Remember back when I wrote about some of my favorite shorts? Well, you and I are spending all of October looking at more! The best part about shorts is that they’re, well, short. Only have a few minutes for a quick scare? Strap yourselves in and check back every day in October for a new mini review on our favorite Short Horror Films! Make sure to check them out on YouTube as well; I’ve included links!
October 1: The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)
OK, so I had only heard this was a crazy watch (no context at all) and yes it absolutely is. This psychological thriller involves abuse and incest and will definitely make people feel uncomfortable (including me). Horror has the unmatched audacity to force taboo subjects onto its audience and out into the open. This film did that exactly. While not a film I ever want to see again, it certainly does what it was meant to do – whatever that means to you.
October 2: Heck (2020)
If you’ve heard of 2022’s Skinamarink, this is the precursor to that horrid, horrid film (see this article about why I won’t be watching it again). Heck takes that same storyline – a child waking up in the middle of the night – and fits in 90s nostalgia that I would rather not go back to. Director Kyle Edward Ball is a master at ambiance, expertly blending wonky camera angles and fuzzy images to make the most grotesquely horrifying scenes. It’s as if a liminal space had come to life and is haunting me!
October 3: The Chair (2023)
A man takes home a haunted chair. Is a malevolent spirit possessing him, or his own deranged mind? I thought this was really cool! Closing-in shots of the demon chair. Time skips. We’re left in the dark about what is really going on, adding to the mystery. Jolty scenes and craziness in the background are sure to leave you wide eyed and confused in the best way.
October 4: The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon (2011)
This was probably my first real introduction to short horror. A friend in college, knowing I liked horror movies, showed me this one. It’s played like an extended trailer and is absolutely hilarious. The murderer in question has funny makeup and is shown hitting the main character with a spoon endlessly. He even cuts the telephone cord with it. With horror tropes played out in the most campy, unserious way, this short is one of the best. I can’t even!
October 5: Portrait of God (2022)
Have you ever wondered what God looks like? Religious girl Mia becomes entranced by a painting depicting the figure. While most see only a black box, others describe a wrinkly old man with terrifying features, hiding in that blackness of canvas. The more she looks, the more of the figure is revealed to her. This reminds me of those “cursed” images you’d see on early 2000s websites. You want to have this experience, but without knowing the consequences. I really liked this one.
October 6: Other Side of the Box (2018)
A gifted box with a perpetual black hole in it. What secrets does it hide? Well, apparently a man with ill intentions. Rachel and Ben can’t look away from the box – as per the box’s instructions – lest the sweaty box man climbs out. With perfectly paced build-up to the end, each scene change leaves you at the edge of your seat without giving any answers. And that ending leaves my heart pounding out of my chest.
October 7: The Kid and the Camera (2022)
It’s animated! Six-year old Cailen received a camera for his birthday but accidentally dropped it, breaking it. Unable to sleep, he is visited by a “Sleep Fairy” who promises to fix it. A very scary situation happens next. I love the jolty animation going on and the VHS overlay. It gives it a nostalgic but creepy feel. There are real-life photos intertwined with the animation that turn this from a sweet story to one of nightmares. Before kids this would have been a run-of-the-mill scary short. With kids, I want to jump in there and save him!
October 8: 048 (2024)
A man is awoken in the middle of the night by a strange knock at his door. Prompted to check out a friend’s room for fear of an intruder, the man finds himself in the same mortal danger. I thought it wouldn’t be too scary considering half of it is average acting, but at six and a half minutes, I was clenching my head down into my neck – turtle style. Peering eyes into the darkness when you know you’re alone is not what I want in my mind when I’m heading into bed.
October 9: Make Me a Sandwich (2019)
Three minutes is all it takes for an impressive horror short. Marcy is forced to make her husband sandwiches. Clearly she doesn’t want to make them anymore because she adds something toxic every time – her abusive husband doesn’t seem to mind. The end? Well, you’re going to want to see it.
October 10: Koreatown Ghost Story (2021)
Korean tradition meets good ol’ American horror tropes in this short starring Margaret Cho. Marriage is on the line for overworked Hannah, and Cho’s Mrs. Moon is the answer – but not before a bout with Korean ritual to prep her for the horrors that await. Cho is hilarious and sinister at the same time. There is mystery, a little blood, and a wraith. Nicely done!
October 11: Hungry (2024)
A woman is propositioned for some extra food she has, only to be stalked by the crazy-eyed man asking for the food. A sort of silly, simple premise with great use of a phone to show danger. When I want to watch a bite-sized piece of horror, this is what I mean.
October 12: Guest Bedroom (2024)
A man wakes up from a nap to find all of the lights in his apartment turned on. It starts off a little slow, me wondering what the scare will be. I appreciate the want to build the suspense up, but this could have been a little shorter than 8 minutes. A bit of a Lights Out vibe, just with a smaller budget.
October 13: Box Fort (2020)
Three sisters build a box fort and find troubling things that may hide in its cardboard walls. The first 5 seconds and I am so into this – it looks like a lot of fun! It’s a great premise that I can totally see adults getting sucked into, especially when strange things start to happen. Even as adults, imaginations can run wild. The dark spaces of the box are scarier than you’d think they would be. This one is really good.
October 14: The Violinist (2024)
“The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” but it’s a violinist duetting with a demon. Struggling to perform, she takes inspiration – if not some hesitant fear – from the evil being playing alongside her. With this sort of playing, it’s no wonder some extremely religious people think music is ungodly. The whole vibe gives renaissance painting with the use of shadows and lighting. Beautiful.
