The Midsummer Scream Halloween Festival packs all the thrills, scares, and fun of October into one summer weekend. Dozens of haunt and Halloween themed attractions, including walk thru mazes, horror themed VR experiences and escape rooms, and immersive theatre, along with over three stages featuring panels, presentations, and performances from Southern California's biggest theme parks and names in dark entertainment!

The HorrorBuzz "Screaming Room" features a carefully curated mix of film programming blocks with terrifying creations to cater to every taste, and an especially keen interest in supporting the indie horror and beginning filmmaker communities.

We're seeking a variety of films that celebrate Halloween and the spirit of horror to fill potential programming blocks including animated and family friendly shorts, "creepy pasta"/urban legend inspired tales, comedic horror, extreme horror, and anything spooky!

**Only submit films that fall into the horror genre or are featured around Halloween.**

In addition to an amazing lineup of films submitted specifically for Midsummer Scream, the Screaming Room has included presentations from Buzzfeed Unsolved, an exclusive video presentation of favorite clips from "Trick R Treat" by writer/director Michael Dougherty, and shorts blocks from the Etheria Film Fest. For 2020, even bigger surprises await - submit your film for a chance to be part of it!

**We do not provide waivers - requests will be ignored. Films must be under 20 minutes to be considered, without exception.**

Awards & Prizes

Two weekend passes to Midsummer Scream (August 1 & 2, 2020) will be provided to the creators of each accepted project.

Rules & Terms

Submitted films or video (hereafter referred to as "the project") must be 20 minutes or less in length. In an effort to include as many films as possible, shorter films will be given higher consideration.

Submitter agrees to take all responsibility for obtaining any and all rights and permissions for screening the project at Midsummer Scream.

By submitting the project, you agree to provide Midsummer Scream and its agent with a non-exclusive right to screen the project at Midsummer Scream on August 1 & 2, 2020 in front of an audience. If accepted, filmmaker allows Midsummer Scream to use clips and images of their film in promotions.

25 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ercan Er

    Thank you very much for choosing my film first. An amazing festival. Everyone should go and se...

    October 2019
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  • M.F. Dinan

    Had a great time! Lots of great shorts and the bonus of being at the horror convention.

    September 2019
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  • Taryn Hough

    This is an amazing festival and event! Not only is it like Christmas for horror movie fans, with booths to purchase awesome horror related gear, fans cosplaying their favorite characters, etc...but the festival itself is a lot of fun. The films that I saw were fantastic and the Festival Director, Norman, was wonderful! Every block was full of eager horror fans, there were hardly any seats left in the block that my film screened in. I had a wonderful weekend at the event, I highly recommend submitting to this festival!

    September 2019
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  • Alex Cassun

    I wasn't able to make it out to the festival to see my short film screen, but from everything I saw following the festival on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, it looks like it was an amazing and unique event with a great turnout. They clearly put a lot of effort into the production, artwork, and communication and I can't wait to submit my next horror short whenever I make it.

    August 2019
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  • Zack Ogle

    Had a great time at Midsummer Scream! Such a cool celebration of all things horror! So happy to be a part of it. :) We were so honored to win the Jack O'Lantern award. Thanks again!!

    August 2019
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