The Creepy Christmas Film Fest Is Bringing You 25 Horror Short Films this December
Photos via The Creepy Christmas FestTen years ago, the joyful tidings of the holiday season were rent asunder by the arrival of an altogether more macabre December celebration: The Creepy Christmas Film Fest. The brainchild of filmmaker Beck Underwood and actor-director Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix studio, which has brought us the likes of The House of the Devil and Stake Land, it consisted of a digital advent calendar that once a day offered internet denizens a slew of new, original horror shorts. With films from the likes of Mary Harron (American Psycho), Ti West (The Sacrament) and Jim Mickle (We Are What We Are), the more well-adjusted among us were probably happy to see December of 2008 finally come to an end.
Well, bad news, folks: The Creepy Christmas Film Fest is back for its 10th anniversary, and you’ll be begging for the reprieve of visions of sugarplums when these short films are done with you.
As in 2008, the festival will involve an advent calendar you can check on a daily basis via the official site, and each day will unveil a new horror short film. This time, we’ve got films from Fessenden (Habit), Jenn Wexler (The Ranger), Glenn McQuaid (I Sell The Dead) and JT Petty, who brought us the underrated horror-western The Burrowers. You can see a full lineup of participants here.
Reminiscing on the festival, Underwood says the following:
“In 2008, I made an advent calendar for Glass Eye Pix. After completing the diorama and photos for the original calendar, I felt there were more stories to be had from the little scenarios behind each window. I was lucky enough to find a group of artists who rose to the challenge. They received the objects from the window in the mail, their due date and with no additional direction, whipped up some wicked visions. After 10 years, speaking with filmmaker Ben Duff, who was still a teenager when the first fest premiered, I decided to send out the random missive again with Ben co-curating, bringing his eye to the mix of contributors.”
“I think of The Creepy Christmas Film Test as being like conceptual art. It explores the trust of community making art in the same spirit we all had as children to put on a show. It’s always nice when I see contributors involving their families, friends, passersby, pets… and the resulting films all have that same charm one hopes blesses the holiday season.”
Fessenden also added the following: “At Glass Eye, we’re always looking for forums to get people to loosen up, forget about budgets, and rekindle their love of filmmaking and mischief making. Beck’s festival does just that, and it’s a real treat to see what artists of all stripes come up with for the assignment: ‘Creepy’ blended with the absurdly iconic, over-saturated imagery of the Christmas Season. ‘Deck the Halls’ indeed!”
While waiting for Dec. 1 and the first short film to arrive, enjoy a taste of some of the disturbing holiday imagery below.