‘The Heretiks’: First Look at Our Halloween-Set Horror Movie from ‘Dance of the Dead’ Director Gregg Bishop!

For the better part of 25 years, I’ve lived and breathed horror. I started my first horror website when I was 20 years old, not because I had some grand business plan, but because I was a fan. That’s still who I am today.

Over the years, that passion turned into a career I could have never imagined. I helped build one of the largest horror platforms on the internet, worked alongside incredible filmmakers, helped launch franchises, produced films, and had the privilege of being part of projects that connected with audiences worldwide. Eventually, though, I realized I missed the freedom that came with simply being a fan. I wanted my autonomy back. I wanted to create, write, champion strange ideas, and take risks again.

That desire is what led me and several longtime friends and collaborators to acquire DREAD CENTRAL and build something bigger around it: a new company called BE AFRAID.

Today, I want to formally introduce you to BE AFRAID.

BE AFRAID is the parent company behind DREAD CENTRAL and the growing slate of projects we’re developing across horror media, including film production. The goal is simple: make cool things for horror fans by people who genuinely love horror.

Some of you already know parts of my history in the genre space. I co-created and produced the V/H/S franchise, produced films like Southbound and Terrifier 3, and have spent years collaborating with filmmakers whose work continues to shape modern horror.

What I’ve always loved most is horror that feels unpredictable. Films that take swings. Stories that catch you off guard. But at the same time, there’s a part of me that will always love the kind of horror I grew up on. The movies that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place. Sometimes I want to get back to those roots. Back to that classic Halloween-season energy. The kind of movie you’d discover late at night with friends, the kind that feels fun, eerie, atmospheric, and unapologetically horror. That spirit is a huge part of what inspired our first production.

I’m incredibly excited to officially announce the first feature film produced under the Be Afraid banner:

THE HERETIKS

The film is directed by Gregg Bishop, a filmmaker I’ve had the pleasure of working with multiple times over the years. Horror fans likely know him from , his wildly underrated segment “Dante the Great,” and , the feature spinoff of David Bruckner’s segment “Amateur Night.” I’m a huge fan of Gregg, who has a rare ability to make ambitious genre filmmaking feel massive, energetic, and cinematic while never losing the personality and fun that make horror special in the first place.