It is almost the end of the year again, ugh... Almost time for the end of the year post, but not quite. Before we look back at my reading year and choose the best books of the year, let's see what's going on in and around Berlin in terms of events and films. Let's also take a first little peek at the upcoming Fantasy Filmfest White Nights, which, this year, is scheduled for the end of January. But there's a lot going on before and after, so let's see...
First off, next Wednesday, December 10th, 8pm, there's a screening at the Odeon cinema of the horror documentary Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages. The appealing visuals suggest a quasi-serious, silent movie which uses brief episodes to explore witches. I've got my ticket already and I'm very excited for this!
If you always wanted to meet the science fiction author Charles Stross, you can have your chance on Thursday, December 11th at 7.30 pm, because he will be at the Otherland for a Q&A, seemingly "pre-Metropolcon", which doesn't make sense because it is in June? Still, you can go there for the heck of it too, and not to talk about the Metropolcon.
And the next day, December 12th, 9 pm, independent film curator Elinor Lewi shows the lesser known independent movie Vulcanizadora at the City Kino Wedding as part of her new film series of hidden gems, Idiocinecratic.
On December 18, at 7.30 pm Ugress will be live on YouTube with their last stream show of the year.
The new year 2026 then starts with a fun event - the January Gothic Reading Month where everyone in the book community is asked to organize something involving Gothic Literature, and Christian and I are already working on a Gothic reading table/shelf.
And then there's of course my beloved Fantasy Filmfest White Nights on January 24th and 25th. I swear I don't know how I would get over the dark time if there hadn't been these little rays of hope spread throughout the year. Well, there a couple of films in the program already, and they sound good enough.
Crazy Old Lady (Argentina, Spain, USA 2025, dir. MartÃn Mauregui)
The search for the caretaker of his elderly ex-mother in law turns into a gory mess for a guy. This looks really good, I do love the visuals of this, and it has the atmosphere of a kind of creepy crime horror - on my check list!
Deathgasm: Goremageddon (Canada, New Zealand 2025, dir. Jason Lei Howden)
They're back! If you've seen and loved the 2015 black-metal-and-magic-cult-zombie-horror-comedy Deathgasm, then there's good news for you: here's the sequel. If you haven't watched it yet, I'm sure there's enough time and boredom over the festive season to make room for this gem, so that you can seamlessly watch Part II, Deathgasm:Goremageddon at FFF.
Dolly (USA 2025, dir. Rod Blackhurst)
An homage to the 70s grind-house cinema, this is one of the films that awaken my curiosity, and it even looks like it could be a contender for the movie of the year, who knows?
The Holy Boy (Italy, Slowenia 2025, Paolo Strippoli)
There are few things in life as uncanny as someone who for no reason looks at you grinning. This film taps into that feeling, pairing it with a blissfully "happy" town, whose dark secret needs to be unveiled by the new teacher in town.
The Turkish Coffee Table (Türkiye 2025, Can Evrenol)
Can Evrenol is back! Surprisingly with a dark comedy revolving around the fight for a garish (Turkish) coffee table that kicks off a series of events leading to tragedy. I'm psyched, what can I say, hope this is as good as it sounds.
If you haven't gotten your Festival Pass yet you can start buying the tickets for the films from January 2nd onward.
I feel like my concept of Film February is falling apart, as two of the festivals who used to take place in February moved their dates a little bit apart, with FFF further into January and The Final Girls Berlin into March, but there's still the Berlinale which is always in February, this year for the 76th time from February 12th to 22nd, 2026, but the program hasn't been published yet and I don't know what they will show.
At the same time I think I'd like to try out the Berlin Independent Film Festival which showcases low-budget European films and takes place from February 16th to 23rd.
And finally, of course, March 4th to 8th, we have the 11th edition of FGBFF, the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival.
Since autumn I struggle to find anything I'd like to see at the Creepy Crypt, they have been mostly showing films I either don't want to see, or are a repeat of the FFF, or are scheduled to show regularly anyway, so I find they're kind of weak lately. Come on guys, make an effort!
There are, however, a couple of movies that will open, and I saw their trailers and can't wait to see them. Those are: The Bride, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Anaconda, and especially Psycho Killer. I'll have to wait a bit into the year to give a full list of exciting upcoming films.
So, my friends, you probably noticed I've tried to come up with something like a festive spirit by posting pictures of the spectacular Hammett-decorations we have set up and which are in the store to be admired and laughed at right now. Especially this garden gnome WITH THE FACE OF HORROR AUTHOR SEBASTIAN FITZEK! 😆😆
I should make a separate post about Fitzek and the eccentric promotion campaigns for his books, but now I'll shortly address this little gnome which is part of one of those ad campaigns, for his latest book, Der Nachbar. There's an official trailer (!) for this book, as well as a special effect incorporated into the book cover so that when you pull it out of its case, the book title appears in shimmering writing... And he has at least one thing creative like this going on for each one of his books. As an aside, he's also an author who very much supports local and independent booksellers, so we all love Sebastian Fitzek and his gnome.
That's about it, not very much to look for (for Berlin standards), but enough to not get bored until the end of the year when I'll run out of town to escape the fireworks. Have a great time until then!
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