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HALLOWEEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL RESURRECTED
Halloween Daily News resurrected the Halloween International Film Festival in 2025, showcasing shorts and feature works from around the world that celebrate the strange, the unusual, and the horror of the most hallowed of seasons, taking place on the historic and haunted Outer Banks, North Carolina, home of America’s first unsolved mystery, the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, at a legendary theater that dates back over a century.
The festival featured three days of independent horror and Halloween-themed films from around the world, as well as networking opportunities and extensive media exposure, all taking place as the kickoff event for the town of Manteo’s Halloween Island festivities, during which area restaurants, bars, and businesses transform into Halloween pop-ups for October.
Films selected for the festival were shown on the big screen at The Pioneer Theater in Manteo, NC, including Q&A sessions with attending filmmakers, nightly meet and greets, photo ops on our Orange Carpet, and more.
The Halloween International Film Festival took place October 2-4, 2025 at The Pioneer Theater in Manteo, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, presented by Halloween Daily News and sponsored by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, Gallop Funeral Services, the Halloween & Costume Association, Haunted Pamlico, Let’s Talk Terror, Weird Darkness Podcast, Toxic Coffin, Fright-Rags, Lake Hickory Haunts, Halloween Island, and the 12th Annual Outer Banks Halloween Parade.
2025 AWARD WINNERS
Best Feature Film – HAUNT SEASON (dir. Jake Jarvi)
Best Short Film – WHITCH (dir. Hoku Uchiyama)
Best Halloween Film – JUST STAY IN (dir. Noah. J. Welter)
Best International Film – GROUPCHAT (dir. Dan Brownlie)
Best North Carolina Film – THE TALK (dir. Cameron Voris)
Scariest Film – SCRATCH (dir. Michael Trainotti)
Best Lead Performance – KAYLA CROMER (Rough Cut / dir. Mitchell V. Slan)
Best Supporting Performance – SARA ZINSSER (Grandma, May I / dir. Gage Zanghi)
Breakthrough Filmmaker – GAGE ZANGHI (Grandma, May I)
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OUR 2025 SPONSORS
FOUR SEA-SONS BEACH COTTAGE VACATION RENTAL
HALLOWEEN & COSTUME ASSOCIATION
HAUNTED PAMLICO
LET’S TALK TERROR
WEIRD DARKNESS
TRAVELER’S MOON
LAKE HICKORY HAUNTS
FRIGHT-RAGS
OUTER BANKS HALLOWEEN PARADE
CONTACT US ABOUT SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
HIFF 2025 OFFICIAL POSTER!
NEW 2025 HIFF SHIRTS AVAILABLE!
Support the Halloween International Film Festival by owning t-shirts from throughout our history, each featuring that year’s official poster on the front and all of the selected films listed on the back, and we just launched our 2025 t-shirt!
Order HIFF 2016 (inaugural) shirt here.
NEW! Order HIFF 2025 shirt here.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Held on North Carolina’s historic and haunted Outer Banks, home of America’s first unsolved mystery, the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, and the nearby site of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, this destination event features three days of independent genre films from around the world, as well as networking opportunities and extensive media exposure.
Founded in 2016 by Matt and Sue Artz, the Halloween International Film Festival is a Gold-ranked festival on the world’s top film festival submission platform, FilmFreeway.
Previous Official Selections include The Barn (2016 Best Halloween Film and Best Feature Film Award Winner), 3 Dead Trick or Treaters, 10/31, The Haunt (2017 Best Halloween Film Award Winner), Haunters: The Art of the Scare (2018 Best Halloween Film Award Winner), Epic Home Haunts (2019 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award Winner), They Live Inside Us (2020 Best Halloween Film), and Mass Hysteria (2020 Best Feature Film).
Special invitational Showcase Selections from previous years include Honeyspider, The Houses October Built 2, Candy Corn, and the world premieres of 10/31 Part II and Sharp Candy.
Follow the Halloween Film Festival official Facebook page HERE!
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