Now under new management! The 13th Year will include new additions and competitions! The International Horror Hotel Film Festival and Convention is held every June in Northeast Ohio. We have open competitions for films and scripts in the following genres: experimental (film only), fantasy, horror, horror-comedy, slasher, sci-fi and suspense-thriller. We also accept trailers, music videos, TV pilots (film or script), and web episodes (film or script) for projects in the listed genres.

Competition is also open for our horror film scoring competition (submissions through our website). At the event, we have live scream king/scream queen and FX makeup competitions as well.

This year we will also be holding the first annual Room 237 Film Competition where film makers will compete to create a film in 30 days making use of a murder weapon assigned during a zoom kick off meeting. Further information about the Room 237 Film Competition will be available on the Horror Hotel Film Festival Web Site by January 2024. Start building your team and get ready to compete!

The event features four days of film screenings, two days of panel discussions and lectures, a convention starting on Friday afternoon, special guests, networking parties, live competitions and more.

Winning feature films will be presented to 2 distributors for their consideration, one of the distributor will be onsite to provide lecture and insight on distribution.

Another special guest is a 3D/Unreal Engineer Filmmaker, whom will be at the festival to help anyone venturing into this industry.

***PLEASE READ ALL RULES/TERMS BEFORE SUBMITTING***

Awards & Prizes

Genre awards in each category - 1st through 4th place, plus honorable mention awards, for qualifying projects.

For attending winners, awards include trophies, plaques and certificates. Non-attending winners receive e-certificates.

Grand champion belts to: Best Overall Film, Best Overall Script, and Viewer's Choice Award. (Must be in attendance to receive the physical award.)

Additional film awards and nominations include acting, cinematography, directing, editing, and Ohio film awards.

Sponsored awards TBA.

Rules & Terms

***PLEASE READ ALL RULES/TERMS BEFORE SUBMITTING***

When submitting your project, be sure to E-MAIL US at horrorhotelfest@gmail.com with your selected genre: experimental (film only); fantasy; horror; horror-comedy; sci-fi; slasher; suspense-thriller. If you are submitting a TV pilot or Web episode, whether film or script, please e-mail us which of the two you are entering your project as. Filmmakers, please also note if your film is a student project or non-English/subtitled film, as we have separate categories. Please include your project name in the e-mail.

There are NO restrictions as to when your film or script was completed or where it has been released. Anyone may enter the competition. All entries must receive an average score of 85 or above in the judging process to qualify for award placement.

Filmmakers – all submissions will be digital (1080 or 4k MP4 format via google drive, or WeTransfer. You can also mail us two copies on flash drives, please test before mailing. All showings will be digital, we no longer doing Blu-Ray's or DVD/s.

Hard copies are NOT returned, unless you clear this with the festival administration from the beginning. In order to have your flash drive(s) or script(s) returned to you (after the festival) you MUST send an SASE along with your flash drive(s) OR script(s) - not separately or after.

IF YOU SUBMIT VIA SECURE ONLINE SCREENER AND YOUR FILM IS SELECTED TO SCREEN, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SEND A FINAL HIGH QUALITY MP4 (DIGITAL, EITHER 1080 OR 4K). ANY SELECTED FILM NOT RECEIVED BY A GIVEN DEADLINE WILL BE REPLACED IN THE LINEUP - NO EXCEPTIONS.

We do not grant submission fee waivers under any circumstance.

We do not pay screening fees.

Please note, if your project qualifies for an award, you or a direct representative from your project must be in attendance at the festival in order to receive any physical awards. Non-attending winners will be e-mailed award certificates after the event.

All submissions - whether accepted or not - come with ONE complimentary 4-day event pass to the festival. No additional passes will be comped. Any additional passes must be purchased in advance or at the door.

If you have a film in competition which can no longer be considered for screening, you may withdraw it from screening consideration but still leave it in competition for award placement. Please e-mail horrorhotelfest@gmail.com immediately if you need to withdraw from consideration for screening.

You may withdraw your submission at any time, but there are no refunds on submissions.

103 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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Networking
  • Zac King

    A very fun festival with a great community to go with it! Glad someone stepped forward to keep it going! Excited to share our other projects with this festival!

    August 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you for your continued support!

  • Jonathan Riles

    The International Horror Hotel was such a fun spooktacular experience! The collective of genre creators I got to meet (both Ohio locals and international/domestic travelers) were the highlight of the event. I also highly recommend that future attendees check out the Screaming Competition!

    July 2023
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  • B.J. Halsall

    Horror Hotel was great!
    The festival and everyone running it were wonderful!
    And our film No Pain, No Gain won an award!

    June 2023
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  • Matthew Domingos

    A fantastic organization and event -- I'm honored to have won.

    June 2023
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  • Guillermo Ortiz

    Awesome Festival with great people and films. Thanks for giving The Avon Lady the award for best short horror/sci-fi

    June 2023
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