Everything to Know About this Year’s Festival

Apr 16

It is that wonderful witchy time of the year again, friends!

Salem Horror Fest returns for its eighth edition of the festival, featuring a program so bewitching it’ll make you want to grab your broom, summon your coven, and head right on up to Witch City. This year’s festival will be slightly different from what we’ve come to expect from the festival with the Horror Arts Collective taking over duties from festival founder Kay Lynch, but though the beautiful, welcoming face of Salem Horror Fests past may not be behind the scenes this year, she certainly has set the Horror Arts Collective up for success this year, as they are following in the previous directress’ footsteps and making the city of Salem the biggest part in this year’s festival.

Artwork by David Dembowski | Image Courtesy of Horror Arts Collective and Salem Horror Fest

This year’s horror fest may only be one weekend, but it is jam-packed, and knowing what you want to do at Salem Horror Fest 8 will be key in maximizing all the festival has to offer this year. All festival venues are within a mile radius of one another, and going between them is nothing more than a quick walk, passing some of the city’s most historically haunted locations and sumptuous dining options.

Unlike previous years, the festival will begin with a special preview day on Wednesday, April 30, at Salem Access TV, they’ve dubbed “Night Zero.” Night Zero is all about Local Mass Hysteria, shorts and interludes containing trace amounts of Bostonian accents and Dunkin Donuts cups. I’m kidding, of course, but these filmmakers’ movies are no joke. Steven Schloss’ Katie’s Skin, and Shana Figueroa’s Forever War are two of the fantastic films that blew me away at last month’s Boston Underground Film Festival, and I can’t wait to hear the discussions surrounding these and the other local horror selections playing at Salem Horror Fest 8. Night Zero caps off with a repertory showing of 2001’s Session 9, filmed one town over at what was once known as the Danvers State Lunatic Asylum. This real-life setting inspired H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium.

Salem Horror Fest 8 will officially get underway at the Peabody Essex Museum on Thursday, May 1, with a one-of-a-kind event that will include a keynote address from prestigious horror fiction author, UCLA professor, and horror historian Tananarive Due. Due is an executive producer of Shudder documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror and developed a course at UCLA based on Jordan Peele’s masterpiece Get Out, which earned her a visit from the writer-director. She and husband Steven Barnes then collaborated on Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone, writing the episode “A Small Town” together for the series. Due’s insight into the cultural experiences portrayed by black characters on-screen has made her one of the most sought-after authorities on a variety of horror topics.

Tananarive Due in Horror Noire

Not only will Tananarive Due deliver the keynote address to open the festival, she will be a staple of it, appearing on the Girl, That’s Scary! podcast hosted by Kathleen White and Jazzmin Crawley on Friday, May 2, and she will participate in Salem Horror Fest 8’s book talk panel on Saturday, May 3, brought to you by the Boston Horror Society and Copper Dog Books. The book panel, taking place in the haunted Hawthorne Hotel, will feature a variety of horror authors such as Matthey M. Bartlett, author of Gateways to Abomination and its sequel Creeping Waves, Corey Farrenkopf, whose debut novel Living in Cemeteries debuted in 2024, Marisca Pichette, whose Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker and Elgin Awards, and Krissie Williams, whose There Ought to be Shadows, debuted as a number one bestseller on Amazon last summer.

After Tananarive Due’s address, Salem Horror Fest will proudly present Hellraiser star Ashley Laurence for a Q&A with Rue Morgue editor and Faculty of Horror podcaster Andrea Subissati and a special presentation of the horror icon’s prolific role as Kristy Cotton in Tony Randall and Clive Barker’s labyrinthian sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II. VIP ticket holders will have the opportunity to meet the Hellraiser star for a photo-op and personalized autograph before the rest of the night’s events get started. Only forty of these tickets are available, so New England bound fans eager to meet Laurence should act fast.

