2026 Winners

Emerging Screenwriters Horror Screenplay Competition

Quarter-Finalists

(Alphabetical Order by Title)

3 Skeleton Keys by B. Buss
A Boy, a House, a Ghost by Blake Hawk
A Nice Place to Visit by Jack Warner
A Perfect Illusion by John Rhee
Abraham Lamb by Simon Ludgate
Adventures in Serial Killing by Jack Warner
An Institution by Jon Rosen
Ancestry by Princeton Brown
And Then They Were Dumb… by Allie Sharma Nelson
Artificial Impact by John Wu and Tsung-Long Wu
Bad Kitty by Jeff Rosenberg
Bad Manors by Ted Lauck and Taylor MacDonald
Bah Humbug by Jo Garrett
Being by Xiaolin Zheng
Better Off Undead by Ray Keller
Bilena by Jim Hendricks
Binomial by Louise Spraggon
Birthright by RB Ripley
Bitter by Niklas Maier
Blood Pact by Sean Mick
Blood Rig by John Fife
Bloody Show by Andrew Betzer
Brainrot by Nick Fuller
Brodhead Society by Christopher Scott
Brothel of the Dead by Nichole C Moncada
Cephalopod by Jocelyn Manns and Ryan Manns
Checking Out by JJ Brent
Christmas in Hidden Pines by Ruby Grais
Close Your Eyes It’s Easier by LaQuann Moore and Sunny Brown
Cold Dead Fingers by Jack Warner
Cold West by Jason Myers
Community Guidelines: Banned by AB Norman and Bart Norman
Confederate Zombies by Bernard Moore
Crimson by P.D. Hogan
Cultivation by Stevie Nelson
Cunning Folk by Jae Teliczan
Dark Bonds by Terrell Harris
Dark Current by Gwendolyn Hulet
Dead East by Paul Alan Gober
Dead East: Patient Zero 1918 by Paul Alan Gober
Dead Man’s Party by Jesse Wilson
Dead of Night by Terence O’Keefe
Dead Winter Run by Jake Hart
Death Scroll by Craig Rosenthal
Deep by Laddie Ervin
Deer Day by Mark Naccarato
Devi-8 by Nadia Desyatnikova
Doctor Franka by Scott Nabat
Dog Cage by Charles Prongua
Double-Decker to Hell by Joseph Lawrence Lacroce
Dying to Love You by Collet Collins
Echidna, Darling by Abigail Sax-martin
Escape to Alcatraz by Eugene Hattingh
Exhumed by David Van Hooser
Faceless by Bita Shahi
Feral Mountains by Terry Podnar
Fly Away by Beryl Fine-Quiles
Forest of Stakes by Ryan Thomas Hinrichs
Forsaken, Texas by Jordan Jacobson
Frederick and Mary Destroy a Monster by Christopher Blair Harmon
Full Moon on the Border by Alex J Barrio
Girl in the Forest by Jeff Alley
Gluttons by William Sikorski
Go Birds by Jared Michael Delaney
Golden Ticket by William Sikorski
Good Luck, Babe! by Egidio Concas
Gratuitous by Edwin Resto
Greed by Nick Quinn
Hell Holes by Adam Karpel
Hellburn by Esa Nurminen
Hidden People by Harry McEwan
Higher Society by Safiya Nicol
Hold for Applause by Dara Levendosky
Hollow Lake by Adam Rocke
House by the Cove by AJ Falco and Toni D’Antonio
Houses by James Mangan
Humbaba by Christos Stavropoulos
Hunch by Michael Caisley
Hunger by M W Hogan
Infestation by Chance Crane
Insatiable by Michael Morra
Internet Phantom by Matthew Troy
Irreversible Damage by Leon Masters
It’s Coming! by Harvey Yazijian
iWitch Soul Thief by Myron Kukla
Janus Time by Brad Catherman
Just Like You by Jonathan Fournier
Kept by Erin Copen Howard
Kept Men by Spenser Wise
LAMBboy by Tarek Mallo
Leecher by Jon Di Rocco
Legacy by Michael Morra
Lesbian Ghouls and a Military Budget by John van Rijs
Let Go by Luke Francisco
Liminal by Nadia Desyatnikova
LOL by AB Norman
M – Demon Killer by Mark William Hammond
Maelstrom by Scott Lopez and Koji Steven
Maggie’s Place by Richard Rosso and George C. Romero
Magorda by Shawn Nolan
Masks of Winter by Sarah Rossmann
Me and the Devil Blues by Jamal Murad
Mechanical Error by Marisha Cautilli and Joseph Cautilli
Medusa by Nathan Shapiro
Mesa by Pam Covington
Migrant Spirits by Miguel Martinez
Milly Foster, Macabre Investigator by Mike Murphy
Mind Prison by Rehanna Loncar
Misfortune by Jeff Blevins
Mocha Manor by Steven Bolia
Molly by Charity Stashwick
Mommy by Clement Vallos
Moorland by Samuel Quo Vadis
Morbidly by Don Stroud
Murder in Frames by Geoff Hall
Murder Tour by Ryan Stack
Muse in the Mazeum by Clay Fusco and Pamela Chiacchiaro
Never Let Her In by Saurin D Lakhia
Night Hospice by Lee Arter
Night Must Fall by Jennifer Weber
Night Shoot by Zoe Reid
Nip + Suck by Judd Schlossberg
No Prayers Tonight by John Dover
North Brother Island by Kimberly McLeod
Nowhere to Run by Valentina Reiken
