Huge congratulations to all of our Screamfest 2026 Screenplay Finalists! Meet the talented writers below, and check back to find out who takes home the grand prize.
2016 Festival Film Guide
Film Category
A Father's Day
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Unexpectedly reunited with his daughter amongst the ruins of the world as they knew it, a father is determined to make this day special, even if they are already dead.
Film Category
A Nearly Perfect Blue Sky
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
You might think that Simon lives a monotonous life. You would be wrong... Contrary to appearances, he does not live alone among the ruins of an old farm. Between kidnapper and guardian angel, he never takes his eyes off his roommate. Convinced of having contacts with beings from elsewhere, Simon is getting lost one step at a time while border between reality and nightmare is progressively fading away.
Film Category
AGATHA
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Young Sophie has been hired to bring food every night to a mysterious old woman who is locked in an attic. Is the old woman a prisoner? Is she dangerous? Each night, as Sophie completes her task, her curiosity draws her closer and closer to what might be her last meal
Film Category
ALIEN INSIDE
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Ata, an experienced hunter claims to have lost his wife abducted by aliens. So, convinces his best friend Toni for help to rescue her. The hunt will become a turning point in their lives, and perhaps for all the human race.
Film Category
The Babysitter Murders
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A dark and stormy night. An innocent babysitter all alone. An escaped psychopath out for blood. You know how this story will play out… Or do you?
Film Category
Bedeviled
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Five teenagers receive an invite to download a Siri-like app. Once they accept this app which calls itself Mister Bedevil, it begins to torment each of them by tapping into their worst fears. To stop this malevolent force, the teens must learn to trust and depend on each other's wits and courage.
Film Category
Black Ring
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A group of people organizes a special event in an abandoned mansion.
Film Category
BLOOD TRAIL
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Lori desperately flees after escaping the grips of a cannibal. Little does she know, this killer will stop at nothing to find her.
Film Category
Bobo
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A mother discovers the horrible truth about Bobo, her daughter's imaginary friend.
Film Category
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A classy mansion on the outskirts of a big city. The terrace door is open. Anne wonders why...
Film Category
Cauchemar Capitonné
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When J.-F. is inexplicably drawn to the chair in which a man committed suicide, style isn't the only thing the leather antique brings to his home...
Film Category
Charlie
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Charlie is a story about a London family that prepares for a possible new family member. Ben, Simone and Charlie welcome five-year-old orphan Clair for the weekend. Although Clair is only visiting, she will quickly notice that something is off with these three and that Ben and Simone might not be the perfect new parents she hoped for.
Film Category
CONSURGO
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
CONSURGO is a THRILLER, that show US that when the NEED to be something other than what we are, becomes TOO MUCH TO BARE, sometimes we choose the EXTREME solution to our problem. The result can CHANGE US FOREVER, but leave us with CONFLICTED feelings that are still too much to bare.
Film Category
Creatures of Whitechapel
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
London, 1888. Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of London, leaving behind a bloody path of terror behind each kill. Each brings her Master, Dr. Frankenstein, closer to his unholy purpose: to bring his Creation to life! However, rumors of Frankenstein's nighttime activities are brewing, and Jack, revealed to be the alter ego of Igor, is tasked with one last foray into the bowels of Victorian London to find the final piece needed to bring the Creation to life.
But can there be life without love?
A twisted new take on the Frankenstein legend - and the madness that surrounds it. Bringing together some of horror's most iconic characters in ways never before imagined, Creatures of Whitechapel sets forth to reveal the monster that hides inside us all in this gothic love story of creation and madness.
But can there be life without love?
A twisted new take on the Frankenstein legend - and the madness that surrounds it. Bringing together some of horror's most iconic characters in ways never before imagined, Creatures of Whitechapel sets forth to reveal the monster that hides inside us all in this gothic love story of creation and madness.
Film Category
The Dead Zone
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic detective ability.