Ashley Laurence in Hellbound: Hellraiser II

The opening night celebration will also feature the screening of Salem Horror Fest 8’s Jury Winner for best short film. Salem Horror Fest has a long history of giving a voice to rising creatives and short films, playing shorts ahead of their feature presentations that often echo the overall thematic intent of the movie you’re about to see. This year’s shorts and interludes lineup includes several titles worth your time and attention. Deniz Akyurek’s My Child is a surrealist delight. I’m pumped to check out Vanessa Ionta Wright’s quick-shot urban legend tale Sweaty Larry after speaking with the SpookT executive producer in 2023. Onyx the Fortuitous himself, Andrew Bowser, is ready to unleash Frankenbabes from Beyond the Grave! on the East Coast. And that’s only a fraction of Salem’s incredible bite-sized horror lineup.

On Friday, May 2, Salem Horror Fest 8 kicks it into overdrive, churning out event after event, beginning with some chill-out time at Hallowed Ground, the speakeasy underneath Dire Wolf Tavern. Relax, pick up your badge, and settle in with a cocktail before heading over to Salem Access TV for a reparatory showing of The Girl with All the Gifts, directly followed by the live taping of the Girl That’s Scary! Podcast episode on the movie. Be in the crowd as Kathleen White, Jazzmin Crawley, and Tananarive Due deconstruct the film and have a great time doing it.

Linnea Quigley in Return of the Living Dead

Then, how you fest is up to you, get up-close and personal with Linnea Quigley over at Residency Records during the Return of the Living Dead listening party, or just stop in and say hi to the horror icon on your way to Die with Your Boots On for Salem Horror Fest 8’s first feature selection, The Rebrand.

Kaye Adelaide’s found footage shocker, The Rebrand, concerns a lesbian influencer couple who hire a photographer in the late stages of her pregnancy to help them fix their public perception issues after their public cancellation. The film comes to Salem just weeks after playing Panic Fest, and you won’t want to miss it in a crowd with a lot of people, it’s a blast! However, if you’re a huge fan of Neil Marshall’s The Descent and have waited years to see it in a theater setting with its original UK ending, you may choose to stay at Salem Access TV for that experience. Regardless of how you choose to fest, you’re going to have a great time.

Capping off the night is one of my favorite movies from 2024, Pater Noster and the Mission of Light. If you’re into exploitative B-grade horror trips, this Salem Horror Fest 8 midnighter is going to rock your skull clean off. Director Christopher Bickel is a master of the grindhouse aesthetic, and his story about hippies, cults, and vinyl makes the Manson Family look like a sewing circle. This movie gets wild in all the right ways, including some things you just have to see for yourself. The story follows a young vinyl collector who gets a lead on a rare title by the commune group Pater Noster and the Mission of Light, only to rabbit hole her way to their commune with her friends, who begin disappearing. It’s a great way to cap off your Friday at Salem Horror Fest.

Pater Noster and The Mission of Light | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

On Saturday, May 3, Salem Horror Fest 8 becomes an all-day event. Filmmakers with projects appearing at the festival will be treated to breakfast before the festival’s first of five shorts blocks commences. Meanwhile, at the historic Hawthorne Hotel, the aforementioned book panel gets underway, just before a pop-up Vendor Market. Purchase some ghoulish, garish, and glorious goods set up at Notch Brewery, Residency Records, and Salem Access TV (Both the book panel and vendor market events do not require passes and are free to attend). The vendor market and filmmaker’s breakfast will also return on Sunday, but with a new Shorts Block playing instead.

The Faculty of Horror’s Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West get the day’s features underway with the reparatory screening of the Academy Award winning 2024 film The Substance. Coralie Fargeat’s Demi Moore led body-horror tome of female perfection amidst aging in Hollywood will then be broken down by The Faculty of Horror personalities in their typically fun and candid manner, adorned with analytical observations and director influences you may not have caught.

The rest of the day is all about the movies. Two more shorts blocks will grace the day, as well as the rest of this year’s featured selections. Catch Izzy Lee’s eagerly awaited feature debut House of Ashes, Get Super Rad’s (Rob Cousineau and Chris Rosik) culty So Fades the Light, Stefan MacDonald-Labelle’s Severance meets Clive Barker flick Head Like a Hole, David Michael Yohe and Matt Devino’s Lovecraftian madness tale The Dæmon, and Teddy Grennan’s Sunshine Cleaning turned serial killer trap movie Catch a Killer.

