MAM
Four must-listen horror stories of 2025 you shouldn’t miss
NEW DELHI: As 2025 wound down, India’s horror faithful knew exactly where their fear came from. In a year crowded with noise, celebrity storyteller Sudhanshu Rai cut through with voice-led terror that crept under the skin and stayed there. His audio stories did not rely on cheap shocks. They worked slowly, deliberately, turning everyday curiosity into something far more dangerous.
Leading the year was Darwaza Mat Khola, the most talked-about horror audio of 2025. Set against the stark isolation of a Jaisalmer film shoot, the story spirals from casual campfire legend to lifelong torment. A rumour of gold biscuits hidden inside a forbidden hut tempts a crew to break the rules. What they release refuses to leave. Its success lay in its chilling realism and a single, devastating truth: some doors are better left shut.
Close behind came Jo Dara Wo Mara, a psychological nightmare that toyed with fear as currency. Three friends mock a painter who claims to capture ghosts on canvas, only to discover a world where terror decides survival. In this universe, fear is fatal. The story struck a nerve in 2025 for listeners who preferred mental disintegration over jump scares.
Folklore took centre stage in Seetu, a slow-burning tale rooted in tribal belief and supernatural consequence. A businessman’s attempt to exploit forces he does not understand awakens a presence that demands retribution. Its blend of indigenous myth, greed and vengeance made it one of the year’s most lingering listens.
Rounding out the quartet was Ek Laash, the darkest descent of them all. A smuggler trading in corpses believes nothing can shock him, until a forbidden graveyard proves otherwise. Grim, oppressive and morally loaded, the story became a late-year favourite for those who like their horror unforgiving.
Together, these four stories defined Sudhanshu Rai’s grip on 2025. Indian settings, folklore-driven dread and psychological pressure replaced spectacle, reminding listeners that the most terrifying monsters respond to human greed and fear.
As the year fades, one message echoes through the headphones: if this was 2025, the darkness ahead may be far worse.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