Film Category
Death Metal
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A metalhead gets passed down a satanic guitar that riffs to shreds.
Film Category
Don't Kill It
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
An ancient evil is unleashed in a small Alaskan town leaving a trail of death and destruction as it passes from host to host. The only hope of survival lies with a grizzled demon hunter (Dolph Lundgren) who has faced this terror before. Together with a reluctant FBI agent he has to figure out how to destroy a demon with the ability to possess its killer.
Film Category
Fear, Inc.
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Fear, Inc. follows a company of degenerates who can be hired for a premium to bring your greatest fears to life. But when horror junkie Joe Foster’s customized scare seemingly begins, he and his friends must decide if this company is there to scare them, or make them pawns in their own sick game.
Film Category
Feeding Time
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When a young woman fills in for her friend on a babysitting job, she begins to suspect things are not as they seem. She's right.
Film Category
A Father's Day
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Unexpectedly reunited with his daughter amongst the ruins of the world as they knew it, a father is determined to make this day special, even if they are already dead.
Film Category
FIRST LIKE
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
First to Like - First to Die A short horror, with a humorous touch, First Like is written by Sara B. Elfgren, author of the best-seller urban fantasy "the Circle" and directed by Alexander Rönnberg. Do you dare to be the first to press Like...? First Like won Best Foreign Short at Fantafestival, Italy 2016.
Film Category
Found Footage 3D
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A group of filmmakers set out to make “the first 3D found-footage horror film”, but find themselves *IN* a found-footage horror film when the evil entity from their movie escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage.
Film Category
FRAIL (Puppenspiel)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
For Ruben every day is just like the other. Shielded from the outside world, he
lives with his father Gabriel in a forest house on the outskirts of a village. He
spends his life in a trance-like state, orchestrated by his father's strict rules. He is
only allowed to play with his puppet, while his dad spends most of his time in
his workshop. One morning looking out of the window, for the first time
Ruben sees some village children playing and suddenly experiences a strange
feeling. He starts questioning and distrusting his father. He decides to find out
what exactly his father is doing every day in the forbidden workshop.
lives with his father Gabriel in a forest house on the outskirts of a village. He
spends his life in a trance-like state, orchestrated by his father's strict rules. He is
only allowed to play with his puppet, while his dad spends most of his time in
his workshop. One morning looking out of the window, for the first time
Ruben sees some village children playing and suddenly experiences a strange
feeling. He starts questioning and distrusting his father. He decides to find out
what exactly his father is doing every day in the forbidden workshop.
Film Category
The Frozen Eye (L'Oeil Silencieux)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Bernard is an ordinary man who is moving to a new flat. While he is settling in, he finds a hole in the floor. He soon realises that he is able to spy on the private life of the young woman living downstairs.
At first, he resists temptation, but the situation degenerates into obsession and madness.
At first, he resists temptation, but the situation degenerates into obsession and madness.
Film Category
The Ghost
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Mi-young, a mortuary cosmetologist, makes money by pulling gold teeth from dead bodies. Then one day an unidentified body was taken to the morgue.
Film Category
Happy Hunting
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Warren is a degenerate drifter, scraping by, suffering from debilitating alcohol withdrawals on a daily basis. On his way down to Mexico, he finds himself stranded in Bedford Flats, a one-horse town nestled deep in the American desert. It was a once-prosperous hunting community that has been reduced to an impoverished dust bowl. Unfortunately for Warren, it turns out that the town’s pastime is rounding up drifters and hunting them as part of an elaborate sporting event. To make matters worse, he'll go into alcoholic withdrawal unless he finds a way to stay intoxicated. It all builds to a blood-soaked, live-or-die showdown deep in the desert.
Film Category
HHL
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
In a future dominated by a fascist regime, humanity has been segregated. The brothers Miro and Lucio, along with Miro’s girlfriend May, traffic with a lethal new drug. Betrayal, desire and perversion, take the three of them into a spiral of decline and revenge that will have fatal consequences.
