📣 CALLING ALL BAD QUEERS 📣

Come celebrate the bold, the beautiful, and the bloody at Queer Fear Film Festival, the South's only LGBTQ+ horror and dark genre film festival. We're pushing, reimagining, and redefining the boundaries of horror and genre filmmaking. We're throwing open the closet door and shining a spotlight on the most exciting and transgressive stories from the rainbow end of the spectrum. Gays lost in the woods? Got ‘em. Seductive lesbian vampires? Yes, please. Trans Final Girls? Slay. Uncomfortably dark adult animation? Bring it on. If your film is queer and takes on the darkness in the world—or the darkness within—we're here for it.

Queer Fear embraces the full spectrum of queer identity and the dark genre umbrella by showcasing horror, sci-fi, thrillers, dark fantasy, mind-bending documentaries, and everything in between. Like sexuality, our idea of horror is beautifully fluid.

Join us for the sixth annual Queer Fear Festival, in-person at a/perture cinema in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. Come be part of our vibrant, passionate community of queer creators and storytellers. From campy thrills to spine-chilling terror, we celebrate it all.

Selected films receive 2 all-access festival badges. All screening blocks feature filmmaker Q&As with an engaged audience. Limited travel support is available.

Top films selected by our panel of judges will receive cash prizes, including Best Short, Best Feature, and Audience Choice—along with the ultimate honor: our coveted Golden Unicorn statue. 🦄

Awards & Prizes

Best Short | Prize: $250
Best Feature | Prize: $250
Audience Choice Award | Prize: $250

Rules & Terms

Films should be made by LGBTQ+ creators, and/or must center LGBTQ+ characters and stories. Films do not need explicitly queer content to be considered, provided key creatives involved identify as queer.

LGBTQ+ includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, nonbinary, pansexual, asexual, genderfluid, and other identities. Queer is an umbrella term that encompasses all of these identities, and identities that fall between or outside these labels.

We accept films of all styles and modes: narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, and hybrid.

Rules:
- Films must have been completed on or after January 1, 2025.
- By submitting, you agree that you are the owner or have the permission of the owner of the film submitted and all contents within.
- Films must be either in English or subtitled in English.
- We are unable to screen pornography.
- Filmmakers may submit multiple projects, but an individual entry must be submitted for each project.
- Submitted films are considered the final finished versions of those films by the Festival (no “in progress” projects).
- Selected films must provide exhibition file in one of the following formats: .mp4, .mov, .h264, ProRes, or DCP. All DCPs must be accompanied by a backup digital file.
- Participants agree that clips from their film and other material related to their project may be used and/or published in the event program, on the Festival website, and for any promotional purposes in print, broadcast, or online.
- All film submission fees are non-refundable.
- There is no guarantee that films submitted will be selected for Festival screening.
- Premiere status is not required.
19 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Sarah Rae Franklin

    Such a special film festival. At a wonderful indie theater in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Tiffany and the team (shout out to Victoria for picking me up from the airport) are some of the coolest. They supported me coming all the way from Oregon and were so hospitable. I would recommend this festival to any queer horror filmmaker looking for an unforgettable fest!

    March 2026
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  • Steven George

    Although our team couldn't make it in person, our film was still very well received and still made a huge impact. Tiffany is a delight to coordinate with. So thankful to have a time and place dedicated to the intersection of queerness and horror, magic is always made and it's such a special thing to be a part of.

    February 2026
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  • Colin G Cooper

    Had a lovely time screening our film Bath Bomb at Queer Fear 2026. Tiffany & her team were attentive and treated filmmakers like members of a spooky lil family. The screenings were well-attended by a savvy audience that asked thoughtful questions. I would return in a heartbeat.

    February 2026
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  • Nicole Tegelaar

    Lovely organisation and festival! Thank you for selecting my short!

    November 2024
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  • Rachel Kerry

    I had a truly wonderful time screening my horror comedy short at the Queer Fear Film Festival. They treated our team exceptionally well, arranged pickups from the airport, and threw one hell of an event! It was deeply inspiring to meet so many other queer filmmakers making horror and then get to see their work. Plus Winston-Salem is a very cool city to visit. 10/10 would recommend. Queer Fear is a very special event and I hope to attend again in the future.

    November 2024
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