Orchid by Jarad Kopciak
Our Lady of Minersville by Collin Frey
Paradiddle by Giancarlo Roversi
Possession by Rudi O’Meara
Powder Falls by Aaron Sturgeon and Michael Tobias
Project Lion’s Den by Stafford Echols
Providers by Aurélie Bertout
Psychopathy by Tanya Klein and James Michael
Put Your Loving Arms Around Me by Kevin Wu
Relics of the Damned by Jesse Kalfel
Rise Up Little Girl by Matthew Avant
Rot by Ray Petrolino
Samples by Richard Garry
Shadow Dance by Ricki Holmes
Skinwalker by Jon Jacobmeier
Skunks! by Harry Kelley
Slain by Andre Aguirre and Dre Aguirre
Slaughter Beach by Richard Garry
Slaycation by Ryan Malik
Society of the Moon by Jack Warner
Solutions, Inc. by Mike Murphy
Something in the Snow by Gregory Livingston
Spearfinger by Allen Sircy
Spider Concrete by Chris Bennetts
Spirits of the Dead by Keith Gilman
Stairs by Barry Brock
Stalkers by Jack Warner
Starvation Heights by Jennifer Conner
Still Alive by Rosemary Griggs
Still, Small Voice by Aaron Mason
Sting by Jason Peralta
Stow Wolf by Ryan Evans
Sub-Level 4 by Brett Stone
Suburbaknight by Nick Bannister
Sunrise Trail by Glenn Maneval Jr
Sutton Farm by Nick Hildreth
Taken by Monsters by Gregory Livingston
Tales From Ambrose by Lyle Deixler
Tatt2wo by Deirdre Patterson
Tendrils by Tim Connolly
Terroir by Ryan Michael Clarke
The 49th Day by Craig Peters
The Bell by Michael Ferrara and Larry Hopper
The Bells by Charlie Magdaleno
The Body Builder by Art Fox
The Case of the Vengeful Vampire by Phillip Cook
The Chair by Dominick Tambasco
The Clinic by Nadia Desyatnikova
The Codex by Laura Lyte
The Collectors by Jacob Lafazio
The Colney Hatch Project by Stella Papamichael
The Community by Nathan Hallauer and Zane Stein
The Crossing by Matt Billings
The Devil’s Cut by Eric Lotter
The Devil’s Due by David Wickenden
The Drummer Boy by Rhett Murphy
The Falling Chamber by Raymond McDonald
The Fetch by Kimberly Lawton
The Flock by Helen Fowler
The Forest Dark by Pauline McAlonan
The Fountain of Hell by Mary Albanese
The Ghost Station by Damon Furberg
The Great Plains Vampire by Trevor Markwart
The Hangar by Ryan Thomas Hinrichs
The Highway Troll by Michael Melanson
The House by Graham Mulvein
The Intermission by Andre Thierry
The Judge by Christine O’Donnell
The Killing Jar by Jack Warner
The Lady of the Woods by Bobby Morgan
The Lake by Jonathan Everett
The Last Santa: Kringle’s Kurse by Phillip Hollins
The Lazarus Curse by Barbara Ashley
The Long Detour by Baruh Benjamins
The Lucky Lady Massacre by Patricia Semler
The Maya Love Story by LaShawn Evans
The Midnight Driver by Tricia Tribble
The Monkey’s Paw by Erica Smyth
The Mrs. by Mitch Ward
The Old House by Mary Catherine Brouder
The Paraclete by John Mayer
The Pit by Joey Miller
The Prophesied Script by Roxanne May
The Reach by Aaron Sturgeon and Michael Tobias
The Realtor by Jack Richard
The Reliquary by Nick Black
The Second Prom of Willy Strom by Jim Spivey
The Seven Devils by Peter Natale
The Severing by Christian Hearn
The Shimmers by Brendan Vogel and Ruth Sabin
The Shroud by Thomas Surgent
The Station by Nick Nelsen
The Suckers by Joseph Fanger
The Suitor by Raef Luther
The Town at the End of the World by David Zuckerman
The Town With No Name by Richard Garry
The Tulpa by Josh Devor
The Ubume: Phantom of Vengeance by Alec Cuddeback
The Wages of Sin by Anthony Martinez
The Water Wants Her by Jeff Barker
The Willows by Evan Ziegenfus
They Feed by Renee Miller
They Have Eight by Cassandra Betancourt
Thou Shalt Not by Howard Buddy Lewis
Torn in Half by Scott Barker and Teresa Baranowski
Tradition by Cam Min Tran
Trail of Blood by Fiore DeRosa
Transient Good by Brian Stewart
Under the Protection of Witches by Fred Wiehe
Underhill by Adam Winkler
Unearthed by Billy Reid
Unrest by Hadj Gill
Utkeena by John Shea
Venor by Matt Nye
Vilkova by Dana Brown and Larry Shawn
Vines by Luke Zwanziger
Waken by Shero Syndicate
Wehr Road by Jared Pettit and Adam Radford
Welcome the Stranger by David Trisko
Whisper Lake by Christopher Hall
White Chrysanthemum by Ellie Jay
Witch Mother by Selma Karayalcin
Wolves of Lock Mountain by Christopher Hite
Wrath by Clayton Tony Au
Zombies vs. Robots by Marisha Cautilli and Joseph Cautilli