Film Category
Home Education
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
An inquisitive girl is convinced by her controlling mother that her dead dad will resurrect if they show how much they miss him. That is, until he begins to rot...
Film Category
The House
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
THE HOUSE is a Norwegian ghost film set in the Second World War. It follows two German soldiers escorting a Norwegian soldier and prisoner of war. The Scandinavian winter takes quite a toll on them, but at one point they discover a house where they finally can get some rest. However, this turns out to be anything but a warm and welcome shelter.
Film Category
In the Kitchen With . . .
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Jack just wants to relax and escape from his family his favorite way- by watching his favorite cooking show host. But then everything seems to go horribly wrong.
Film Category
INCARNATION
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A man wakes up on a bench without any idea who he is until he is shot dead by four masked assassins. The man wakes up on the same bench thinking his death was a dream until the assassins return and kill him again. Stuck in a hellish loop, he tries to unravel the mystery and with each death he gets closer to the truth.
Film Category
THE INCREDIBLE TALE OF THE INCREDIBLE WOMAN-SPIDER
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A young man, noose around his neck, prepares to hang himself.
Bad luck ? Fate ? The rope breaks.
As he wanders through the deserted streets, at night, he comes across a poster outside a bar that
invites him to discover a strange show...
Bad luck ? Fate ? The rope breaks.
As he wanders through the deserted streets, at night, he comes across a poster outside a bar that
invites him to discover a strange show...
Film Category
Inicuo: The Brotherhood
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
After a voyage of discovery FEDERICO creates a new religious cult. He kidnaps FERNANDO , a former collaborator, which will try to leave as heir of worship in the midst of a slaughter justified by their own past tragedies.
Film Category
INTO THE MUD
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A wounded girl wake up naked in the middle of the woods. Dazed and in pain, her only companion is a hunter with not very good intentions. Since then, survival will become a top priority for her.
Film Category
It's a Boy
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
An infertile man struggles to impregnate his wife by any means necessary, leading him to overdosing on Chinese herbal supplements, to the point of giving birth himself.
Film Category
Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When a young man is executed for committing murder, he leaves behind a curse letter, promising vengeance for all those connected to his unfair trial.
Film Category
Kiss the Devil in the Dark
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Marcus, a powerful sorcerer desperate to save his dying wife, makes a deal with the demon Dagon to save her soul. Dagon, however, has more in mind for Marcus than just a simple exchanging of souls. With seemingly no other choice, Marcus accepts, thus catapulting him into a series of events that will reveal to all involved the very meaning of betrayal.
Film Category
KITCHEN_REMODEL.WMV
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
// open -a "VLC.app" ~/Desktop/kitchen_remodel.wmv
Film Category
La Cena (The Supper)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A couple is invited to a special supper in a house where things are not what it seem. While their are having dinner we'll know their actual purpose.
Film Category
Lake Bodom
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
BASED ON A TRUE STORY... Every camper's worst nightmare came true at Lake Bodom in 1960 when four teenagers were stabbed to death while sleeping in their tent. As the years passed and the case grew cold, the unsolved mystery turned into an urban legend, a creepy campfire story passed from generation to generation.
Now, a group of teenagers arrives at the same campsite, hoping to solve the murder by reconstructing it minute by minute. As night falls, turns out not all of them are there to play.
Tonight it's girls against boys. Let the killing games begin.
Now, a group of teenagers arrives at the same campsite, hoping to solve the murder by reconstructing it minute by minute. As night falls, turns out not all of them are there to play.
Tonight it's girls against boys. Let the killing games begin.
Film Category
The Last Junkie on Earth
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
During the zombie apocalypse a heroin addict runs out of drugs and must choose between waiting safely in a motel room until the rescue team arrives or risking her life searching for drugs outside.
Film Category
Last Resort
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A young couple goes on vacation to a horror-themed resort, but they find themselves in over their heads when the owner turns out to be quite the killer host.