October 15: Trick or Treat! (2021)
A couple in their newly-bought house experience a Halloween like no other. Nowadays, I am giving out candy instead of going out myself; I’ve also done a few Halloweens at new houses, so I can relate to these two. Unlike this couple though, I’ve never been visited by a trick-or-treater that poses an actual threat to us. I really liked the whole vibe and magical skeleton magician in this short. Gave me all the Halloween feels – along with the scares!
Halfway through the countdown and I’m loving this lineup.
October 16: The Jogger (2021)
Every woman’s nightmare: a jogger is frightened by a mysterious man following her. Every few yards he shows up, watching her. Staring. When she finally sees him face-to-face, he leads her to a gruesome discovery. While I didn’t find this particularly scary, it did bring to mind the many cases of joggers being murdered while out running. A feeling that is sad, to say the least.
October 17: Stay Up Late (2022)
Up late typing away on her laptop, a woman sees something she can’t explain. It’s the old “coat and hat combo making shadows on the wall” trick. I feel like it’s an easy scare, but still effective. Short, sweet, and to the point.
October 18: Night Shift (2024)
A teen waitress working late at night experiences an animal attack that frees her of her small-town bonds. A minute into this and I can already feel the oppression our main character, Cheryl, feels. There’s a rockin’ 80s soundtrack, blood, and a cool creature we only see snippets of. Cheryl, though, transforms into something we’d see only in our wildest dreams. Sometimes I forget about werewolf movies, but they’re awesome! And even though I definitely don’t have the same issues as Cheryl, I felt her joy just as deeply as she did.
October 19: Thing in the Dark (2016)
A deadly creature is hunting down residents of Pasadena between dusk and dawn. It stalks from the shadows, their prey turn up missing. Any time we’re peering into straight darkness, it’s automatically scary. This short is all dark spaces and creepy noises. A little cameo by Nightmare on Elm Street’s Amanda Wyss too, her character adding a bit of mystery to the story. I wish there was more!
October 20: The Omegle Clown (2024)
The thumbnail and title got me laughing, so I had to watch. Apparently, “clowning around on Omegle is no laughing matter” in this short. The random 1v1 video chatting app is accessible once again with a special link – one that features a puppet clown. A bit silly, almost like an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark. Not bad though!
October 21: Skin Deep (2023)
A woman reveals her feelings – among other things – to her crush. So if you’ve ever seen Trick ‘r Treat, you’ll know where this story is going. Everything is a euphemism for something else, and it pays off. A seaside monster for a seaside town. The body horror is cool, and I’d love to see more of these creatures.
October 22: The Door (2022)
A woman visits her door-obsessed uncle in this short. There’s a trope in horror where something is always behind a door, and this takes it to another level. At first you think the uncle just has OCD, but it’s actually a lot scarier what’s really happening. Every door had my eyes glued to it, watching… waiting. While I didn’t think the ghosts behind the doors were so scary, the thought of something lurking in the darkness was.
October 23: Feet (2024)
The description reads, “Someone’s obsessed with feet…” Yes, that is the premise. Three minutes of foot horror as a woman posting fetish pics is stalked by an unknown caller. What happens in this short is actually kind of funny. Very entertaining!
October 24: Bus Stop (2023)
Two strangers waiting at a bus stop have a series of strange and terrifying encounters. There are ghostly apparitions waiting in the darkness as the strangers try to work out their personal traumas. It’s a movie with a message that may speak to some, just not me.
October 25: Happy Birthday (2021)
If you found a random cake in your house, would you eat it? What if it was your birthday? This happens to a girl, making her birthday not so happy. A creepy poem on a creepy card next to a creepy cake is all that’s needed to raise the anxiety levels here. As a woman who both loves cake and strives to remain youthful, this is the warning I needed! It’s an R. L. Stine’s Haunting Hour allegory in short horror form.
October 26: No Sleep Tonight (2024)
No one wants to see a monster at the end of their bed, including this girl. I don’t know how she stayed in bed after seeing something creeping up near her feet, but I would’ve gotten the hell out of there. Monster is simple but effectively creepy. Three minutes is all it takes for terror.
October 27: The Shed (2024)
A man is left alone on Halloween night. I don’t know why but cloaked skeleton costumes are so freaking cool! The concept is somewhat similar to night 15’s Trick or Treat! but I don’t mind at all. We get the added bonus of a blood sacrifice and Satanic ritual thrown in.
October 28: The Man with No Mouth (2024)
I was actually kind of scared to watch this one because of night 7’s The Kid and the Camera. It’s the same type of VHS-style animated short, this one about a kid named Timothy meeting a sinister, naked creature with no mouth. It’s like a type of nostalgia that is extremely frightening, yet somehow still beckons me to watch the entire thing.
October 29: The Plague (2017)
Rosa’s retirement home-ridden dad breaks into her house; this is the first of many strange things to happen that night. I couldn’t help but feel for this father/daughter duo. I was wondering what sort of “plague” was going to happen: a disease, vampirism? I liked the story here! The ending makes you wonder more about the world they live in.
October 30: Hidden Mother (2022)
A Victorian woman in on business discovers a tragic secret at the English estate owned by her clients. An excellent job done on set design and costume; it feels as stuffy and gothic as I expect a Victorian ghost tale to be. The concept of “Hidden Mother Photography” is so funny to me, but frightening in this case. There are bits and pieces of baby cries and sudden interjections of background that are just uh… troubling. It’s scary in the sense that mental health (or lack thereof) can be a terrifying thing.
October 31: Happy Halloween (2021)
Happy Halloween! Except, where are the trick or treaters? The doorbell keeps ringing… A masked man finally appears and chaos ensues. A classic tale of Halloween night murder with hints of The Invitation at the end, plus a cute kid (extra points because he’s dressed up as a hot dog).