Halloween Intl. Film Festival Wave 1: ‘The Barn Part III’, ‘Jack-O 2’, ‘Season’s Greetings’
The Halloween International Film Festival returns to the historic and haunted Outer Banks of North Carolina for its 7th incarnation in October 2026, and we are excited to announce an early preview of this year’s official selections, including The Barn Part III, Jack-O 2, and the new 4K restoration of Michael Dougherty’s original 1996 animated short Season’s Greetings, which first introduced Sam over a decade before he became a Halloween icon in Trick ‘r Treat.
This year’s event takes place October 23-24, featuring two days and nights of horror and Halloween-themed shorts and feature films, at the Roanoke Island Festival Park theater in Downtown Manteo, which will be transformed into Halloween Island, with 13 local bars and restaurants themed as Halloween pop-ups.
In addition to selected film screenings, the festival also showcases Q&A panels with attending filmmakers, nightly meet and greets, photo ops on the Orange Carpet, and more.
Wave 1 Official Selections:
The Barn Part III (dir. Justin M. Seaman / U.S.) [N.C. Premiere] – It’s been years since anything spooky has happened in the town of Helen’s Valley, and for good reason. Josh Harper (Courtney Gains) has dedicated his entire life to making sure those barn dwelling monsters never come back from hell for anyone in the town or his sister, Heather (Kelli Maroney). However, something far sinister is lurking in the shadows, trying to resurrect the legend once again. Starring Courtney Gains (Children of the Corn) and Kelli Maroney (Chopping Mall), with William Ragsdale (Fright Night), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Terrifier 2), and John Kassir (Tales from the Crypt).
Jack-O 2 (dir. Fred Olen Ray / U.S.) [N.C. Premiere] – On the day before Halloween a bulldozer accidentally unearths the grave of an executed witch (Sybil Danning) who returns to life using a Jack O’Lantern headed demon as her aide. A sequel to the 1995 cult classic Jack-O, from director Fred Olen Ray (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers), starring Sybil Danning (Halloween, The Howling 2, Battle Beyond the Stars).
Season’s Greetings [dir. Michael Dougherty / U.S.] – A darkly funny animated short about a young trick-or-treater on the hunt for Halloween candy. Created using a twist on traditional animation methods, each frame was hand-drawn, colored with markers, glued to clear animation cels, and shot on 16mm film. The character, named Sam, originated in this short and would later inspire the character in the classic horror film Trick ’r Treat (2007). For its 30th Anniversary, Season’s Greetings has been remastered in 4K with 5.1 audio. From director Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters).
The full lineup of 2026 films and screening schedule will be announced in September.
Filmmakers are invited to submit their independent horror and Halloween-themed shorts and feature films for consideration for the 7th Halloween International Film Festival through FilmFreeway. The final deadline for submissions is August 13. (Click here to submit a film.)
This year’s host venue, Roanoke Island Festival Park is where history comes alive with in-character costumed interpreters and interactive exhibits exploring the earliest English colonists to arrive on these shores and the mystery of The Lost Colony, anchored by the Elizabeth II, a working life-size replica of a 16th Century sailing ship. The park also honors and highlights the indigenous Algonquian people who first called these shores home and preceded the arrival of the first English colonists by centuries, as the town of Manteo itself is named after a native man who returned to England for a time with the English explorers and became a translator for agents of the crown.
Known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, North Carolina’s Outer Banks is recognized as one of the most haunted places in America, with thousands of shipwrecks resting off the coast of these barrier islands. Roanoke Island, where Manteo and Festival Park are located, is the site of the ill fated first English settlement in North America in 1587, and its more than 100 colonists that vanished without explanation, today referred to as The Lost Colony, America’s first unsolved mystery.
The 7th Halloween International Film Festival is happening October 23-24, 2026 at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, sponsored by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, Gallop Funeral Services, Weird Darkness, Let’s Talk Terror, Haunted Pamlico Film Festival, Backwoods Haunt, Four Sea-Sons Beach Cottage Rental, Halloween & Costume Association United Bank, Lake Hickory Haunts, Rare Bird Design, Halloween Island, and the Outer Banks Halloween Parade, an OBX Entertainment production, presented by Halloween Daily News.
Single day tickets, 2-day passes, and VIP 2-day passes that include an official poster print and two raffle tickets are available now online here.
RSVP on the official Facebook event page.