Film Category
Laura, Lost
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Childhood friends Cole and Brian haven't spoken for a while and their friendship is rocky at best. But now Cole needs Brian's help to find Laura, a girl who he believes was abducted a few weeks ago and who holds a special place in Cole's heart. But to fulfill their quest, they need to get over their past and break into a cabin occupied by a malicious woodsman deep in an unholy forest.
Film Category
Little Boy Blue
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
On an isolated farm, a lonely girl must face a dark secret when she discovers a boy held captive in a neighbouring farm's barn.
Film Category
The Master Cleanse
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Down, out, and heartbroken, Paul attends a spiritual retreat to cleanse himself and fix his broken life but soon discovers that the cleanse releases more than everyday toxins...a lot more. The feature debut from Bobby Miller (TUB), THE MASTER CLEANSE is a trippy and fantastic journey that examines how we deal with the things that weigh us down in life, ultimately asking the all-important question: given the opportunity to literally face your demons, what would you do?
Film Category
My Father Die
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Deaf and mute since having his hearing knocked out at the age of 12, Asher has been training for almost two decades to avenge himself on Ivan, the man that killed his older brother 21 years ago.
And now that his nemesis is out of prison, he gets his chance.
But Asher's target also happens to be his father.
And now that his nemesis is out of prison, he gets his chance.
But Asher's target also happens to be his father.
Film Category
Never Tear Us Apart
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When two friends approach a small cabin in the woods, the sweet-natured old folks they're looking for turn out to be crazed back woods cannibal killers.
Film Category
No Caller I.D.
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A young women receives a mysterious call in the night. After several strange occurrences she realises that she is not alone and that she may be in grave danger.
Film Category
OK Monster
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A dark comedy about a new dating service for the most dangerous lovers in the world.
Film Category
Perfect (Wan Mei)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When a man realizes his girlfriend has been unfaithful to him, he resorts to revenge and the love of a mannequin.
Film Category
The Perfect Family
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Two sisters looking to create the perfect family for themselves decide to do so by way of taxidermy. The family dog has just been completed and as luck would have it Mom has just arrived. Now all seems just about perfect until a void comes over them. The idea of getting a brother comes to mind but not without Dad's permission.
Film Category
Pigskin
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When high school cheerleader, Laurie, is asked out by the dreamy quarterback, her budding physical attraction is plagued by a grisly manifestation of her own bodily insecurities. As the threat of intimacy closes in, Laurie is pushed headlong into a self-destructive nightmare.
Film Category
Quarries
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
In order to escape from her abusive boyfriend, Kat joins a women's outdoor-bound group who venture out into the uncharted wilderness to gain a fresh perspective on their lives. Their relatively peaceful trip takes a turn for the worst with a single gunshot. Suddenly, they are running for their lives as a pack of deranged hunters track their every move. Hell bent on survival, the group struggles to turn the tables on these gruesome predators and fight their way back to civilization.
Film Category
Quenottes (Pearlies)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Quenottes (Pearlies) is a story about a little mouse, but not just any mouse.
It is THE little mouse, or tooth fairy, of your childhood. The one that brought you your first coin in exchange for the tooth under your pillow.
In everybody's mind, the little mouse is a benevolent and generous character... What if it isn't ? What if it is actually a neurotic psychopath obsessing about its collection of dental trophies?
If a tooth is missing, it simply must be replaced. By any means necessary...
It is THE little mouse, or tooth fairy, of your childhood. The one that brought you your first coin in exchange for the tooth under your pillow.
In everybody's mind, the little mouse is a benevolent and generous character... What if it isn't ? What if it is actually a neurotic psychopath obsessing about its collection of dental trophies?
If a tooth is missing, it simply must be replaced. By any means necessary...
Film Category
The Quiet Zone
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A late night commuter confronts a noisy passenger on a train carriage but finds herself trapped in a station with someone - or something - that wants to silence her too.