House of Ashes | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

The shorts and features will take you right until the end of the day, where you’ll be able to dance the night away at the Decades Dance Party with Linnea Quigley at Koto, or keep things on the low key with Horror Trivia over at BitBar. Bloody Disgusting’s The Horror Show podcast hosts Sean and Joe will dish out questions on horror’s most macabre details, handing out prizes to horror’s number one fans after hosting a screening of Troll 2 and a subsequent live taping of The Horror Show podcast. Both the dance party and trivia will be open to the public, though there will be a cover charge at Koto for anyone without a Salem Horror Fest 8 badge.

After a late night of howling at the moon in whatever way you choose, SHF8’s finale offers a lower-key Sunday, with encore showings of the festival’s Jury Winners, giving everyone attending one more chance to catch these award-winning films. Sunday also sees a few reparatory screenings like Alexandre O. Phillippe’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre documentary Chain Reactions, Stuart Gordon’s Lovecraft inspired classic Re-Animator presented in 4K, and the fiercely political and rage fueled documentary Give Me An A that discusses the body autonomy and human rights violations of a post-Roe world in horrific and sometimes darkly comedic manners. Give Me an A is an important film, and will be open for public viewing with a suggested donation.

You will catch me running around the city of Salem during Salem Horror Fest 8 from April 30 to May 4. Feel free to say hi and strike up a conversation about the movies and the festival, and I look forward to seeing you there. Tickets are on sale now through Salem Horror Fest’s website. The website also features a list of various trigger warnings each film contains, so everyone has a good time without surprises from the on-screen content. See the full schedule of events below.

Salem Horror Fest 8 – Full Schedule
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

Night Zero

5:15 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Doors open
SHF8 festival passes are available for pickup

7:45 – 9:30 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Session 9 (Reparatory)

Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

Forever War | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

THURSDAY, MAY 1

Opening Night

General Admissions tickets required – SHF8
**Festival Pass does not include Thursday, May 1**

5:15 PM | PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Pick up Opening Night VIP Experience tickets

5:30 PM | PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
VIP Meet and Greet with Ashley Laurence (Opening Night VIP Experience ticket required)

6:15 PM | PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Pick up Opening Night General Admission tickets

6:30 PM – 10:30 PM | PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Opening Night:
Jury prize and George A. Romero Fellowship announcements
Jury Winning Short Film TBA
Keynote speech by Professor Tananarive Due
Q & A with Rue Morgue’s Andrea Subissati with Ashley Laurence
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser, where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II | Image courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

FRIDAY, MAY 2

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Chill, lounge, and pick up your festival passes

5:00 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Doors open: SHF8 festival passes available for pick up

5:15 – 8:15 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Girl, That’s Scary! live podcast
5:15 – The Girl with All the Gifts (Reparatory)
A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.
7:15 – live podcast

6:00 PM to 8:45 PM | RESIDENCY RECORDS
Return of the Living Dead Record Listening Party with Linnea Quigley (Signed photographs available for purchase)

8:30 PM – 10:30 PM | DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON
RAT! (Interlude)
When a disgruntled music journalist accuses a global pop star of queerbaiting, the singer’s devoted fans descend on his remote cabin to seek retribution.

The Rebrand | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

The Rebrand (Official Selection)
A lesbian lifestyle influencer couple hires Nicole, an eight months-pregnant bisexual videographer to film a redemption documentary after they’ve been publicly cancelled, but Nicole quickly discovers that the couple have nefarious ulterior motives.

8:45 PM – 10:30 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
The Descent (UK version)

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

10:30 PM – 12:30 AM | DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON
Pater Noster and The Mission of Light (Official Selection)

Max, a record store clerk, finds her “holy grail” album in a thrift store and that leads her to the 1970s commune who released the record. A journey to the aging cult’s compound results in a harrowing, grisly experience for Max and her friends.

