SHUDDER in May: HERESY, WHISTLE, a New Season of THE TERROR And More

 

 

May 2026 Programming Highlights 

Here's what's coming to Shudder next month!

 

FILMS

 

HERESY

Shudder Exclusive Film

Directed by Didier Konings

Streaming On Shudder May 1

Available in US, CA, AU, NZ, UKI

 

Synopsis

A folk horror centered in a medieval Dutch village, follows a young woman who is caught between her faith, fanatic townsfolk and the dark forces lurking in the woods. Starring Anneke Sluiters, Len Leo Vincent and Reinout Bussemaker. 

 

 

WHISTLE

Shudder Exclusive Film

Directed by Corin Hardy

Streaming On Shudder May 8

Available in US

 

Synopsis

A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion. Starring Dafne Keen (Logan), Sophie Nélisse (Yellowjackets), Sky Yang (Rebel Moon), Percy Hynes White (My Old Ass) and Nick Frost (How to Train Your Dragon).

 

 

SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN

Shudder Exclusive Film

Directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza

Streaming On Shudder May 15

Available in US, CA

 

Synopsis

A woman’s life takes a definitive turn the day that she loses her job as a computer programmer.

 

 

THIS IS NOT A TEST

Shudder Exclusive Film

Directed by Adam MacDonald

Streaming On Shudder May 22

Available in US, AU, NZ, UKI

 

Synopsis

Sloane (Olivia Holt, Heart Eyes) and a small group of her classmates take cover in their high school to escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands. Adapted from the popular YA novel of the same name by New York Times best-selling author Courtney Summers. Also starring Froy Gutierrez (The Strangers), Luke MacFarlane(Bros), Corteon Moore (Overcompensating), Chloe Avakian (John Wayne Gacy), and Carson MacCormac (Clown in a Cornfield).

 

 

 

SMOTHERED

Shudder Original Film

Directed by Rafki Hidayat and Kevin Rahardjo

Streaming On Shudder May 29

Available in US, CA, AU, NZ, UKI

 

Synopsis

Alif is a micro-painting artist who has an accident and loses part of his memory. After returning home, an old woman appears claiming to be his mother, but Alif doesn’t recognize her and is suspicious of her intentions. Starring Rio Dewanto, Faradina Mufti and Vonny Anggraini.

 

 

 

TV SERIES & SPECIALS

 

 

 

The Terror: Devil in Silver

AMC Studios Original Series

New Series Premieres Thursday, May 7; 

New Episodes Premiere Weekly Until the Season Finale on June 11

Available in US, CA

 

Synopsis

The newest installment in the acclaimed horror anthology, executive produced by Ridley Scott, stars Dan Stevens (Abigail, Downton Abbey) as Pepper – a working-class moving man who, through a combination of bad luck and a bad temper, finds himself wrongfully committed to New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital – an institution filled with those society would rather forget. There, he must contend with patients working against him, doctors harboring grim secrets, and perhaps even the Devil himself. As Pepper navigates a hellscape where nothing is as it seems, he finds that the only path to freedom is to face the entity which thrives on the suffering within New Hyde’s walls – but doing so may prove that the worst demons of all live inside him. Also starring Judith Light (Before, Out of My Mind), CCH Pounder (Rustin, NCIS: New Orleans), Aasif Mandvi (Evil, This Way Up), John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C, Lilly), Stephen Root (Barry, Heads of State), Michael Aronov (The Americans, Operation Finale) and Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete, Glass Chin), Chinaza Uche (Silo, A Good Person), Hampton Fluker (Shades of Blue, Instant Family), b (WeCrashed, You), Hayward Leach (Tom Swift, Love Life), and Philip Ettinger (First Reformed, I Know This Much Is True).

 

Tales From the Crypt

Shudder Exclusive Series

Season 1 Binge Premieres Friday, May 1; 

Subsequent Season Binges Premiere Fridays Until the Final Season 7 Premieres June 12

 Available in US, CA, AU, NZ, UKI

 

Synopsis

Tales from the Crypt, the popular 90s horror anthology series inspired by the 1950s EC Comics is back exclusively streaming on Shudder! Each episode is a self-contained story often featuring well-known talent and directors – and hosted by the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir), a wisecracking corpse known for his macabre puns. With its signature unrestricted gore, profanity, and dark irony, the show’s episode styles range from comedy to drama and deliver twisted moral lessons where "bad people" meet poetically horrific ends – and issues like greed, lust, and moral decay lead to tragic consequences. The series features a long list of A-list guest stars including Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, John Lithgow, Christopher Reeve, Catherine O’Hara, Steve Buscemi, Brooke Shields and many more. Several episodes have been directed by well-known talent including Rober Zemeckis, Tobe Hooper and William Friedkin, as well as acclaimed actors such as Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzeneggerand Michael J. Fox. 

