Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest

"You have something really special here!" - Joe Bob Briggs

Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest is South Carolina's first and largest horror film festival! The 2024 festival will take place over three days in Columbia, South Carolina and will feature some of the best independent horror films from all over the world. We will be screening all of our Official Selections at Spotlight Cinemas Capital 8 movie theater.

Forget the Oscars! We have the "Crimmy's"! All Official Selections (films and screenplays) will be competing at a chance for a Crimmy in over 20 categories. Our Crimmy trophies are designed by "The Conjuring" and "Annabelle" special effects artist Tony Rosen, who also designed the famous "Annabelle" doll for both films. Each trophy is handmade and signed by Tony himself.

Sponsored in part by ShortsTV, the world's largest distributor of short films, all submitted and accepted short films have the chance for worldwide broadcast deals on their cable channel, ShortsTV, which plays Oscar winning short films all over the globe. Crimson Screen is the ONLY horror film fest that ShortsTV is sponsoring. This is a huge opportunity for filmmakers to have their work seen worldwide!

Screenplay winners will also compete to win scriptwriting software from FinalDraft. Screenplay winners will also receive an InkTip Script Listing to promote themselves and their scripts to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents.

Companies who are InkTip members include: ABC, Anonymous Content, APA, CBS Films, HBO Films, ICM, Paradigm, Paramount Pictures, Hallmark Channel, FX, Universal, WME, Echo Lake, Zero Gravity, Bad Robot, 20th Century Fox, and many more. Producers have made more than 393 films from scripts and writers found through InkTip.

Festival attendees come out to walk the "dREaD Carpet" dressed in their favorite costumes and get to meet the filmmakers during our mixers and Q&A sessions after film screenings.

Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest is a filmmakers’ film festival. You will get to meet other filmmakers from all over the globe, create lasting friendships, make important connections, and share your experiences with a captive audience. From professional to novice, first time filmmakers to well established, Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest showcases a wide variety of horror films from all over the globe.

We offer networking opportunities each night at our after party events. At our official Saturday after party, “Beers and Fears”, network with other filmmakers and VIP attendees. We make sure to schedule downtime so you have an opportunity to enjoy the city and are able to hang out and meet visiting filmmakers.

We are seeking all genres of films and screenplays that contain horror element such as sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, underground, experimental and more...as long as there are horror elements. We take pride in the variety of horror selections at our annual festival and encourage filmmakers to submit any type of film and screenplay with horror, thriller, and suspense elements and themes!

If you are lucky enough to be chosen as an official selection, you definitely will want to attend! We are not like any other film festival out there! We provide our attending filmmakers with a free VIP pass (2 for feature and short films), a bag of swag, a personal welcome letter with wax sealed envelope embedded with our logo, and lots of other goodies also!

Filmmakers and VIP pass holders also have access to mixers as well as discounts at various bars and restaurants during the fest. At past festivals we have held "Maverick Filmmaking" workshops by such filmmakers as Steve Balderson, lectures on H.P. Lovecraft by authors such as W. Scott Poole, and have also awarded our new annual "Horror Icon" award to PJ Soles (Halloween/Carrie) in 2019, Mark Patton (Nightmare on Elm Street 2) in 2018, Joe Bob Briggs in 2017, and Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) in 2016.

We are an IMDB accredited event.