus points for unhinged pairings.

YEAHHHH!!!

Fear has a frequency. In this week’s Etch Cast, composer Peter Scartabello breaks down how he creates the unsettling soundscapes behind The Spine of Night and First Word On Horror.

ICYMI! This week on the ETCH CAST — Philip, Morgan, and special guest Joe Dwyer recap their favorite watches of the year — including the unhinged masterpiece known as THE GREASY STRANGLER. A cult classic. A wild look. An experience you don’t forget.

This is where the magic starts — before the edit, before the polish, in the moment a story takes its first breath. Behind the camera, Mariana Enriquez is telling the kind of truths that slip under the skin and refuse to leave.

Guilty pleasures? We’ve got ’em. Comfort watches? We probably shouldn’t admit them in public. The latest Etch Cast reveals one unshakable law: if someone hasn’t seen Nothing But Trouble, you STOP EVERYTHING and make them watch it. No explanation.

Cheers to International Witches Day — a celebration of the powerful, the peculiar, and the ones who look great under moody lighting. A perfect excuse to share a little behind-the-scenes moment from CASSIE WORKMAN IS WITCHY AF, where curses, craft, and comedy all bubble in the same cauldron.

Dexter. The Godfather. A soundtrack of Volare and the faint hum of a meat slicer. Death is in the air. So is the smell of prosciutto and poor decisions. 🎧 Listen to the chaos unfold in the latest episode of ETCH CAST 👉 Bad Ideas Only. Links below!

Europa Report doesn’t ask if we should explore — only what it’ll cost. @reactorsff.bsky.social breaks down why the film (written by Etch’s own Philip Gelatt) treats discovery as devotion — not spectacle. Link below! 📷: Start Motion Pictures

Mariana Enriquez didn’t just write intense stories… she lived them. 😈 From schoolyard ultra-violence to global bestseller — her first episode of FIRST WORD ON HORROR is now on YouTube. #etch #etchfilm #FirstWordOnHorror #marianaenriquez #horror #horrorfiction #indiehorror #youtube

@etchfilm.bsky.social gave horror readers an incredible gift with their series FIRST WORD ON HORROR. Watch free the 1st episodes of each featured author: Mariana Enriquez, @lairdbarron.bsky.social, @paultremblay.bsky.social, @sgj.bsky.social & @elizabethhand.bsky.social! youtu.be/pT43IWNHEVU?...

He’s back from the dead. Not for vengeance. For merch. Happy Halloween from ETCH. 🧟‍♂️🧢 #happyhalloween #zombie #etch #etchfilm #horror #zombielife

Smart horror > dumb decisions. @paultremblay.bsky.social joins Etch Cast to talk Them! (1954), highbrow fear, and why horror’s range is unmatched.

Now streaming on YouTube! Follow @etchfilm.bsky.social for more information.

There’s something out there — waiting for the bus, watching the road, screaming back. 😱 Part One of Laird Barron’s FIRST WORD ON HORROR episodes is now streaming free on YouTube.

Ancient sorcery. Blood-soaked myth. Handcrafted rotoscope madness. THE SPINE OF NIGHT rises again in Toronto — 4K theatrical premiere at The Revue Cinema, with Co-Director @swordcandlebell.bsky.social appearing live.

My family used to watch The Wizard of Oz. I think it was Thanksgiving. It scared the hell out of me. When I was a kid I would dream about looking out the window where The Wicked Witch riding a bike. It was horrible.

Every horror origin story has teeth. For @paultremblay.bsky.social, they belonged to a 25-foot great white. JAWS didn’t just terrify him — it marked him. Bit down hard. Never let go. 🦈🩸

Two writers. One ferris wheel turning over the Atlantic. 📍 Atlantic City, NJ — Philip Gelatt and co-writer Peter Hassan scouting possible locations for what comes next. It always starts this way: a horizon, a question, and the first shadow of a new story.

@etchfilm.bsky.social just made the episode #1 of FIRST WORD IN HORROR available for free on Youtube and it's @sgj.bsky.social talking about the evolutionary origins of our love of horror! Watch this first ep, then subscribe to Etch to see the whole series because it's excellent!

