2023 is the 19th year of the South African HorrorFest, the original all-encompassing Halloween-season Horror event on the African continent, including its main film festival component with feature films and short films from around the world (featuring many premieres), plus a short story competition (resulting in best-of anthologies published) as well as a live author event, Halloween dress-up, live movie soundtrack performance to classic silent films and more.

The SA Horrorfest has been included in prestigious lists of Best Horror Festivals In The World, including Movie Maker Magazine (2021) and Dread Central (2022).

With a selection of movies to receive cinema screenings, the bulk of the hybrid festival will be on-line (filmmakers deciding whether they want their movies to be geo-blocked for Africa only, or whether they'd like it to be accessible all over the world as part of the festival's Global Horrorfest).
All genre variants accepted, as long as it contains Horror elements.

Join us at all our social media locations to stay in the loop on all festival developments, news and more, and subscribe at our new YouTube channel The Horrorfest where we feature all selected movie trailers, as well as filmmaker interviews and all manner of Horror culture.
All links accessible at https://linktr.ee/SAhorrorfest

The highest quality movies are acknowledged with award certificates across a wide range of categories.

After the pandemic the Horrorfest was forced on-line. This component will remain going forward, making it a hybrid event with both cinema and on-line shows.
(With the niche nature of the event and all budget going into promotion of the festival and selected movies, unfortunately screening fees cannot be offered)

There are no restrictions for the production's country of origin.
All languages allowed, but need (hardcoded) English subtitles if in another language.

Flamedrop Productions / Shadow Realm inc., and the South African HorrorFest cannot guarantee that the short- or feature films submitted will be selected and shown in public / on-line, as the festival selection members / committee will be the final arbiters.

If selected, your movie will be included in the virtual on-line chapter of the festival with select productions getting physical cinema shows as well.
You also agree to grant the Horrorfest non-exclusive permission to prospectively screen your feature film / short film after the official festival date as part of an Encore Best-Of replay program (including a selection of nominees and category winners).

Permission must be granted from the relevant rights holders (where applicable) of any copyrighted material used in your production (eg. music, film, video, news, audio, clips from other sources etc.), and the organizers of the South African HorrorFest cannot be held liable for the unlawful use of such material in submitted works.

It is preferred that your production is not streaming on any platform or run in any South African cinemas prior to, or during the Horrorfest period (late-October / earl-November). Please notify us if this will be the case.

Real pornography, human or animal abuse will not be tolerated and such entries will be discarded, and if necessary, reported.

If additional physical materials are supplied to the SA HorrorFest (discs, flash drives, external drives), these are non-returnable.

Information supplied on your production will be used in various Flamedrop Productions / Shadow Realm inc. / SA HorrorFest online and print publications as promotion.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jack Campbell

    I cant say enough good things about this festival! The programmers provide superior content and are dedicated to the indie horror genre and its filmmakers. Great experience and I cant wait for next year.

    January 2023
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Much appreciated Jack! Looking forward to see what you guys cooked up this year.

  • The creators of Fear Abides, Nightly Glistens are honored to have participated in the 2022 South African HorrorFest. The festival is such a wealth of screening events and opportunities. We appreciate Paul Blom’s and Sonja Ruppersberg’s top-tier support and dedication to promoting independent horror. An exceptional organization!

    December 2022
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Hey, thanks Mark, appreciate it

  • nathan crooker

    You guys ROCK! This festival always has a stellar lineup of films. The communication is great and you can see that they really care about the filmmakers. Keep up the good work. You are on my top list of the best genre festivals out there!

    April 2022
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thanks so much for the great feedback Nathan!

  • Scott Nielsen

    I greatly enjoyed being a part of SAHorrorfest they were professional, and supportive. I will def submit to them next year as well

    February 2022
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Ah, great to hear Scott!

  • Thank you Horrorfest for your professionalism and devotion to the horror genre! keep the standards alive!

    December 2021
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Much appreciated Aron!