Today is officially Happy Shane Day out in the Fog.

Dead by Daylight has announced Shane Wiigwaas, the game’s first Indigenous survivor, as part of its new chapter titled The Life Road. Shane is an Anishinaabe defense attorney whose story is built around justice, community, grief, and the kind of haunted family history that fits almost too perfectly inside DBD’s nightmare feel. 

Or in other words for a lot of us: FINALLY. A Native character gets pulled into the Fog and it isn’t a stoic shaman, vague feathers, and someone’s bad dreamcatcher tattoo idea from 2006.

For a lot of Indigenous horror fans, this one feels different.

Dead by Daylight has already been a favorite in Native gaming and horror spaces for years and it makes sense. The game is messy, funny, stressful, dramatic, and somehow becomes a community hangout even while everyone is being chased by a killer in online’s best hide and seek game. It is horror but it is also survival and looping and yelling “WHY WOULD YOU LEAD HIM OVER HERE?” at someone you still love as a relative. So yes, the game fits us really well.

That is why Shane’s release has felt bigger than a normal character drop. It isn’t just about getting another survivor with new perks. It is about us seeing someone who looks and feels familiar and in something we legitimately enjoy.

Members of Rezidents of Horror, a stream team made up and led by Indigenous creators with a focus on horror, are among the streamers celebrating Shane’s arrival.

“It’s amazing to see Native representation in Horror gaming and very rare to come across especially when done right,” said JessaRoseGames. “Behaviour and Dead by Daylight did an amazing job designing Shane and I can tell they put a lot of love into him. Can’t wait to play him in the fog!”

That excitement has been echoed across Indigenous streaming circles, where Shane has quickly become less of a character reveal and more of a community moment with Uncle Shane being the focus.

Frybreadqueen called the release “a huge WIN for NDN country,” pointing to the care put into Shane’s design and story.

“His look, lore, and overall vibe was made with love and respect,” Frybreadqueen said. “He is a great representation of what modern day Native/Indigenous people look like and how we work on making our communities better. Happy Uncle Shane Day!”

That “modern day” part is really important. The representation we often get  in games and horror has too often been stuck in the past with our styles treated like a costume or our burial grounds being a spooky plot device instead of real Sovereign Nations. Shane being a defense attorney gives him a grounding that feels current. He is not there to be a symbol floating around in the background. He has a job. He has family. He has guilt. He has purpose. He has fits. He has good hair. All of this is important for many.

ThatPryncess, another Rezidents of Horror creator, said the day feels especially meaningful after years of waiting for Indigenous representation in the game.

“As someone who’s been waiting for an Indigenous survivor to arrive in Dead by Daylight for many years, today is an incredible day!” ThatPryncess said. “Representation matters and it’s clear DBD heard our voices and took great care when adding Shane into the Fog. HAPPY SHANE WIIGWAAS DAY and Happy 10 Years to DBD ”

For Native horror fans, Happy Shane Day is about more than a game update. It is about being seen in a genre we have always been part of. Indigenous people have always told scary stories. We have always understood survival. We have always known that horror is not just monsters, but systems, violence, memory, land, family, and what follows you even when you think you got away.

The celebration is also going live tonight. JessaRoseGames, Frybreadqueen, ThatPryncess, and AngeeNoel will be streaming together starting at 7 p.m. CST, giving fans a chance to join these deadly aunties as they welcome Shane into the Fog properly. Which definitely means some unhinged jokes, screaming, chaos, and at least one moment where all are wheeze laughing into the microphone while being put on the hook.

The post Happy Shane Day: Native Horror Streamers Celebrate Dead by Daylight’s First Indigenous Survivor appeared first on Grim Native.

The post 28 Beads Later: Episode 1 appeared first on Grim Native.

This Thursday, 28 Beads Later launches with a simple idea: two Native women talking about the movies, games, shows, and stories that keep them thinking long after they’re over. Equal parts review show, pop culture conversation, and a fun yapping love letter to the horror genre, the podcast creates space for fans who enjoy digging a little deeper while still having fun along the way.

Each episode features discussions on horror films, survival horror games, television, and genre storytelling. Listeners can expect reviews, rankings, recurring categories, hot takes, and conversations about everything from cult classics and deep cuts to the newest releases in the theaters. The show will also feature guests from across Indigenous, horror, gaming, and creative communities.

While Indigenous perspectives are central to the podcast, 28 Beads Later isn’t just an academic overview of horror but a space to celebrate the stories we love and what makes them unique to our communities. 