Whoah, cool. Such an honor:

“He’s kept all of the rejection letters he’s received from publishers and he has them in a folder on his shelf.” 📚 ICYMI! In Episode 2 of ETCH CAST, Will shares a behind-the-camera moment with @sgj.bsky.social — a reminder that even legends start with a stack of nos.

A shelf of nightmares, bound in paper and ink. 📚 Paul Tremblay. Mariana Enriquez. Stephen Graham Jones. Laird Barron. Elizabeth Hand. The writers who haunt these spines are the same voices haunting FIRST WORD ON HORROR.

Every fantasy head should watch SPINE OF NIGHT. It's really an incredible accomplishment.

Imagine buying a house in New Jersey and finding out it’s Bobby Bacala’s from THE SOPRANOS. Tour buses. Scandinavian superfans. Murdered-on-this-block lore. Will Battersby doesn’t have to imagine — he lives it.

ETCH CAST is LIVE! @swordcandlebell.bsky.social recalls how Gremlins delivered his first cinematic terror. We dig into the films and books that scarred us young — and why genre isn’t a cage but a toolkit. 🎧 Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6fo7... #etchcast #gremlins #horror #podcast

The shadows have a new frequency. Our podcast, ETCH CAST, premieres this week. It pulls back the curtain on the chaos of independent filmmaking: childhood nightmares (Gremlins, Large Marge), decades of Stephen King (yes, even Maximum Overdrive), and why we think genre isn’t a cage — it’s a toolkit.

ICYMI! This is the final chapter. Fourteen weeks. Chaos, myth, and memory. Spine Summer ends here — with @swordcandlebell.bsky.social reflecting on The Spine of Night and the worlds still waiting in shadow.

Think of this as your reading break. @lairdbarron.bsky.social’s words linger in the silence, echoing long after the page turns.

@heavymetalofficial.bsky.social just called our own Philip Gelatt “one of the leading names in working adult animation and speculative entertainment.” We couldn’t agree more. From THE SPINE OF NIGHT to FIRST WORD ON HORROR, Philip continues to shape the future of genre storytelling with ETCH.

Subscribed, awesome!

ICYMI! What does The Spine of Night sound like? Not just swords and screams, but springs ripped from garage doors, echoes of Conan, and music forged in the fires of fantasy. In Part V, hear from composer Peter Scartabello on how he shaped the score, experimental and unforgettable.

The biggest voices in horror fiction. The stories that keep you up at night. And the insights that make it all the more chilling. 😱 Critics are calling FIRST WORD ON HORROR “an essential look at horror’s most compelling voices.”

Meet Belle. NYU-trained. Horror-inclined. Pink-hair-roller-wearing chaos wrangler. She grew up on Don Bluth and DVD closets with sliding ladders. Now she crafts the strange, the sharp, and the genre-bent with Etch.

Before the rotoscope, before the blood — there was cardboard armor, yoga mats, and a warehouse full of nerds armed with nothing but imagination. Part IV of The Making of The Spine of Night takes you inside the live-action shoot that became the bones of our fantasy epic.

In front of the camera. ➡️ Behind the camera. If you could interview Mariana Enriquez, what would you ask her? Her haunting, brilliant, and darkly funny episodes of FIRST WORD ON HORROR are now streaming on our Substack.

It began with a maze. With a Minotaur. With limbs flying and music swelling. And with the question: why do anything at all? Part III of The Making of The Spine of Night is here — exploring Exordium, the short film that started it all.

The captain has taken the wheel… and the canvas. 🎨🛸 We’re teaming up with Skinner for his next creation — Art Show with Captain Skinner — a collision of art, comedy, and chaos, co‑conspired with Allen Cordell and featuring surprise guests like Skye Elobar (The Greasy Strangler, Infernal).

This behind-the-scenes gem comes courtesy of our co-founder and producer, Will Battersby — who has a knack for finding the most unsettlingly perfect places to shoot. A new project is coming… and it’s very us.

Step into the darkness — First Word on Horror merch has officially dropped! From chilling t-shirts to exclusive art, each piece is inspired by the haunting episodes of our streaming series. Whether you're into psychological terror, gothic tales, or spine-tingling horror, we've got something for you.