Nightmares Film Festival 2022 returns to Columbus, Ohio, on October 20th to 23rd and has announced an impressive lineup. This is the seventh year for the Midwestern film fest, highlighting indie and mainstream filmmakers and talent with world premieres, Q&A events, 19 feature film screenings, and 150 short film screenings.

In a statement, Nightmares Film Festival co-founders Jason Tostevin and Chris Hamel said:

Here are highlights for the 2022 festival lineup!

Returning Terrors: Anticipated Horror Sequels

     Nightmares Film Festival

Returning Terrors is one of the most exciting categories, which will feature four highly anticipated horror sequels. A sequel to 2013’s WNUF Halloween Special, WNUF 2 will screen a special “Nightmares Cut” of the film. WNUF is presented as a late-1980s news broadcast airing on Halloween night, complete with local news, parody commercials, and the exploration of a haunted house. Although it has flown under the radar for some, the film has quickly become a modern cult classic.

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Another sequel fans have been anticipating is Scare Package 2: Rad Chad’s Revenge. Scare Package is an anthology film released on Shudder in 2020 with the wraparound story focusing on a horror-obsessed owner of a video store named Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium. The synopsis reads:

Writer-director Justin M. Seaman’s The Barn Part II is also making its Ohio debut. The film is a sequel to the 2016 film The Barn, and the synopsis reads:

Last but not least, as the final film in the FP series, writer-director Jason Trost’s FP4: EVZ will also screen in the category.

Anticipated Feature Film Screenings

     Crossroad Pictures

Filmmaking duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (V/H/S: Viral, Spring, The Endless) will have the Midwestern premiere of their new feature film, Something in the Dirt. The filmmakers both star in the movie as well. The synopsis reads:

Writer-director Aristotelis Maragkos’ The Timekeepers of Eternity is also screening, while Scott Lyus’ post-apocalyptic monster movie Walking Against the Rain will get its North American premiere. Other features making a premiere are horror anthology Sinphony, and the French zombie horror comedy Super Z.

Midnight Mind F***: Keeping Horror “Dangerous”

     Cinedigm

The Midnight Mind F*** category is what The Film Coterie calls “one of the most dangerous and challenging blocks of programming at any festival.” This year’s lineup includes All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, which has been making waves in the indie horror film community. The synopsis reads:

James Quinn (Flesh of the Void)’s The Ruins of a Serpent Kingdom is getting a special 35mm screening. Writer-director Hope Madden’s Obstacle Corpse, which follows a “teen out to prove herself to her dad and stumbles into the world’s most terrifying obstacle course,” gets a homecoming premiere. Two panels are also included in the category: Social Progress Through Horror and The New Distribution.

Short Films

Nightmares Film Festival 2022 will feature an impressive 150 short films. The films are broken up into programming blocks, with some themes being The Horrors of Filmmaking, Animated Nightmares, Never Play with Your Food, and She Just Hasn’t Been Herself.

The Horrors of Filmmaking includes short films such as The Understudy, The Masterpiece, and Unreel. Animated Nightmares include Self-Actualization of the Werewolf Woman, Kerplunky!, The Forest King, In the Big Yard Inside the Pocket, and more. Never Play with Your Food is aptly named as it includes Meat Friend, Mayo Choco Nightmare, and Nasty, among others. She Just Hasn’t Been Herself features Blank and Magdalena.

The fest will also highlight local short films with its Ohio Shorts block, which includes Love at First Bite, Metamorphosis, Beggars Night, The Amber Thief, With This Ring, Yes, Mother, and Hunt.

When and Where

Nightmares Film Festival 2022 will take place at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, Ohio, on October 20th to 23rd. Visit the official NFF website for schedule details, tickets, venue information, and more.