This could be diving deep into why these stories are important to us but also could be as simple as sharing our favorite Ghostface thirst traps and Pyramid Head edits. If these areas sound interesting then you have found the right place and the right Native women to hear from.

At a time when Indigenous creators are increasingly shaping conversations across film, television, gaming, and popular culture, 28 Beads Later offers a fresh perspective grounded in a genuine passion for the genre and the communities built around it.

The podcast premieres this Thursday and will release new episodes every other Thursday.

About 28 Beads Later

28 Beads Later is a horror and pop culture podcast hosted by two Native women who spend a lot of time thinking about movies, games, and the stories that stay with us long after the credits roll. Through reviews, discussions, rankings, and guest conversations, the show explores horror from an Indigenous perspective while welcoming anyone who loves a good scare.

The post New Podcast, 28 Beads Later, Brings Horror, Gaming, and Indigenous Perspectives to the Conversation appeared first on Grim Native.

There are plenty of horror stories about monsters, demons, slasher killers, vampires, zombies, and so many other “scary” things, and that’s what I love about horror. However, for a lot of us who are part of lesser-known groups, we sympathize with misunderstood characters. These creatures are often what Guillermo del Toro calls “patron saints of the outsiders.”

Because in this story, the scariest thing imaginable is not one of those monsters but rather another nice guy who thinks he deserves a woman’s love just because he wants it bad enough.

And to be honest? That’s far scarier than any horror movie I’ve ever seen.

The movie starts, of course, like a normal romantic comedy trope-style film. Bear is a quiet and insecure guy who is hopelessly in love with one of his best friends, Nikki. We know what happens next as he makes this wish, and normally we’d basically expect there to be a certain way this movie would go. She would be the “crazy girl” that symbolizes how women supposedly act sometimes, and then eventually we’d find out that she did in fact like him all along and he’d grow into a bold stand-up guy who gets the girl in the end after some horrifying murders and cool music scenes.

And a lesser movie may have done just that, but we don’t get that here.

After using the One Wish Willow so that Nikki would love him “more than anyone else in the world,” Bear gets a version of what he wants. The movie makes it clear almost immediately that this is a love story, but not a romantic one, as Nikki herself frames it early on. Nikki’s affection doesn’t feel natural or of her own volition because it isn’t. There are several moments in the film where she is clearly trapped inside her own body, and it’s not really Nikki who is “loving” Bear. This wish turns coercion on its head to show how truly gross and evil it is rather than treating the subject lightly.

The real horror in all of this is that Bear seems to grasp this almost right away and several times throughout the movie.

He is an effective horror protagonist in the absolute worst possible way. While the setup initially presents him as a victim of a wish gone wrong born from pure intentions, we slowly realize he is actually a monster who is willing to let Nikki suffer as long as he gets what he wants from her.

Then, in a sequence where the real Nikki speaks to him while she sleeps, begging to be freed from this life and killed, we hear the line that sums up the entirety of his character:

“What’s so bad about being with me?”

This line is so important because Bear views Nikki’s lack of consent as a personal insult against himself. Rather than asking if she actually wants this and prioritizing her well-being, he selfishly centers his own insecurity and allows her to continue being violated in a way that feels all too real. This movie understands something that a lot of us men still struggle with: entitlement combined with insecurity can become destructive and even deadly to women.

This is where we can see who the truly “obsessed” person is. It is not the person subjected to the demands imposed upon them, but rather the person willing to let someone they claim to care about suffer in service of their own feelings.

For many of us as Indigenous people, this is also why conversations around MMIP awareness are so important. Of course, this movie is not directly discussing MMIP issues, but the same underlying theme appears in both: the idea that access is more important than consent. That wanting something justifies control. That affection and what looks like “good intent” somehow overrides a human being’s autonomy.

Native women in the United States continue to face disproportionate levels of violence. According to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, more than 4 in 5 Native women experience violence in their lifetime, while homicide remains one of the leading causes of death for Native women and girls in certain age groups. The U.S. Department of the Interior Missing and Murdered Unit also notes that jurisdictional gaps, underreporting, and inconsistent investigations continue to leave many Native families without answers for years.

That is why themes involving consent, autonomy, and control hit differently for many of us Indigenous viewers. These are not abstract concepts for us. These are realities that Native women, families, and communities are still actively dealing with.

