"I would highly recommend submitting your film."
- Bloody Flicks

The Halloween International Film Festival is a destination horror event, held in historic Kill Devil Hills, on North Carolina's Outer Banks island, 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.

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 Award Winner), 'Haunters: The Art of the Scare' (2018 Best Halloween Film Award Winner), and 'Epic Home Haunts' (2019 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award Winner).

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.

Festival film screenings are shown at the R/C Theatres cineplex in Kill Devil Hills, including Q&A sessions with attending filmmakers, nightly meet and greets, photo ops on our Orange Carpet, and more. Our state-of-the-art host venue features a massive 36-foot tall movie screen, stadium seating, full digital projection capabilities, and a complete lineup of refreshments and snacks available.

All Official Selections will receive publicity on HalloweenDailyNews.com and all festival Q&As and panels will be broadcast to more than 72,000 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.

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 our goal to build the film industry on the Outer Banks, inspiring the attending filmmakers to bring future productions to the area while giving locally-based talents exposure to a wider, like-minded audience. It is a networking event for industry professionals, and a fan experience unlike any other in the region.

Known as the “land of beginnings”, the Outer Banks of North Carolina is the site of America’s first urban legend, 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 1587.

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 Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Breakthrough Filmmaker
Scariest Film

Rules & Terms

Film Submission Details:

This Festival is for original films only (no "fan films"), and by submitting you agree that you are the owner or have the permission of the owner of the film submitted and all contents within.

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 in-competition 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 HalloweenInternationalFilmFestival.com.

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 on a DCP (digital cinema package); which 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.

Submissions which are ineligible for consideration:

- U.S. distribution obtained prior to being submitted for the festival.

- Produced, financed, or initiated by a major film studio or television network.

- Previously screened on a U.S. television network or cable system.

- Distributed theatrically prior to festival screenings.

—

The Halloween International Film Festival reserves the right to update the Festival submission rules, screening schedule, and events, subject to change.
38 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • 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
    Helpful
  • 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
    Helpful
  • 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
    Helpful
  • Michael Squid

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

    October 2020
    Helpful
  • 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
    Helpful