The Halloween International Film Festival is a destination horror event celebrating independent film and the most hallowed of seasons, held on the historic and haunted Outer Banks of North Carolina, at a legendary 91-year-old theater, presented by Halloween Daily News.

The festival features three days of independent horror and Halloween-themed films from around the world, as well as networking opportunities and extensive media exposure, all taking place as the kickoff event for the town of Manteo’s Halloween Island festivities, during which area restaurants, bars, and businesses transform into Halloween pop-ups for October.

Films selected for the festival are shown on the big screen at The Pioneer Theater in Manteo, NC, including Q&A sessions with attending filmmakers, nightly meet and greets, photo ops on our Orange Carpet, an outdoor Halloween vendor market, and numerous Halloween Island festivities happening each day in easy walking distance throughout Downtown Manteo. Our iconic host venue dates back to 1918, originally showing silent films in the earliest days of moviemaking, later opening its current location in 1934, and is a truly independent cinematic landmark in itself.

Known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, North Carolina’s Outer Banks is recognized as one of the most haunted places in America, with thousands of shipwrecks resting off the coast of these barrier islands. Roanoke Island, where the Pioneer Theater is located, is the site of the ill fated first English settlement in North America, and its more than 100 colonists that vanished without explanation in 1590, today referred to as The Lost Colony.

A portion of proceeds from this year's festival will be donated to A Pathway Forward, a locally based nonprofit charity that supports veterans.

All Official Selections will receive publicity on HalloweenDailyNews.com, with many festival Q&As and panels to be broadcast to more than 80,000 subscribers on the Halloween Daily News YouTube channel, and will be exposed to a reach of more than a million genre fans through the expanded Halloween Daily News network and social media.

Founded in 2016, the Halloween International Film Festival is a Gold-ranked festival on the world’s top film festival submission platform, FilmFreeway.

Previous Official Selections include 'The Barn' (2016 Best Halloween Film and Best Feature Film award winner), '3 Dead Trick or Treaters', '10/31', 'The Haunt' (2017 Best Halloween Film), 'Haunters: The Art of the Scare' (2018 Best Halloween Film), 'Epic Home Haunts' (2019 Breakthrough Filmmaker award winner), 'Mass Hysteria' (2020 Best Feature Film), and 'They Live Inside Us' (2020 Best Halloween Film).

Special invitational Showcase Selections from previous years include 'Honeyspider', 'The Houses October Built 2' (which is set partly here on the Outer Banks), 'Candy Corn', and the world premieres of '10/31 Part II' and 'Sharp Candy'.

Previously participating studios include Epic Pictures and RLJ Entertainment.

The mission of the Halloween International Film Festival is to promote the artistry of independent films made in the spirit of creativity, support the future of cinema by providing exposure for talented visionary filmmakers, and celebrate a collective passion for Halloween. It is a networking event for industry professionals, and a fan experience unlike any other in the region.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is the site of America’s first mystery, The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, the true story of the first English colonists to land in the new world only to mysteriously vanish without explanation in 1590. The Outer Banks is also where the Wright Brothers launched mankind toward the stars with the first powered flight in 1903, in what is now the town of Kill Devil Hills.

Awards & Prizes

Awards will be presented in the following categories:

Best Short Film
Best Feature Film
Best Halloween Film
Best International Film
Best North Carolina Film
Best Lead Performance
Best Supporting Performance
Breakthrough Filmmaker
Scariest Film

Rules & Terms

Film Submission Details:

This Festival is for original films only (no "fan films"; no A.I.).

By submitting you agree that you are the owner or have the permission of the owner of the film submitted and all contents within, and that the film's copyright holder is granting permission for screening at the Halloween International Film Festival.

There is no guarantee that your film submission will be selected for Festival screening.

All film submissions will be pre-screened, a limited amount of which will be selected for Festival screenings, and notification will made by the Festival to the filmmaker that submitted through FilmFreeway via email provided by FilmFreeway.

Requests for specific day and/or times for screenings will not be considered.

Selected submissions may be screened more than once during the Festival.

Premiere status is not required but will be considered in the selection process.

The final screening schedule will be published at HalloweenDailyNews.com/FilmFestival.

Additional promotional materials (posters, lobby cards, etc.) must be provided by the submitting filmmaker (not required).

RULES:

Submitting filmmaker must include the title of the submission and name of all contacts on all media, materials, and containers.

Filmmakers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must be submitted, packaged, and shipped individually.

Submitted films are considered the final finished versions of those films by the Festival (no “in progress” projects).

The preferred method to deliver the films that are selected for the Festival is determined by host venue requirements; and must be mailed to Festival organizers by the deadline stated in the notification email (approximately two weeks after notification of official selection).

Testing of all media should be completed by the submitting filmmaker prior to submission. Faulty or unusable media will disqualify that film from the Festival if a suitable replacement cannot be obtained in a timely manner.

DO NOT SEND ORIGINAL/SOLE COPIES.

Media and press materials will not be returned under any circumstances.

The Halloween International Film Festival will not be responsible for media and/or press materials lost or damaged while in transit or possession of the Festival.

All film submission fees are non-refundable.

Submissions must be English language or English subtitled.

All terms and conditions of official rules must be met and certification provided by completing the Film Submission Form.

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The Halloween International Film Festival reserves the right to update the Festival submission rules, screening schedule, and events, subject to change.
38 Reviews
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  • Dave Harlequin

    It was an absolute honor to be able to screen our film Department 666 at the Halloween International Film Festival. Ever since I started in film, this one has been one of my major goals of festivals I wanted to someday get into and be a part of. Although everything in 2020 forced things to go virtual, it was still presented wonderfully online, and the communication was excellent throughout. I will definitely be submitting again and again, and hope to be able to attend in person once the world gets a little more back to normal. Thank you all so much for giving such a great outlet to independent filmmakers in North Carolina!

    October 2020
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  • Jeff Ryan

    Matt and Sue Artz are two of the most generous and creative people I've encountered. We had the honor of screening our feature-film, "Mass Hysteria," digitally at the festival amidst COVID-19, and I want to thank them for their communication and clarity about our screening. Selecting which festivals to submit to, and attend, is hard; Halloween International Film Festival makes it easy. Thank you both so much for including our film!!
    Sincerely,
    Jeff & Arielle

    October 2020
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  • Ariel Hansen

    A great way to kick of the spookiest month of the year, they did a great job moving to a virtual format in light of the pandemic. Great communication, I will definitely submit to this fest again in the future.

    October 2020
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  • Michael Squid

    Great fest with a diverse selection of films, I was thrilled to be a part of the virtual 2020 edition!

    October 2020
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  • Matthew Barber

    Really cool festival! My horror short "No One Is Coming" had the honor of screening at this year's event! Great communication and an awesome lineup of films!

    October 2020
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