Terror on Tyne is the North East’s only dedicated horror short film festival. It’s run by horror filmmakers and fans, and puts the genre filmmakers and fans at the forefront of the experience.

Following on from the massive success of our first two years, we’re excited to announce our third year! Once again, films will be screened at the Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle, a comfortable, modern venue, where your film will be shown on the big screen to genre fans. The festival has a relaxed, fun atmosphere, where we’ll all get to watch and talk about horror films.

Following on from last year's special guest speaker Craig Conway we will once again have a very special guest speaker (announced closer to the time) for an audience Q&A, and to judge one of the categories.

The evening includes a networking event, so that filmmakers and fans can make connections in order to collaborate on future projects. There will be filmmaker Q&As, so that we can discuss the films we’re watching.

The night will close with an awards ceremony, ensuring that your film gets the recognition it deserves.

All films entered into the festival will be promoted on our social media before and after the festival.

As well as being passionate about horror and about having a festival in the North East that champions the area, we’re also passionate about hearing the voices of women, LGBTQ+ and minority groups who are often overlooked in the horror genre, so will be very grateful to receive entries from people who aren’t just old white blokes.

Awards & Prizes

Best horror short
Best horror comedy short
Best micro short (2 minutes or under)
Best first time or student film
Best smartphone film
Best North East horror film

Rules & Terms

- Submissions must be categorized as horror, a horror sub-genre or horror-adjacent.

- Micro short films must be no longer than 2 minutes in runtime. Short films must be 2 minutes to 15 minutes in runtime. Anything exceeding 15 minutes will not be accepted

- Films eligible for Best North East horror film must be made in or by filmmakers from the North East of England

- Submissions must be entirely original works with all media being owned or created by
the submitter or their team.

- Films made using Generative AI video will not be considered

- Submissions must not be submitted to more than one category, although submitters are encouraged to submit multiple projects.

- Terror on Tyne reserves the right to move a film from one category to a different unsubmitted category depending on the festival’s needs

- All film submissions must include a submission fee and a completed online FilmFreeway entry form. Submission waivers are NOT provided.

- All non-English language films must include English subtitles burned in.

- When final films are selected, filmmakers may be contacted for alternative film formats for programming purposes.

- Films that have screened and or have received awards at other festivals can be submitted provided they adhere to all rules and regulations.

- Only films that have been completed from January 2025 will be accepted as part of the competition.

- Terror on Tyne reserves the right to accept, reject, or disqualify any submission at its discretion without a refund. That said, it should be noted that we will watch every eligible film received in its entirety.

- Terror on Tyne does not maintain ownership of any film submitted but does have the legal right to use images and as much as 30 seconds of footage for current and future festival promotional materials.

- Film submission entry fees must be paid through the FilmFreeway portal as instructed.

- Award winners will be revealed at the ToT awards ceremony at the end of the festival on October 24th 2026.

- Submission does not guarantee entry into the festival. Filmmakers will be notified whether or not their film has been accepted to Terror on Tyne no later than 26 September 2026

11 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Dayle Saunders

    This is a really great festival, feels like it's been established for a really long time as it ran really smoothly.
    I love the way the night was structure, prioritising invaluable networking time with the filmmakers and the films were split into 4 blocks which really cham,pioned the sub genres (and of course the North East!).
    Can't wait to come back next year!

    December 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Dayle, thanks so much for your review and also for submitting your absolutely amazing film! We loved Rock, Paper, Scissors, Death and hope it continues to do brilliantly on the festival circuit!
    We’re glad everything seemed smooth and structured. Believe us, it was panic stations behind the scenes! We’re hoping the next one is bigger and better, and we look forward to seeing you there!

  • Jack Abernethy

    Duncan, Paul and the gang put on a great showcase of smashing indie horror films. It was a thrill to premiere my short The Dianne Richards Tape at their festival! Will 100% recommend!

    November 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Jack, we were so pleased to be able to premiere such a good film as The Dianne Richards Tape at our festival. We’re glad you had a good time at the show and look forward to seeing more of your work at future festivals!

  • Savvy Hanna

    I unfortunately couldn't make it over for the festival, but the communication from the festival director was fantastic, and our production designer who attended had the best time! We were thrilled to be included in such a wonderful festival

    October 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Savvy, thanks so much for the kind words in your feedback. We loved showing To The Water, and your production designer did you proud in the Q&A, although it would have been great to see you there! Hopefully another time!

  • Shaun Munro

    It was an absolute pleasure to screen my short film UNDERTONE at Terror on Tyne, and winning the Best Horror Short award was the icing on the cake.

    The fest is run by a lovely group of people who clearly care deeply about filmmaking, and the venue has a great setup for both the screening of films and socialising/mingling afterwards.

    We had an enthusiastic and engaged audience for our screening and I also had a great time during my brief stay in Newcastle. Absolutely recommended!

    October 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Shaun, we’re so pleased you had a good time at the festival. We loved having Undertone as part of proceedings and hope to see you again at future festivals!

  • Cybelle Elena

    Cool horror festival with great hosts. I was thrilled to be included

    November 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    We were so pleased to have you. Your film, Telogen Effluvium, was so original and interesting; we really loved it.