A horror that will grab you by the throat and won't let go. Until you're quiet.
A horror that will grab you by the throat and won't let go. Until you're quiet.
Film Category
Un Réflexe
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
It is the story of the man who the routine and the commonness of its life made embittered, expressionless and insensible. In the grip of a relation of couple with a woman whom he hates, he avoids the family home every day to go to his work where he repeats an endless movement..
Film Category
The Sunken Convent
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A man wakes up, he goes to work, he eats in, he does a bit of home surgery, he drives to the woods. Told without words and loosely inspired by the tale by Hans Christian Andersen, 'The Sunken Convent' is a grotesque and slightly surreal story of bad habits.
Film Category
Therapy
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Jane and Simon are two young police officers leading a routine investigation following the discovery of hidden video equipment in an abandoned house by a night watchman. At first glance, they don't seem to contain anything unusual. They show five tourists taking advantage of the seasonal weather to go camping. As they continue watching, they discover that the group's fresh-air excursion takes a sudden turn for the worst. Seized with panic, the young campers reluctantly end up in an abandoned building where it quickly becomes obvious that they are not alone, and that they've stepped into their own graves. To save them, Jane and Simon will have to act quickly, even if it means risking their own lives in the process.
Film Category
Those Among Us
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Two men living in isolation kidnap, torture and kill seemingly innocent victims; but all is not what it appears to be in this gritty short horror film.
Film Category
Trash Fire
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When Owen is forced to confront the past he's been running from his whole adult life, he and his girlfriend, Isabel, become entangled in a horrifying web of lies, deceit and murder. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll be scarred for life.
Film Category
The Unseen
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A man, who years earlier mysteriously abandoned his family and isolated himself in a small northern town, returns for one last chance to reconnect with his troubled daughter. When she goes missing, he risks everything to find her, including exposing the fact he is becoming invisible.
Film Category
Wandering Soul
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A Viet Cong soldier stationed in the claustrophobic tunnels of Cu Chi during the Vietnam War finds himself haunted by the ghost of a fallen comrade after the burial ceremony is compromised.
Film Category
Whisper
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A young woman travels to a remote beachside cabin in an attempt to finally quit her heroin habit. While there she accidentally sets in motion a chain of sinister events. Hauntingly beautiful, Whisper is a modern day ghost story that will keep you gripped from start to spine-chilling finish.
Film Category
Yummy Meat: A Halloween Carol
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
On Halloween night, snarky dentist Amber (Miracle Laurie, Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse") passes out toothbrushes to the neighborhood kids, only to discover that one of them may soon be brushing bits of her from his teeth.
We couldn’t be prouder to celebrate the theatrical release of APPOFENIACS, hitting theatres nationwide tomorrow, October 2nd! Following its standout West Coast Premiere at Screamfest 2025, writer-director-producer Chris Marrs Piliero’s darkly comic techno-thriller is officially making its big-screen debut. Get tickets at AMC
Prepare for a night of horror and celebration! The 26th Annual Screamfest kicks off with the highly anticipated film, NIGHT DRIVER, screening on Opening Night at 7:30pm.
Discover the official 2026 Screamfest Horror Film Festival lineup, schedule, and event details. Read the full press release to get the latest updates on terrifying indie films, special screenings, and tickets.
Join Screamfest for a special 15th-anniversary Fears & Beers screening of The Cabin in the Woods under the stars at McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga on Sept 12, 2026! Enjoy an exclusive Q&A with actor Fran Kranz, grab a bite from Sarah's SammichesSaladsSides food truck (available for purchase), and sip on complimentary Golden Road Brewery beer for ticketed guests 21+. Plus, stick around after the screening for horror trivia!
Celebrate 25 years of Thirteen Ghosts on the big screen! Join Screamfest LA at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Glendale on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, for dinner, drinks, and sheer terror. Grab tickets now!