In this movie, it’s important because Bear doesn’t physically chain Nikki up or lock her in a basement. It appears less sinister on the surface, but he strips away her entire self and reshapes her existence just to serve him. That is absolutely violence. His view of women is so warped that he becomes comfortable allowing this to continue even while she is clearly suffering.

In an interview with TIME, director Curry Barker stated:

“Everyone thinks the One Wish Willow is cursed, but it’s not. Like if you worded it very, very carefully and wished for something you knew couldn’t possibly be bad for anybody, you’re probably fine. But if you’re forcing someone to feel a certain way about you, it doesn’t really matter how you word it.”

So it’s not the power itself that is inherently evil, but rather the desires of Bear. This becomes even clearer when we see the owner of the store as a relatively regular guy who already used his wish and seemingly turned out fine.

So what does it look like when someone values being loved more than they value another person’s freedom?

In Obsession, it looks like destruction, death, and harm inflicted not just on Nikki but on everyone around them. All because Bear could not bring himself to do the right thing, even until the very end of the film when he still chickens out of freeing her.

And honestly, by the end of the movie, the question somehow gets answered once again: yeah, everyone would be safer with an actual bear than with Bear.

If you would like to support Indigenous women and MMIP advocacy efforts, consider donating to Not Our Native Daughters, an organization dedicated to awareness, prevention, and support surrounding Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and relatives.

The post “What’s So Bad About Being With Me?” appeared first on Grim Native.

Created by Modern Myth Television and featuring veteran paranormal investigators Christopher Honka Hill and Russell Sun Eagle, Legend Hunterz combines boots-on-the-ground investigation, cultural respect, and cinematic storytelling to explore unexplained phenomena rooted in Indigenous and regional folklore. The series blends suspense and science with a deep reverence for Native history and spiritual tradition — spotlighting legends often left untold in mainstream media.

The pilot episode can be watched for free on the Legend Hunterz YouTube Channel:

Kickstarter Launching Soon

Following the success of the premiere, the Legend Hunterz team is preparing to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund additional episodes. “We’re honored that our first episode struck such a chord,” said Christopher Hill, “These legends aren’t just stories —they’re part of living cultures and landscapes. We’re here to listen, learn, and explore.”

“Every share, view, and pledge helps keep this mission alive,” added producer MJ Loheed. “Our goal is to create something authentic — filmed on location, grounded in community, and fueled by curiosity.”

The next episode will feature Dog Man of Ponca City where reports of a wolf-like creature is said to stalk the edge of Native land under the cover of darkness. – with a base goal of $38,000. Follow updates on Kickstarter to join the hunt.

About Legend Hunterz

Legend Hunterz is an independent docu-series that blends investigation, Indigenous storytelling, and folklore exploration. Each episode takes audiences into the field with the team as they uncover the truths, mysteries, and cultural meanings behind America’s most chilling legends.

About Modern Myth TV

Modern Myth TV creates bold, immersive, and original unscripted content. Focused on paranormal, cryptid, and adventure-based storytelling, Modern Myth TV brings new perspectives to legends and lore with high-quality production and authentic voices.

The post “Legend Hunterz” World Premiere Draws Packed House at the College of the Muscogee Nation — Over 12,000 Views Within 24 Hours appeared first on Grim Native.

Starring Diana Hellson, Rose Stiffarm, and Zoelya Hellson, A’soka’piiwa weaves an intimate tale of loss, with stunning cinematography by Rose Stiffarm and dedicated production assistance from Zoelya Hellson. Together, the team crafts a haunting exploration of grief and its eerie interplay with the festive season.

This short film reminds us that grief doesn’t take holidays—instead, it often feels like the boogeyman we just can’t escape. With its raw storytelling and cerebral atmosphere, A’soka’piiwa is a needed exploration of the resilience required to face loss and our fear of the end.

The post “Grief is a Plague Made Worse” in RGE’s Christmas Horror Short: A’soka’piiwa: appeared first on Grim Native.

Filmed on location in picturesque Kaneohe, Hawaii, The Inherited stars Kelsey Sugai, a familiar face to many thanks to her popular Zippy’s commercial. After debuting as an official selection at the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2024, the film is now reaching wider audiences with this special screening at LA Skins Fest.

Mark your calendars for Friday, November 22, and join us for Program 3: Short Films at the iconic TCL Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood. The program runs from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., showcasing The Inherited alongside a lineup of extraordinary films celebrating Native talent and storytelling.

Ticket Information:
Tickets are available for $15 at laskinsfest.com. The TCL Chinese Theater is located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.

