Nightmares Film Festival returns to Gateway Film Center
October 17 – 20, 2024
“One of the Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World” —MovieMaker Magazine
Tickets to individual screenings are available!
See the 2024 official selections
A true destination horror and genre fest, Nightmares Film Festival (NFF) has been named one of the world’s top horror film festivals by every major genre outlet. Christened the “Cannes of horror” by iHorror, NFF is dedicated to elevating horror, fostering an inclusive and supportive community of creators, and connecting those artists with audiences.
The ultimate way to experience our celebration of genre cinema, NFF VIP passes offer the holder a guaranteed seat in every round of films, access to the VIP bar and lounge, and in-and-out privileges throughout the fest.
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Tickets to individual screenings are available!
See the 2024 official selections
The 2024 Official Selections
Opening Night
Thursday, October 17, 2024
• Midwest Premiere of The Soul Eater
• Horror Shorts A featuring Wild Animal, Bones, A Green Affair, VHX, The Curse of the Velvet Vampire, Strange Creatures, It Draws Closer, Neu Mirrors
• U.S. Premiere of Decibel with short film Backmask
• Horror Comedy Shorts A featuring McKenzie, Rat!, Bump, Banjo, Circle Circle Circle Circle, Too Slow, You Wake to Find Yourself in the Woods, Work Life
• Midwest Premiere of BA with short film A Terrible Place
• Midnight Shorts A featuring Ode to an Interruption, Yummo Spot, One Cut of the Living Dead, Sweet Dreaming, All Is Lost, La Petite Mort, Kombucha, Apotemnofilia, Haaw, Kneading, Beach Logs Kill
Friday, October 18, 2024
• Ohio Premiere of Daughter of the Sun
• Recurring Nightmares A featuring I Carry Them Wherever I Go, Methuselah, The Visitor, Masks, The Noonday Demon, 1000 Paths of Death, Blind Spot, Her House, Izzy, A Taco, Wide Open, Treadmill
• It’s Alive 50th Anniversary screening with short film Chew Toy
• Horror Shorts B featuring Orum, The Circle, Eating Me Alive, Inked, Nervous Ellie, The Neighbourhood at the End…, Stop Dead, Meadowville
• Filmmaker and screenwriter meetup
• L’Inferno with short film Montopolis
• Sneak Peek: Kenneled with Joe Swanberg in attendance
• Paper Cuts: Shorts About the Horrors of Writing featuring Parasitic, Genie, Writer’s Block
• North American Premiere of Solvent with short film Untersberg
• Thriller Shorts A featuring Girls, Forever Yours, Tom Did Good, Cataract, Edith, A Waste of Life
• World Premiere of The Waves of Madness with short film Nocturna
• Horror Shorts C featuring Crimson Resurrection, Sundowning, Bath Bomb, Open Your Eyes, Faces, The First, A Prayer for My Father, Wild Animals
Saturday, October 19, 2024
• The Invisible Raptor
• Fright Club Live, a frightful podcast recording
• Panel: The New Distribution
• Proxy 10th Anniversary screening with short film Barista on 16mm film
• Recurring Nightmares B featuring Queen of the Underworld, Night Mother, Fenwick, Still, The Thaw, Night Feeding, A Mother’s Love, Hickory Dickory Dock, When Girls Play Sports, All Kinds of Animals
• Workshop: Writing for Studios with Jeff Strand
• NFF2024 Awards Ceremony
• World Premiere of For Sale By Exorcist with short film Sweaty Larry
• Thriller Shorts B featuring Who Do You Love, The Hunted, The Harvester, Washed Up, Destroyer, Blueberries for Iris
• World Premiere of Dooba Dooba with short film Enter By Fire
• Horror Shorts D featuring Terror, Went the Night Well?, Katie’s Skin, Escape, On Feel Alone, Cornucopia, Pop, Defile, Will Helm, Seraphim
• Eastern U.S. Premiere of Carved with short film Jack
• Midnight Shorts B featuring Drug Hole, The Blue Diamond, Too Dark For A Fashion Film, Burn Out, Stuck, Mirthless, The Gory Hole, The Warmest Color is Blue, Hey Man, Dummy
• My Imaginary Life for Someone with short film Worm Girl
• Horror Comedy Shorts B featuring Birdhouse, Pick Up Time, Slay, Rejected, Room Tone, Cheat Meal, Black Hole Barry, Bloody Mary
Sunday, October 20, 2024
• Hunting Matthew Nichols with short film Saint Maria’s Way
• The Matriarch with short film The Red Hourglass
• Ohio Shorts featuring Type A, Pluck, Creatures of Habit, Murdrum, Silhouette, Golden Hour, Live Feed, Rabbit Season, Time Lost Love, Obsolete, Remington, From the Garden to the House…
• Bystanders with short film Volition
• World Premiere of Replicator with short film Please Be Tender
• Midwest Premiere of Sayara with short film Mother_Mary
Tickets to individual screenings are available!
See the 2024 official selections
Revisit Nightmares Film Festival 2023
“A wonderful, welcoming home for fans of independent horror and genre cinema” —Dread Central
Nightmares Film Festival 2023 Schedule.
Browse the schedule by day or the full program here.
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Friday, October 27, 2023
5PM | Filmmaker and Screenwriter Meetup for Pass Holders
6PM | Nightmare Trivia
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Sunday, October 29, 2023
See every film with a VIP Pass
Nightmares Film Festival 2022
Look back at last year’s festival
Premiere screenings included Something in the Dirt, Moon Garden, Obstacle Corpse, the world premieres of FP4EVZ and the theatrical World Premiere of Razzennest.
Nightmares Film Festival 2021
Premiere screenings from exceptional new voices, including The Scary of Sixty-First, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, the World Premiere of The FP 3 – Escape from Bako, and a live orchestral score of James Quinn’s Ivory Wave presented on 35mm film.
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We cannot wait to share this year’s Festival with you.
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