 

 

 

SHUDDER TV HIGHLIGHTS

 

Watch Parties Every Friday at 9pm ET – featuring new premieres and curated double features including:

 

May 1: “Dutch Folk Horror” Watch Party – Heresy and Moloch

May 8: “Mom Macabre” Watch Party – Gazer and Lilly Lives Alone

May 15: “Maniacs in Masks” Watch Party – Dolly and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

May 22: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” Watch Party – The Crazies and Arcadian

May 29: “Spotlight on Indonesian Horror” Watch Party – Smothered Assistant and Satan’s Slaves

SHUDDER RESURRECTED 

 

**Repertory Titles New to Shudder** 

 

May 1

 

Gazer

Frankie, a young mother with dyschronometria, struggles to perceive time. Using cassette tapes for guidance, she takes a risky job from a mysterious woman to support her family, unaware of the dark consequences that await. 

 

Vice Squad

A single mother prostitute, who goes by the name Princess, finds herself forced to work undercover for the police in order to apprehend a homicidal, misogynistic pimp named Ramrod, who will do anything not to get arrested. 

 

Baby Blood

When a strange creature crawls into a woman’s uterus she becomes a killer in order to feed the tiny terror growing within her. 

 

Re-Wind

A gruesome snuff video is found in a sex booth. It shows a young woman who is tortured killed and dismembered by an unknown sadist. The deadly blade is hidden inside the camera itself. 

 

Murderrock

The owner of a prestigious New York ballet school teams up with a male model to solve a series of bizarre murder of a few of the students. 

 

Teeth

Still a stranger to her own body, a high school student discovers she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence. 

 

Martyrs

A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity. 

 

Livid

The suggestion of a big treasure hidden somewhere inside Mrs. Jessel’s once renowned classical dance academy will become an irresistible lire to a fiendish trap for Lucie and her friends. 

 

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

Twin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has a face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don’t recognize. 

 

Innocence

A young woman discovers that her elite Manhattan preparatory school harbors a dark secret. 

 

The Ice Tower

Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot for a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star, Cristina, an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing. 

 

The Bride From Hades

On the night of the summer Obon festival, Hagiwara Shinzaburo meets a beautiful courtesan named Otsuyu. Not knowing she’s a ghost, he becomes infatuated by her. 

 

The Ghost of Yotsuya

The ghost of a samurai’s wife takes revenge on her husband. 

 

The Snow Woman

The lives of a master sculptor and his young apprentice are changed forever when they meet an evil witch during a snowstorm.

 

May 4

 

Solvent

While hunting Nazi papers in Austria, researchers find a dark secret beneath a farmhouse. As expat Gunner Holbrook pursues the mystery, his grip on reality slips. He battles an evil force racing to save himself.

 

Horror Noire: History of Black Horror

Documentary, based on the acclaimed book of the same name by Dr. Robin R.  Means  Coleman,   takes a critical look at a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and embraced both Black filmmakers and Black audiences.

 

May 11

 

47 Meters Down

Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive. 

 

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

Two sisters diving in a ruined underwater city quickly learn they’ve entered the territory of the deadliest shark species in the claustrophobic labyrinth of submerged caves. 

 

Aberrance

An estranged couple takes a retreat in the woods. Foreboding neighbors, frivolous friends, and dark unseen forces lead to a shocking conclusion. 

 

In Search of Darkness 1990-1994

Film icons and genre experts share observations, experiences and analysis to help reframe, deconstruct and re-contextualize the “lost” decade of horror: the ‘90s. Fans will hear first-hand stories from a long list of genre favorites including Heather Langenkamp (Wes Craven’s New Nightmare), John Carpenter (In The Mouth of Madness), Frank Henenlotter(Frankenhooker), Tim Balme (Dead Alive), Michael Gross (Tremors), and many more.