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Block A
Best Student Film:
Level Zero
Location: Buda, TX
Length: 14:30
Director: Michelle Segura
Synopsis: The film begins with Thomas, a lonely teen spiraling after discovering his girlfriend’s betrayal and his friends’ abandonment. Obsessed with a video game he’s been developing, Thomas leaves behind cryptic DVD cases for each of them before taking his own life. When his friends begin playing it, they discover that the game is more than entertainment. As paranoia and guilt escalate, the game drives them to tragic extremes.
Hunger
Location: Tijuana, Baja CA
Length: 10:00
Director: Brenda Almanza
Synopsis: Valentina, a young woman consumed by jealousy and abandonment, loses control during a breakup and turns her despair into an act of horror.
True Mate
Location: Edinburgh, TX
Length: 8:56
Director: Valentina Munoz
Synopsis: After a bad break up, Alice turns to an AI chatbot to fulfill her romance needs. But when the AI turns on her, she must destroy the monster she created.
Snatched
Location: United Kingdom
Length: 1:43
Director: Lily Mellor
Synopsis: A satirical ASMR neo-vintage beauty tutorial exploring the degrees of self destruction women will go to achieve perfection
Best Texas Horror Short Film:
Your Call
Location: Austin Texas
Length: 13:22
Director: Alora Thompson
Synopsis: A lonely teenager investigates the identity of the only person who gives her attention: a mysterious man who exclusively speaks to her through a phone-booth.
Twofer
Location: Houston, TX
Length: 6:38
Director: Jenny Waldo
Synopsis: Twofer is a dark and twisty tale of a woman stranded by the side of the road and the handsome good Samaritan who stops to help her out.
Lone’ Wolves
Location: San Antonio, TX
Length: 14:04
Director: Johnathan D. Rodriquez
Synopsis: Two estranged sisters are left stranded after hitting an animal. As the two fix their relationship they begin to be hunted by flesh eating creature.
Block B
Best Comedy Horror Short Film:
My 12-Foot Fiancé
Location: Brooklyn , NY
Length: 9:30
Director: Anthony DiMieri
Synopsis: A woman finding and her an unlikely romantic partner (the 12-Foot Skeleton from Home Depot), find themselves dealing with the challenges of a deeper intimacy.
Muff
Location: Sherwood Nottingham, UK
Length: 5:55
Director: Elliott Ancona
Synopsis: Dive into this darkly comic and bloody fable where commitment-phobic Noah is spellbound to fight a duel for the hand of a spectral lady whose bewitching Muff is an accessory…to die for.
Eviction
Location: Worcester, MA
Length: 8:57
Director: Ashes Homon-Rahall
Synopsis: A woman attempts to advocate for herself in the hellscape known as the American Healthcare System, only to take matters into her own hands.
Hystericus
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Length: 14:21
Director: Jessica Richmond
Synopsis: A CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Officer responds to a distress call in the rural part of town. In the quiet darkness, the Officer finds herself stalked by a blood-stained woman who seems to have a fascination with dehydrated meats and unusual wares. Just as the blood-stained stalker is apprehended, mysterious pains befall the Officer. Now at the mercy of the bloody woman, will the Crisis Intervention Officer escape the night alive, or end it in blood-stained crisis herself?
Franklist
Location: Boston, MA
Length: 14:19
Director: Christine Celozzi
Synopsis: a simple interview spirals into a nightmare of bizarre encounters and escalating chaos.
[absurdist satire]
Block C
Best Trailer Horror Short Film:
I/O
Location: Houston, TX
Length: 2:14
Director: Molly Vernon
Synopsis: When a gifted 12-year-old girl unlocks a Cold War secret hidden inside a video game, she releases a race of hybrid entities that view humanity as a renewable source of emotion.
Screenplay: Feature Length Horror:
Witch Mother
Location: Zeytinlik, Kyrenia, County Cyprus
Writer: Selma Karayalcin
Synopsis: Five centuries after the Pendle witches were hanged, a fame-hungry student livestreams a ritual that awakens a vengeful spirit determined to possess nine-year-old Jenny Device’s soul in order to free her own. To save her daughter, Martha must embrace the darkness — and become the Witch Mother she was born to be.
Yarnface
Location: San Antonio, TX
Writer: Kirene Bolsen-Long
Synopsis: When a high school science experiment goes horribly wrong, Marla survives a freak lab explosion—only to find herself mutated by a synthetic bio-gel infused with red yarn. As her trauma festers and her body begins to change, so does her grip on reality. Yarnface is born: a silent, spectral figure who weaves vengeance through blood and yarn. In this stylized horror feature, grief, bullying, and scientific ambition collide—one stitch at a time.
Screenplay: Short Horror
Quack
Location: San Antonio, TX
Writer: Kirene Bolsen-Long
Synopsis: After mocking a quiet classmate during lunch, a popular mean girl refuses to apologize, unaware she’s triggered something much darker than social backlash. As ominous ducks begin to appear wherever she goes, the surreal prank spirals into a terrifying reckoning. Quack is a twisted psychological horror short where karma waddles in feathers and beaks.
Wear White to My Funeral
Location: USA
Writer: Martha Delaney
Synopsis: The namesake of a smash hit love song attempts at a normal life are thwarted by the daily reminders that stalk her every step.
