• News

A WEB WRITER’S SLEEP PARALYSIS TURNS SPOOKY IN “DEAR DAVID”

Sleep paralysis can be a horrifying experience for many. For Buzzfeed writer Adam Ellis, the experience was enough for him to create a Twitter thread about the ordeal. It is on these events that DEAR DAVID is based.

The film is mostly based upon the actual experiences of Ellis, after documenting in a Twitter thread a series of spooky events during bouts of sleep paralysis. During these events, he comes to think he’s being haunted by a spectre by the name of David. The film is produced by Buzzfeed Studios and Lionsgate.

After dealing with online trolls, Adam (Augustus Prew) experiences sleep paralysis involving a rocking chair and a supposed spectre named David. As Adam further documents the weird hauntings through Twitter, what’s real, online or insanity begins to blur as David becomes more malevolent.

DEAR DAVID is directed by John McPhail, with a screenplay written by Mike Van WaesIt stars Augustus Prew, Andrea Bang, Rene Escobar Jr., Cameron Nicoll and Justin Long.

The film releases in theatres, on-demand, and digitally on October 13. 

 

Read More

Get The Grim Reader.
Rue Morgue's free newsletter.
Editor's notes.
Cultural insight.
Curated horror across film, books, music, and art.
First looks.
Select previews.
No algorithms.
Join Free

Advertisement

In Print Since 1997

Issue 231

Rue Morgue #231 Jul/Aug 2026

Plus

Inside Rue Morgue #231 – Summer Slasher Issue FEATURES Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA guts the slasher formula from the inside out, turning it into a romance about the horror of becoming who you were always meant to be. Plus! GILLIAN ANDERSON and HANNAH EINBINDER unpack Schoenbrun’s radical dismemberment of…

Issue 230

Rue Morgue #230 May/Jun 2026 – RARE

Plus

Inside Rue Morgue #230 FEATURES Filmmaker Curry Barker transforms a simple wish into a spiralling nightmare of love, possession, and bloodshed in his breakout feature OBSESSION. Plus: The story of Barker’s found-footage shocker MILK & SERIAL, which turned a micro-budget experiment into a viral horror breakout. Hollywood made it a monster. History tells a different…

Issue 229

Rue Morgue #229 Mar/Apr 2026

Plus

Inside Rue Morgue #229! FEATURES A nerve-shredding found-footage thriller built around sound, UNDERTONE signals the arrival of a terrifying new voice in Canada’s booming independent horror scene. Plus! Meet the new breed of independent Canadian horror filmmakers behind DREAM EATER, SWEETNESS, HANGASHORE, THE LAND OF NOD and THE CURSE OF GHOST ISLAND. Part post-punk, part…

Issue 228

Rue Morgue #228 Jan/Feb 2026

Plus

Inside Rue Morgue #228! FEATURES He fascinated audiences in 2001 with the French period martial arts horror film BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF. Then he followed it up in 2006 by bringing the eerie world of SILENT HILL to cinematic life. Now, visionary director CHRISTOPHE GANS unleashes his latest nightmare with RETURN TO SILENT HILL. Plus!…