Insidious Meets The Exorcist In 2026's Terrifying New Horror Praised By Stephen King

Published Aug 23, 2026, 10:15 AM EDT Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. The horror genre is about to see one of its best movies of the year thanks to a film that masterfully blends the best elements of Insidious and The Exorcist, and which has already been praised by Stephen King. The horror genre has had a great run in recent years with a combination of original works, like Get Out and Weapons, adaptations like The Long Walk, remakes like Nosferatu, and sequels like Terrifier 2. The streak continues in 2026, thanks to movies like Obsession, Backrooms, and Hokum. 2026 still has some horror movies coming in the fall, most notably Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil and the DC Universe’s Clayface. However, not all of them can brag about being praised by Stephen King himself ahead of their release, but one that can definitely do that is the Japanese horror movie Never After Dark. Written and directed by Dave Boyle, Never After Dark already had a successful run at different festivals, and it’s ready to hit theaters on September 25, 2026. After some great first reactions from those who already had the chance to watch it, the marketing campaign for Never After Dark has finally begun, and so its first trailer has been released. Japan stands out as a country with some of the best and scariest horror movies in film history, so it’s not surprising that Never After Dark has already received so much praise, and it will further make 2026 a great year for the genre. Never After Dark Is One Of 2026's Best Remaining Horror Releases Image via Magnolia Pictures Never After Dark is the story of Airi (Moeka Hoshi), a traveling psychic who guides restless spirits out of the physical world, and has a one-of-a-kind traveling companion: her dead sister Miku (Kurumi Inagaki). The title alludes to Airi’s rule of never working at night, as that’s when the veil is thinner, and it can unleash some true horrors. Airi takes on the case of a spirit inhabiting an isolated country house owned by Teiko (Tae Kimura), but exorcizing this presence brings a grotesque apparition with powers that go beyond Airi’s experience. Airi digs deeper into the history of the house and uncovers a disturbing secret, with Airi finding herself haunted by an unpredictable force, and not exactly of the supernatural type. The first trailer for Never After Dark gives the audience a good taste of its tone, visual style, type of jumpscares and horror imagery, and even though it’s just a brief look, it’s already easy to see why it has received so much praise ahead of its release. Never After Dark arrives at a great moment in the horror genre, as audiences are now more open to different types of stories and subgenres, and while it covers an overdone theme such as exorcisms, it looks very different from the typical exorcism movie. The first trailer for Never After Dark teases character and emotional depth, as well as the exploration of complex themes through horror elements, which can take it to the top of 2026’s horror movies. Several Masters Of Horror Have Praised Never After Dark There are still a couple of weeks to go before the theatrical release of Never After Dark, but some of the masters of horror have already praised it. The one and only Stephen King called Never After Dark “amazing and haunting”, while Scott Derrickson (director of Sinister and The Black Phone) called it “intelligent, unpredictable and bone-chilling”, as well as a “deftly directed, richly cinematic supernatural horror film” and one of the best horror stories of the year. Never After Dark already has the seal of approval of the most notable horror author of our time and one of the best horror filmmakers in recent years, as well as that of many critics and horror experts. Never After Dark is a must-watch for horror fans, and it’s to be seen if it will dethrone the biggest horror movies of the year so far, both critically and at the box office.