Salem Horror Fest is back this October with more than 60 screenings, lost Romero works, a regional horror showcase, benefit screenings for Texas Abortion Funds, a never-before-seen cut of Phantom of the Paradise with Swan Archivist Ari Kahan, and a Hollowed Harvest pumpkin labyrinth! On top of all of this, the festival will be offered live in Salem, Massachusetts AND virtually later in the month for horror fans to enjoy right from home.
Now in its fifth year, Salem Horror is back with two weekends of premieres, shorts, and special presentations in partnership with the George A. Romero Foundation and support from Hollowed Harvest, a new pumpkin labyrinth in Salem. This year’s in-person event runs October 1-11, 2021.
World premieres shown at CinemaSalem at this year’s festival include: Miracle Valley, the directorial debut of Greg Sestero (The Room, The Disaster Artist), Two Witches directed by Pierre Tsigaridis, LandLocked directed by Paul Owens, If She Screams directed by Stephen Garnett, The Free Fall directed by Adam Stilwell, Hideout directed by Kris Roselli, Death Cast directed by Bobby Marinelli, and So Vam directed by Alice Maio Mackay. The program includes 18 additional feature premieres.
Forty judges worked tirelessly to keep up with this year’s double amount of submissions for the film jury, with festival director Kay Lynch sharing, “There was just no way to narrow them down to the best two hours so we increased the qualifying runtime by 100%. We want to feature as many filmmakers as humanly possible.” The Wicked Shorts 2021 showcase will feature twenty five films heavily dominated by women directors and queer characters. Find a full list of them on salemhorror.com.
This year, the George A. Romero Foundation will co-present a series of live and virtual programs to honor the work and legacy of horror master George A. Romero. Screenings include previously lost films The Amusement Park and Iron City Asskickers and a special 100th episode live recording of The Faculty of Horror following presentations of The Crazies and Season of the Witch.
The Satanic Temple, which is headquartered here in Salem, will co-present a six-day marathon of Night of the Living Dead screenings at The Bridge at 211 with all proceeds going to support Texas Abortion Funds in light of SB 8 and other radical anti-choice initiatives.
This year’s return will mark the beginning of an annual regional showcase featuring Massachusetts filmmakers called Local Mass Hysteria presenting seven hours of films on Monday, October 11, at CinemaSalem.
Other live programs this year include a never-before-seen cut of Phantom of the Paradise with Archivist Ari Kahan from the Swan Archive, and a new pumpkin labyrinth from Hollowed Harvest. All of these programs are made possible in part with support from Syfy’s Day of the Dead, House of Boo, Fangoria, Shudder, and Alter. Live programs will run October 1 – October 11th followed by a virtual program October 22 – October 31 with additional treats in store.
Find more about Salem Horror Fest at salemhorror.com.