The 26th Annual Chicago Horror Film Festival
🎬🔥 OCTOBER SUBMISSIONS ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN! 🔥🎬
Think your horror film has what it takes?
Prove it. Submit now to the HOTTEST, BLOOD-PUMPING, SCREAM-WORTHY FILM FESTIVAL out there!
💀 Spots go fast. Bragging rights last forever.
🎬 IMDb Qualifier
🏆 Top-3 Best Reviewed Horror Festival – Read the Reviews!
🎁 Coverage Ink (sponsor) Prize Packages
📸 Red Carpet & Filmmaker Events All Weekend
📍 LIVE EVENT: OCT 3-5th, 2025 @ The Logan Theatre, Chicago IL
For 26 years, the Chicago Horror Film Festival has evolved from a small afternoon showcase of local short horror films into a prestigious three-day event. Now featuring a diverse lineup of feature-length and short horror films from around the world, CHFF has become a launchpad for indie horror filmmakers, with many past selections securing distribution deals.
Mission & Objective
The Chicago Horror Film Festival is committed to celebrating the best in indie horror filmmaking. Created by filmmakers for filmmakers, our focus is on exceptional storytelling, cinematography, editing, and sound design—all the elements that make a horror film unforgettable.
But we don’t stop there. CHFF actively promotes selected films, showcasing them across our social media platforms and ensuring that filmmakers get the recognition they deserve. This is more than just a festival—it’s a platform to elevate your work and connect with the industry.
Festival Growth & Expansion – Under New Leadership
Since 2023, the Chicago Horror Film Festival has experienced explosive growth, with ticket sales skyrocketing by 13,000% in October 2023 and an unbelievable 39,000% increase by May 2024. With this momentum, CHFF is expanding to two major events in 2025—May & October!
Networking & VIP Experience
🎭 Exclusive Networking Events – Connect with fellow filmmakers, industry insiders, and horror enthusiasts. Even if your film isn’t in the festival, this is a must-attend event for indie horror creators.
🔑 Introducing the ‘NETWORKING FAST PASS’ – A digital badge system for seamless contact sharing—no more business cards, just instant connections!
🍸 VIP Lounge (Saturday/Sunday Only) – Exclusive to filmmakers, crew, producers, distributors, and sponsors for next-level networking.
Let Us Help Promote Your Film!
📢 Social Media Spotlight – CHFF features 'New Submission' ads for films with proper posters. Get your film seen!
🎙️ Podcast Features – Randomly selected filmmakers will be interviewed on our official podcast.
Live Screenings & Online Streaming
🎥 Top-rated shorts will be screened LIVE at The Logan Theatre in Oct 2025.
🎞️ Nominated features (6) will be screened live during the event.
🎟️ Ticket holders will be able to stream the films a week after online.
💻 Selected films will stream exclusively online based on judge scoring.
NEW FOR 2025: VIP Ticket holders to the live event will receive FREE online access to re-watch or catch any films they missed for 7 days.
Filmmaker Choice: Films selected for the virtual festival can OPT-OUT of online streaming. CHFF has no control over this decision, and there will be no alternative showing options for those that choose not to participate.
Follow Us for Updates!
📲 Stay connected with us on social media for daily updates, special announcements, and filmmaker spotlights.
🚀 SUBMIT YOUR FILM & JOIN THE MOVEMENT!
#CHFF2025 #IndieHorror #HorrorFilmFestival #HorrorNetworking #CHFF #ChicagoHorrorFilmFestival
TROPHY AWARDS "The Bloody Skull"
Best Horror Feature
Best Horror Short
Best Horror Chicago/IL
Best Horror 1st Time Director
Best Horror Director
Best Horror Director - Chicago/IL
Best Horror Actor & Actress
Best Horror Actor & Actress - Chicago/IL
Best Young Performer
CERTIFICATE AWARDS
Best Horror International (Short & Feature)
Best Foreign Language Horror (Short & Feature)
Best Student Horror Film - USA
Best Student Horror Film - Chicago/IL
Best Horror Cinematography
Best Horror Comedy
Best Horror Animation / Stop Motion
Best LGBTQ+ Horror
Best Horror Fan-Film
Best Villain
Best Kill
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Horror*
Best Midnight/Grindhouse/WTF
Best Screenplay (1st,2nd & 3rd place) < Prizes Sponsored by Coverage-Ink
More Information On The Chicago Horror Film Festival Awards:
*Trophy award winners NOT PRESENT will incur shipping & handling costs for the award to be shipped, certificate winners will be emailed PDFs at no cost to the winner 4 days after the live event.
** Our Selection / Awards Procedure: Festival Director / Producers make official selections for the festival by vote. Official Selections are then screened/graded by 5 different judges anonymously and given an overall grade on a 5 point scale for each of the qualifying award categories (with the exception of the “Fest Directors Choice Award”). All judges points are then added together to give it a grade. The top 5 films by grade in each category are then considered an award nominee and listed on this page. The film with the highest grade in each category is considered and announced that category’s award winner at the festival. In the event of a tie for highest grade, the festival director, festival producer and festival founder will each vote on the tied films giving the majority vote the award. In the event that one of the production staff are involved in one of the films involving a tie, a 3rd party will be selected to vote in place of the production staff member involved.
**** The Festival Directors Choice Award nominee’s are the Film Festival Directors top 5 choice films of the festival. The Directors Choice Award is presented at the festival to the Directors favorite film of the festival. (Any film that the festival director is personally involved in at any level is not eligible for this award.)
Award Winners will be announced LIVE at The Chicago Horror Film Festival! www.ChicagoHorrorFilmFest.com