SATURDAY MAY 3

9:45 AM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Filmmaker breakfast
Salem Horror Fest 8 passes are available for pickup

10:45 AM – 1:15 PM | HAWTHORNE HOTEL
Book Panel Event (Free admission, open to the public)
10:45 AM Readings
11:45 AM Q & A
12:15 PM Book signing

12 Noon – 6:00 PM | NOTCH / RESIDENCY RECORDS / SALEM ACCESS TV
Vendor Market (Free admission; open to the public)

The Substance | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

12:15 PM – 2:40 PM | PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Faculty of Horror live podcast
12:15 PM — The Substance (Reparatory)
A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
2:50 PM – live podcast
**Passes must be worn for admission. Passes will be available for pickup at SALEM ACCESS TV on Saturday**

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Chill lounge

2:30 PM – 4:15 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
So Fades the Light (Official Selection)

Sun was worshiped as a child by a right-wing gun cult that the US government violently destroyed. Fifteen years later, Sun lives on the road hiding from her past. Tormented by terrible memories, she is driven to travel back to the cult compound to finally close that chapter of her life.

Head Like A Hole | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

4:30 PM – 6:15 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Head Like a Hole (Official Selection)

In dire financial straits, a man accepts a strange, high-paying job where he must take up residence in a home and measure a hole in the wall of the basement to determine whether or not it’s growing in size.

4:30 PM – 6:15 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
House of Ashes (Official Selection)

Grieving widow Mia must survive psychological and supernatural horrors while under house arrest.

6:15 PM – 8:00 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Chill lounge

6:30 PM – 9:15 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Bloody Disgusting presents The Horror Show live podcast with Troll 2

A vacationing family discovers that the entire town they’re visiting is inhabited by goblins, disguised as humans, who plan to eat them.

8:30 PM – 10:30 PM | DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON
The Conduit (Interlude)

A grieving father, desperate to speak to his dead son, invites a mysterious medium into his home, only to discover that some spirits have no intention of remaining silent

The Dæmon | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

The Dæmon (Official Selection)

Haunted by the aftermath of his father’s suicide, Tom abandons his wife and seeks refuge at the lakeside cottage where his father met his tragic end. There, his tormented memories from childhood resurface, all intricately connected to an ancient, mystifying force lurking beneath the lake’s depths, driving Tom inexorably towards madness.

9:30 PM – 11:30 PM | BIT BAR
Bloody Disgusting presents Horror Movie Trivia with The Horror Show
(free admission; open to the public)

10:00 PM – 12:30 AM | KOTO
Decades Dance Party (with Linnea Quigley in attendance)
**Free with SHF8 Festival Pass; Open to the public with cover charge**

10:30 PM – 12:15 AM | DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON
Catch a Killer (Official Selection)

After Otto is prevented from being the city’s youngest detective, he becomes a bioremediation specialist cleaning up after a serial killer. With an uncanny knowledge of horror films and his natural born instincts, Otto and his girlfriend Lex crack the code to where the killer is going to strike next… now they just gotta catch him.

Catch A Killer | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

SUNDAY MAY 4

10:30 AM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Filmmaker breakfast
SHF8 passes available for pick up

12 Noon – 6:00 PM | NOTCH / RESIDENCY RECORDS / SALEM ACCESS TV
Vendor Market (Free admission; open to the public)

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Chill lounge

2:00 PM – 3:45 PM | HALLOWED GROUND
Encore presentation of Jury Winners
TBA Short
TBA Feature

Chain Reactions | Image Courtesy of Salem Horror Fest

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Chain Reactions (Reparatory)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s impact on 5 artists – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama – through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, psyche from childhood trauma.

4:30 PM – 6:30 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Give Me an A
abortion access fundraiser (open to the public with suggested donation)

16 stories. 16 female filmmakers. A wild ride of an anthology weaves horror, sci-fi and dark comedy to explore bodily autonomy and human rights in a post Roe world. Rage, fear and raw emotion fuel this politically charged film.

6:30 PM – 8:15 PM | SALEM ACCESS TV
Re-Animator (4K Restoration; Reparatory)

After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.

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Sean Parker @ 25 Years Later