Best Sci-Fi Horror Short Film
Mirthless
Location: Canada
Length: 12:25
Director: Tina Kardan
Synopsis: Mirthless, an award winning haunting sci-fi thriller, explores the chilling consequences of a man’s search for happiness in a tech-driven world. Coy, a man without hopes or dreams, relies on his AI to make all his life decisions. When the AI suggests he order a customized baby to boost his happiness, Coy goes along, only to discover that raising a child isn’t as simple as advertised.
Rapacious Harriet and the Two Strangers
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Length: 10:21
Director: Lex Lotito
Synopsis: Harriet has found all the little joys of living in her bunker – she has her plants, her holograms, and her periscope to see what’s left of the world. When two strangers break into her bunker, she must decide what to protect.
Best Paranormal Horror Short Film
Living My Best Afterlife
Location: Augusta, GA
Length: 9:21
Director: Kate Dalley
Synopsis: The Afterlife isn’t exactly what Emily had envisioned. Unable to interact with the world around her, she is confronted with the same situations that once made her feel powerless in life. However, once she starts to appreciate the her new existence, she finds she has more power than she first thought.
No Grace
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Length: 5:45
Director: Kendra Louka
Synopsis: A recluse woman wishes her adult children would visit her, and finally has company when a man pulls up to her home to buy a washing machine.
Best Experimental Horror Short Film
A Wound That Breeds Flowers
Location: Austin, TX
Length: 3:48
Director: Melanie Elise
Synopsis: A recluse woman wishes her adult children would visit her, and finally has company when a man pulls up to her home to buy a washing machine.
Femme Release
Location: USA
Length: 8:40
Director: Sarah Taborga, Aima Paule
Synopsis: A warrior of the ritual-bound Femme Army descends into the horrorscape beneath her rage, confronting her wounded Inner Child and transforming fury into liberation.
Lullaby
Location: Austin, TX
Length: 9:57
Director: Drew Schwemer
Synopsis: Modern Day Silent Horror based of The Cure’s “Lullaby”
Block D
Best Horror Short Film:
Sabbath
Location: France
Length: 13:45
Director: Alexandra Mignien
Synopsis: In the Dark Ages, all the villagers are gathered near the cliff to witness the execution of six women accused of being witches. Between misogyny and false religious arguments, the victims may finally become the persecutors.
Witches
Location: Mexico
Length: 12:28
Director: Rossana De Leon
Synopsis: Ricardo is being interrogated for the murder of Ariadna, his lover. He denies killing her until Ariadna and her coven come back to set the record straight.
Lucky Bastard
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Length: 4:58
Director: Iris Elaine Alamaraz
Synopsis: Synopsis: Reuniting for an easy night of drinks, food, and cheap thrills, longtime friends Joey and Tyler fall back into their familiar rhythm. When Tyler reveals a winning lottery ticket, friendly banter turns sharp, egos flare, and competition replaces nostalgia. As tension builds and the jokes cut deeper than either intended, one friend finally snaps and sets off a chain of events neither can take back.
Jammy
Location: Wallsend, United Kingdom
Length: 10:25
Director: Lainya Craig
Synopsis: A struggling baker’s life takes a turn after a violent confrontation awakens a hunger for justice.
Dinner Party
Location: Chicago, IL
Length: 8:14
Director: Hannah Hersh
Synopsis: A woman becomes the unwilling guest of a dinner party of arrogant male colleagues. As the macabre truth of the feast is revealed, she is pushed to confront the violent realities of female erasure.
Female erasure and mob misogyny are rendered viscerally and unapologetically in Hannah Hersh’s Dinner Party.
The Forefather
Location: Sydney, Australia
Length: 7:00
Director: Petros Ktenas, Nehir Hatipoglu
Synopsis: A dark, twisted descent into the edges of desire, The Forefather delves into the world of occultist Aleister Crowley and his obsessive fixation on newly engaged Ottie Edwards.
Inspired by the 1907 novel “The Magician” by W. Somerset Maugham, The Forefather explores the dangerous awakening that arises when one steps into their power.
Finalists
Islander
Director: Margarida Saramago
Location: Portugal
Synopsis: On an isolated island, a woman is followed by a mysterious figure that torments her as she tries to uncover the mystery behind her husband’s disappearance.
Delivery Fee
Director: Mia Alejandra Lipsitz
Location: USA
Synopsis: A struggling food delivery driver accepts one last order, only to discover the customer is a demon using the app to lure its victims.
Rot Girl Summer
Director: Persephone Wood
Location: United Kingdom
Synopsis: When the apocalypse hits London, best friends Maddie and Louisa decide to take control of how their world ends.
Rot Girl Summer is a tale of female friendship, revenge, consent and the aftermath when it all falls apart.
Honorable Mentions
Breathing Lessons
Director: Theo Levine
Location: Hood River, Oregon
Encierro
Director: Jane Negreira
Location: Atlanta, GA
Mortarium
Director: Mariana R. Zozaya
Location: Mexico
Witch Baby Daddy?
Director: Jada Symone
Location: San Marcos, TX
Roadkill
Director: Ayla Mai Ahlquist
Location: Providence, RI
Residual
Writer: Elaine Noble
Location: Calgary, AB Canada
MEATHEAD
Director: Lex Lotito, Julia Storch
Location: USA
Eden’s Remnant
Director: JA McLendon
Location: USA
LATHER RINSE REPEAT
Director: Melanie McCoy
Location: USA
Only You
Director: Lauren LALA Robbins
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Maiden, Mother, Crone
Director: Jocelyn Berumen
Location: USA
The Magic Trick
Director: Leyla Chykulina
Location: Switzerland
