2026 Screamfest Screenplay Finalists Announced!
Huge congratulations to all of our Screamfest 2026 Screenplay Finalists! Meet the talented writers below, and check back to find out who takes home the grand prize.
TOP 5 FINALISTS:
72 Hours by Jeremy W. Brown
Gated Community by Erin Rein
Hopdrop by Coleton Dartez
Maggot by Jordan Obey
The Art Of Madness by Marc Adams & Bobby Gorman
SEMI-FINALISTS:
72 Hours by Jeremy W. Brown
A Hell of Heaven by Kevin Hoyer
Accelerate by Alan Mah Baxter
AGAiiN by Benjamin J. Gohs
ARGYRIA by Tanya Klein & James Cirile
At Rest by Amit Tishler
Bad River by Ken Brosky
Beneath The Creek by Christopher DeNoyer Massey
Between The Walls by Anthony Di Pietro
Bite Back by Antonio Negret
Blood Pact by Sean Mick
Cold Dead Fingers by Jack Warner
Denied by Travis Bible
Distant by Max Colston
Doornails by Mike Korpi
DreamScapers by Joel Wetterstein
Drive Thru by Tyler Gilbert & Bryce Iwaschuk
Electa by Kenny Kistner
Escape From Ape Canyon by Jarrod Tallman
Everyone Comes Home by Sean Arnell
Expression by Emanuel D. Gumina
Forsaken, Texas by Jordan Jacobson
Frost by Aaron Huffty
Gated Community by Erin Rein
Ghosting by Micheline Auger
Hair by Olia Oparina
Her Last Request by Edwin R. Colin
Hopdrop by Coleton Dartez
Hunger by Charles Ancelle
I Love Terror by Ryan Daniel Kavanagh
Ibex by Chris Hopper
INNOCENCE IN A GUILTY MIND by Paul Mortsolf
In Our Dreams by Níck Bey
Jams Quota by Tia Sarah Dorothy Stewart
Keen by Natasha Preston
Keepers of Killreagh by Eric Chambers
Kill Satan by Micaiah Mathisen
Kill Your Sister by Jeff Beauvoir
Knot by Viktoria Bohunicka
Legacy by Michael D. Morra
Mad World by Jason Pitts
Maggot by Jordan Obey
MERLIN'S MAGIC RIDE! by The Burbank Brothers
Molly by Charity Stashwick
Moorland by F. Samuel Quo Vadis
MOTHERS OF THE DISAPPEARED - SPEC by Paul Wilson
Murder Violet by Ervin Anderson
Nearly Dead by Andrew Powell
Necrotica by Wesley Drent
New Man by Jacob D. Wells
Night Games by Ryan Jackson
Occupation by Vincent Turpin
Playing House by Tim Aslin
Roots by George Brighton
Schisma by Cameron A. Straughan
Shrike by Chelsea Brooks
SICILIAN WEIRD TALE by Andrea Indovino
Sins of the Fathers by Larry Mintz & David Braff
Slain by Patrick Pfupajena
Social Suicide by Kevin Lopez
Split Screen by Kristen Hynes
Swipe Up by Lauri Levenfeld
TALES OF PsAIchosis by Chris Wiltz
TASTE by Samuel Gonzalez Jr.
The Art Of Madness by Marc Adams & Bobby Gorman
The Base by Sergey Vasilenko
The Buried by Noah Ruderman
The Centre by Steve Brumwell
The Chair by Gwen Carmichael
The Claim by Alex Cope & Will Zech
The Devlin by Travon Isaiah Wallace
The Fork by Alex Meillier
The Gallows Call by Brian Rousso
The Great Plains Vampire by Trevor Markwart
The Hollow Tapes by Devon Clark
The Kill Signal by Richard Brenkuš
The Last Call by Henry Winnik
THE LONG DRIFT by Jason A. Green
The Red Zone by Terry Luke Podnar
The Refiner by Max Colston
The Reclaiming by Keith Josef Adkins
The Shoreline Slasher by Chris Errington
The Skeptics by Marc Masciandaro
The Smiling Man by William Owen
The Spillway by Matt Brinker
The Tulpa by Ethan Cunningham & Josh Devor
The Wicked by Tyson Johann Carlson
Twisted Bonds by Peter Barker
UNDER THE KNIFE by Gavin Lee
VIAJAR CON EL SOL by Alex M. Garnett
VICE TIMES SEVEN by Leah Kafetz Rothman
Victim 11 by Mariam Maki
Vermyn by Patrick Monasterio
Windfall by Jeremy Scott Elliott
QUARTER-FINALISTS:
A Killer's End by Pieter Verlaak & Tom Vermeersch
A Savage Landscape by Guy Pooles
A Tale of Ash and Shadows by Peter Fuentes
Adventures in Serial Killing by Jack Warner
After Hours by Julian Yoval
Anxiety by Meredith Stack
Artifacts by Ian Gephart
Aurora by Matt Miller
Batch 47 by Christopher Powell
BLOOD$UCKER by Kayne Gorney
Blood Gospel by Charles Brice
Brainrot by Nick Fuller
Camp Ascension by David Desio & Justin Wiggins
Cattle by Tom Armstrong
COMMUNITY GUIDELINES: BANNED by Alina Norman & Bart Norman
Crapshoot by Philadelphia Elder
Day of the Dread by Marco WestWood Gonzalez
Dickmaxxing by Lena Buda & Dorrie Lipman
Dig by Jamie Cooper & Jason Myers
Dust by Taylor S. Doose
Eat Lead by Bryan Bockbrader
Eat The Boys by Martyn Eaden
Eyes of the Crow by Maximilian Feurstein & Ted Dontchev
Failure by Zachary Dutch Andrews
FED by Rhonda Yates
Grimoire by Pablo Torroella
Haunters by Michael Gene Conti
Headhunters by Scott Kassel
Hungry Hearts by Katie Boyer
I HOPE THEY REMEMBER ME LONG AFTER I'M GONE. by Kanani Rogers
I Heard A Rumour by Victor L. Cezar
IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE by Leon Masters
Killjoy by Joe Day
LIFE OUTSIDE THE SILVER TUBE by Jim Hendricks
Mermania! by Michael P Brennan
Mothered by Marco Ferreira
Neon Nite by Johnny Coffeen
Passage by Cary-Jamal Thompson & C.Z. Robinson
Piggy by Sean Crampton
Rattle by Sean Mick
Rattlesnake Ridge by S. Lee Taylor
Residue by Matilda Szydagis
Road 21 by Marco Ferreira
Saving Yourself by Griffin Taylor & Alex Genty-Waksberg
SEVENTH VEIL by Mariam Maki
Tape by A.W. Smith
THE AMENITIES by Spencer Ross
The Alligator Man by R.J. Airamid Selrahc
The Bell by Michael Ferrara & Larry Hopper
The Book of Jennifer by Nathaniel Davis
The Gospel of Cain by Kamal Moo
The Hike by Dominic Russell
The House by Graham Mulvein
The Last Resort by Joseph D'Urso
The Last Schoolhouse by Adam Galassi
The Tally by Vincent Delaney
The White Torpedo by Carren
Sanguis Septem10 by Caprice Nadine Castano
Wake Up by Richard Laing
Wicked Game by Stan Evans
Will Kill For Food by Alex Schopp
Your Objective is Escape by Alexander Hector Ortiz
