YouTube Star’s Underrated 2025 Horror Movie Gets Hulu Streaming Date

A 2025 psychological horror directed and co-written by a popular YouTuber is making its way to Hulu next month. The movie was largely crowdfunded and was later picked up by Neon for international release.

Shelby Oaks comes out on Hulu in April

Shelby Oaks will begin streaming on Hulu from Friday, April 17, 2026, per the company’s schedule.

Making his feature directorial debut, YouTuber Chris Stuckmann helmed the movie and co-wrote it with his wife, Samantha Elizabeth. In a 2025 interview with Variety, Stuckmann recalled having multiple spec scripts in hand while trying to find a producer. However, it was at the 2019 Fantastic Fest, where he met Paper Street Pictures’ Aaron Koontz, that he pitched Shelby Oaks, who later agreed to produce it.

The movie begins with Paranormal Paranoids, a group of YouTubers investigating the abandoned ghost town of Shelby Oaks. While exploring the place, the group mysteriously disappears. Soon, the authorities find everyone’s bodies except Riley Brennan’s.

Among the things recovered, the authorities found footage showing Riley in a terrified state. Twelve years later, Riley’s sister, Mia, obsesses over finding her. Mia’s investigation leads to a terrifying and bizarre discovery.

The cast features Camille Sullivan as Mia, Sarah Durn as Riley, Brendan Sexton III as Robert, Keith David as Morton, and Michael Beach as Detective Allen, among others. Later in the production, director Mike Flanagan joined as an executive producer, along with Trevor Macy and Melinda Nishioka.

Despite many producers joining the project, Shelby Oaks is largely funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The YouTuber launched it in March 2022, aiming to raise $250,000. In less than a month, the campaign raised over $900,000. By the time Stuckmann ended the campaign, it had raised $1,390,845 from 14,720 backers.

After Neon agreed to distribute the movie, they also provided additional funding to film scenes that were left out due to budget constraints (via The Hollywood Reporter). The movie subsequently underwent several reshoots.

Shelby Oaks finally debuted in theaters on October 24, 2025. Both the audience and critics gave the movie a mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently features a Tomatometer score of 50% and a Popcornmeter score of 53%. The movie ended its theatrical run, earning $8.1 million (via Box Office Mojo).

Source: Comingsoon.net