Don’t miss this chance to support The Inherited and the incredible work of Indigenous and Hawaii-based filmmakers. 

The post The Inherited to Screen at the 18th Annual LA Skins Fest appeared first on Grim Native.

Before I continue, a huge thank you to Kaniehtiio for giving me the opportunity to see the film. I was absolutely heartbroken that I would have to wait until SEEDS located distribution here in the U.S. I was also a little mad that my mom made a mad dash back to Oklahoma when she went into labor with me because I’d like to believe if she hadn’t, I’d be sitting in a theatre somewhere in Saskatoon, watching SEEDS in the theatre the way it should and deserves to be seen.

In SEEDS, Ziggy (Kaniehtiio Horn) is a budding social media influencer and food delivery worker in Toronto who’s recently secured a brand deal with Nature’s Oath, a seed company with a “purpose.” When her cousin calls and convinces her to house-sit for her Aunty, who is getting her snag on in New Zealand, she heads back reluctantly with her feline furbaby, Potato. Here, she reconnects with familiar faces and the comforting but frustrating rhythm of rez life, where wi-fi and cell service are hard to come by.

Ziggy’s homecoming turns dark when her cousin tells her she is working with the enemy as an ambassador for Nature’s Oath and that they are not as well-meaning as they portray themselves. Ziggy is not willing to believe it at first, but after doing some internet sleuthing and a violent break-in that results in one badass Potato kicking ass and claiming an ear before being taken out, she realizes Nature Oath’s intent to steal her family’s legacy, one of a kind seeds that have been passed down through generations of her family.

Once she realizes the truth, she vows to avenge Potato and protect the seeds with the help of her on-again, off-again “emotionally unavailable asshole,” Bandit. From this point on, let’s just say that John Wick could learn a thing or two from Ziggy, who proves that you should never underestimate the ability or lengths to which Native women will go to protect who and what they love, what matters most to their families and communities.

Despite a few hiccups, SEEDS masterfully weaves Indigenous horror and humor within a revenge-thriller framework. From beginning to end, it is funny, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and horrifying in all the best ways because the realism is still firmly rooted in fantasy and not tied directly to any real atrocity that haunts Indigenous communities today. It’s refreshing to see a Native movie that doesn’t dwell on atrocity but the indigenuity, humor, and toughness of Native people in how we survive and protect what matters most to us.

Horn’s performance as Ziggy is captivating and proof that she is not just a star but a LEADING star. She convincingly embodies and conveys Ziggy’s complexity as a relatable, resilient, imperfect, and terrifying Native woman when wronged. From her social media montage to her comical interactions with Potato and Bandit, Horn builds an onscreen presence that is effortlessly engaging and wickedly fun.

The supporting cast only adds to SEEDS‘ charm, particularly Dallas Goldtooth as her cousin, Wiz, because we all have a cousin or Uncle Wiz. The real-life friendship between Kaniehtiio and Dallas shines through in the interactions between Ziggy and Wiz, which brings a “certifiably organtic” authenticity to their bantering and teasing. Meegwun Fairbrother, who plays Bandit, was also perfect casting. I’m still laughing at how he portrayed the emotional whiplash between him and Ziggy as they worked out their issues. It was also good to see Graham Greene making a cameo as Ziggy’s ancestral spirit guide, warning her of the danger she was facing and even bringing his brand of humor to the show.

Despite the cast’s perfection and overall watching experience, there are a few hiccups in balancing the tone, with abrupt shifts between humor and violence, which I see more as a problem for Non-Natives who aren’t familiar with Native humor or storytelling. While I thoroughly enjoyed Ziggy’s revenge, I can see how her quips might interrupt the intensity for Non-Natives, unfamiliar with the way that Natives are just naturally funny and sarcastic in the most inappropriate times, like when we’re “de-barking” cat-killing bastards. Additionally, some plot decisions, like an out-of-sequence social media post at the beginning of the movie that was never re-visited, could have been better because it teased consequences for Nature’s Oath and didn’t deliver. While Ziggy’s final revenge and closing scenes were epic, they fell short of a satisfying ending because there was no resolution to Nature Oath’s overall agenda or relationship with Ziggy.

That being said, SEEDS shines as a refreshing horror comedy that boldly tackles the shady relationships between social media influencers, corporate exploitation, colonial oppression, and capitalism. Although unbalanced at times, SEEDS marks a promising directorial debut for Horn, anchored by her captivating performance and a unique blend of humor, horror, and revenge that leaves you anticipating what she has up her sleeves for the future.

