Made a horror film? This is where it should play. Our editorial ranking of the festivals that matter for independent horror: judged on what they do for FILMMAKERS: discovery, acquisitions, press, audience, and how they treat you when you're nobody yet. Disagree with the order? That's what the board is for.
Horizon International Film Festival SUBMIT ↗
Our first partner festival, and front of the line by right. Founded by horror director Minh Collins, whose credits include a Lionsgate release and whose 24 Collins Studios runs a full soundstage and studio lot in Northern California. Year one unfolds on the Yin Ranch estate outside Sacramento: a festival built by a filmmaker, for filmmakers. HorrorMeet members: go show up for the inaugural. Founders remember who came first.
Hollywood Florida Film Festival SUBMIT ↗
The other Hollywood. Minh Collins' East Coast festival brings the same filmmaker-first ethos to South Florida: our second partner festival, and the Circuit's first foothold on the Atlantic side. Horror submissions welcome.
Your festival here
Sign up, message @LandonXXL on the board, and get listed with a Festival Director badge on your profile. Partner festivals get a featured slot and their calls for entries posted to the community.
Sitges Film Festival SITE ↗
The Cannes of genre. Fifty-plus years, the biggest fantastic-film festival in the world. A Sitges laurel changes a film's life.
Fantasia International Film Festival SITE ↗
North America's biggest genre event. Three weeks, deep programming, real acquisitions. The premiere target for serious indie horror on this continent.
FrightFest SITE ↗
The UK's dark heart. Five days, ferociously loyal audience, and distributors in the seats.
BIFAN (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) SITE ↗
Asia's genre giant, with an industry market attached. If your film travels, it travels here.
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) SITE ↗
Forty-plus years of beautiful chaos. The rowdiest, most beloved audience in genre cinema.
Fantastic Fest SITE ↗
The biggest genre festival in the US. Industry, press, buyers, and the Alamo Drafthouse machine. The hardest US laurel to get and the most valuable.
Screamfest LA SITE ↗
The grande dame of American horror-only festivals. Paranormal Activity premiered here. Public director pages for every alum, a YouTube channel that keeps promoting your short for years, and Hollywood in the room.
Overlook Film Festival SITE ↗
Prestige curation in the most haunted city in America. Smaller slate, huge taste; programmers and press treat an Overlook pick as a mark of quality.
Beyond Fest SITE ↗
The highest-attended genre event in the US. Skews toward big premieres and repertory, so it's a harder door for micro-indies, but the room is unmatched.
Nightmares Film Festival SITE ↗
The filmmaker's festival. One of the best-reviewed events on all of FilmFreeway, a year-round community, and the alumni network that actually answers your emails.
Panic Fest SITE ↗
Community-driven, press-heavy (Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting cover the lineup), with a virtual edition that extends your reach. Great first big fest for a new filmmaker.
Popcorn Frights SITE ↗
The Southeast's biggest horror event: 100+ films a year, aggressive world-premiere slate, and real love for first-timers.
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival SITE ↗
New York's horror address. Nitehawk cinemas, sharp curation, Variety coverage, and a slate that mixes buzz titles with true unknowns.
Chattanooga Film Festival SITE ↗
Genre-soaked and famously warm to filmmakers. The festival other festivals' programmers attend for fun.
Telluride Horror Show SITE ↗
Small, curated, prestigious. Skews toward films that already have heat, but a gorgeous notch in any belt.
Salem Horror Fest SITE ↗
Horror in the witch city, with a strong indie and queer-horror community and the Romero Foundation fellowship attached.
Boston Underground Film Festival SITE ↗
The weird one, in the best way. If your film is strange as well as scary, BUFF's audience was built for it.
HollyShorts (Horror Blocks) SITE ↗
Oscar-qualifying shorts festival with dedicated horror programming at the TCL. For shorts chasing award eligibility, this is the door.
Horrible Imaginings Film Festival SITE ↗
Nonprofit, panel-heavy, community-first. One of the most welcoming rooms in the genre for a first film.
Shriekfest SITE ↗
LA's longest-running horror festival. No-frills, respected, and a legitimate LA laurel for a micro-budget.
Another Hole in the Head SITE ↗
Bay Area genre institution with a big slate and an open mind. Friendly to experimental horror.
Nevermore Film Festival SITE ↗
The Southeast's veteran horror fest, twenty-five years strong, with a loyal regional audience.
Knoxville Horror Film Fest SITE ↗
Scrappy, beloved, and genuinely fun: grindhouse energy with a real community behind it.
Atlanta Horror Film Festival SITE ↗
Long-running Southern showcase with a steady indie slate and a growing scene around it.
Etheria Film Night SITE ↗
The premier showcase for women-directed genre film. If your director is a woman, Etheria belongs at the top of your list, not here at 21.
HorrorHound Film Fest SITE ↗
Attached to the HorrorHound convention: your film plays to a room that came for horror all weekend.
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival SITE ↗
Indie-friendly genre fest with a big slate and a reputation for treating small films with respect.
A Night of Horror International Film Festival SITE ↗
The long-running Australian fest, relocated to America: international pedigree, midwestern address.
Independent Shorts Awards SITE ↗
An awards competition more than a festival: high volume, monthly winners, annual live screening. Honest take: laurels come easier here, which has its uses early in a film's life. Know what you're buying.
Outcome notes are the famous cases, not averages. Nobody's average is Paranormal Activity. Rankings are HorrorMeet's editorial opinion, updated as the circuit changes. Corrections and arguments welcome on the board. Festival directors: come claim your listing.