The post Kaniehtiio Horn Delivers Cat-astrophe and Revenge in Her Feature Directorial Debut, SEEDS appeared first on Grim Native.

1. Slash/Back

If you loved 2011’s Attack the Block, you’re going to love Slash/Back. It offers the same gritty reality of marginalized youth whose experiences make them the unlikely heroes and saviors of their communities. 

“When Maika and her ragtag friends discover an alien invasion in their tiny arctic hamlet, it’s up to them to save the day. Utilizing their makeshift weapons and horror movie knowledge, the aliens realize you don’t mess with girls from Pang.”

2. Crossers

Crossers is interesting because a lot of Native communities have found themselves in the position of deciding whether or not to watch episodes of popular ghost hunting shows that are exploring locations and topics that are considered taboo. I’m looking at you, Ghost Adventures! It’s this reality that makes Crossers such a horrific good time. 

“You’re Native American. A story from your tribe is featured on a reality ghost chasing show amid controversy. You know you shouldn’t support it, but you decide to tune in anyways.”

3. The Smudging

The Smudging is one of my favorite Native horror flicks because it is set in an actual Native Community Center that is purported to be haunted and the crew did catch an unexplained entity while shooting the film. It adds to the creepy realism of this horror mockumentary that left some audiences unsure of whether it was an actual documentary or fictional film. 

“A paranormal research group is called in to investigate the aggressive supernatural activity of a Native American cultural center.”

4.Blood Quantum

Essays could and have been written about the late Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum because it is such a layered film. It is not the typical zombie flick that strictly questions how survivors stay alive while keeping their humanity in tact, but questions the complexity of Indigenous identities and Blood Quantum in a world where only Indigenous people are immune. 

“The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.”

5. Violet

Violet is an unsettling exploration of how medical racism, sexism, and lateral violence was leveraged against Native women to discredit them and disappear them when necessary. It is a terrifying look at how the scars of yesterday’s injustices and violence bleed into our present and future. 

“In 1984 a female patient known only as “subject 23″ escaped a mental institution. Three days later, her lifeless body was discovered under the home of her former doctor. Her death was never solved and forgotten. Thirty years later a mysterious box containing a secret recording or her last hours at the hospital resurfaces. Not the truth and perhaps something more sinister might be unleashed.”

6. Prey

Prey. I don’t even know where to begin with describing how incredibly important this film is, not just because it revitalized the Predator franchise, but in terms of the Native representation. It is an incredible showing of what can be done when Native people are allowed to represent themselves and their cultures. It’s been two years and it is still one of the movies that I find myself watching again and again. 

“Naru, a skilled warrior of the Comanche Nation, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth.”

7. These Walls

These Walls is really difficult to watch because it is a reminder that the real-life horrors that exist within our histories are more terrifying the horrors we can imagine, especially when they still have a powerful impact on our present day realities. 

“Mary is catapulted into a horrific struggle to right old wrongs when she discovers the bones of the missing and murdered babies of an Indian residential school.”

8. Cornhusk

Nothing creeps me out more or has me on the verge of fearful tears than haunted dolls and creepy nuns. Cornhusk just happens to combine the two and will have you sleeping with the light on for nights to follow. 

“A Native American family moves back to the reservation and recovers a doll buried on church grounds. Soon after strange demonic things start happening as the family discovers that the doll is from the Residential School era exposing all the horrors that the voiceless Native children have experienced. “

9. Trap Door in the Sun

Trap Door in the Sun is very cerebral and doesn’t relent in its quest to make you acknowledge the violent nature of colonization and the impact that it continues to have on Native communities. There is a very poignant scene that conveys the literal erasure of Native peoples and destruction of Native lands for the benefit of settler colonialism and capitalism. 

“A Horror film about Colonization.”

10. Mirror Man

“Officer Jordan, a Native police officer, who is doubting her traditional faith, is called to a possible burglary but is met by a supernatural entity, Mirror Man, that leads her to a buried secret.”

A haunting, heart-wrenching movie from Ginew Benton that gives a glimpse into the horrors of the residential boarding school era and how recent discoveries of mass graves still impact and haunt Indigenous communities in the present. 

The post Sacred Scares: 10 Must See Indigenous Horror Films appeared first on Grim Native.

“Never Whistle at Night will be released September 19,2023. Pre-Order your copy at www.neverwhistleatnight.com

The post Never Whistle At Night with Shane Hawk appeared first on Grim Native.