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HALLOWEEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 Award Winners Announced
The 7th Halloween International Film Festival returned to the historic and haunted Outer Banks of North Carolina in October 2026, drawing record attendance and spooktacular reviews from special guest filmmakers, and this year’s award winners have just been unveiled.
The post-apocalyptic horror movie that proves Halloween never ends even after the world does, writer and director Ben Sottak’s feature-length directorial debut Hallowarrior takes home the Best Feature Film 2026 honors, with the film’s star, Milly Shapiro also winning Best Lead Performance for her outstanding work as Pumpkin.
The father-son filmmaking duo of director C.J. Maxwell and his co-writer and son Zachery Maxell are awarded Best Short Film for their heartfelt horror comedy Dead Roommate.
Best Halloween Film goes to writer and director Justin M. Seaman’s The Barn Part III, the trilogy finale of the beloved indie Halloween horror franchise, marking a full circle moment after the first film, The Barn, won the same award at the inaugural Halloween International Film Festival in 2016.
The epic homage to Lucio Fulci, Risorsero Dalla Tomba e fu… L’Apocalisse! (They Rose from the Grave and It Was… The Apocalyse!) written and directed by Domenico Montixi and filmed in Italy, wins Best International Film following its North Carolina premiere in the opening block of the festival; and the horror comedy Zombie Speed Dating, co-directed by Glenn Lissner and Rob Underhill and shot in Raleigh, NC, wins Best North Carolina Film.
The youngest winner in HIFF history, 10-year-old Onie Watlington takes home the award for Best Supporting Performance for her portrayal of Margaret, who only wants to be a fairy, and maybe a little bit of magic, for Halloween, in the dark comedy short film Fairy Tale, written and directed by first-time filmmaker Ann Heatherington.
The Scariest Film award goes to the feature film Paranormal Investigations, a found-footage/live-action hybrid from writer and director Raymond Wallace, filmed in Virginia and parts of North Carolina, including the Outer Banks.
Breakthrough Filmmaker is awarded to Robyn Okrant for her directorial debut, the wickedly twisted short film This Is Book Club, which she also wrote and stars in.
HIFF 2026 AWARD WINNERS
Best Feature Film – HALLOWARRIOR (dir. Ben Sottak)
Best Short Film – DEAD ROOMMATE (dir. C.J. Maxwell)
Best Halloween Film – THE BARN PART III (dir. Justin M. Seaman)
Best International Film – THEY ROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND IT WAS… THE APOCALYPSE! (dir. Domenico Montixi / Italy)
Best North Carolina Film – ZOMBIE SPEED DATING (dir. Glenn Lissner, Rob Underhill)
Best Lead Performance – MILLY SHAPIRO (Hallowarrior / dir. Ben Sottak)
Best Supporting Performance – ONIE WATLINGTON (Fairy Tale / dir. Ann Heatherington)
Scariest Film – PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS (dir. Raymond Wallace)
Breakthrough Filmmaker – ROBYN OKRANT (This Is Book Club)
The event took place October 23-24, 2026, featuring two days and nights of horror and Halloween-themed shorts and feature films, at the Roanoke Island Festival Park theater in Downtown Manteo, NC, which was transformed into Halloween Island, with local bars and restaurants themed as Halloween pop-ups throughout the area.
ATTEND
Stay tuned for 2027 tickets info coming soon.
Roanoke Islane Festival Park is located at 1 Festival Park, Manteo, NC 27954. Click here for DIRECTIONS to Roanoke Island Festival Park.
HOTEL
Stay tuned for 2027 hotel info coming soon.
OUR 2026 SPONSORS
HALLOWEEN & COSTUME ASSOCIATION
UNITED BANK
LAKE HICKORY HAUNTS
TRAVELER’S MOON
OUTER BANKS HALLOWEEN PARADE
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OFFICIAL 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, now including the NEW 2026 SHIRT!
Order HIFF 2016 (inaugural) shirt here.
ORDER THE NEW HIFF 2026 SHIRT HERE!
Our call for entries officially opened on Friday, March 13, accepting short film and feature film submissions for consideration for the 2026 Halloween International Film Festival exclusively via FilmFreeway. Click here to submit a film.
Early Deadline – March 31
Spring Deadline – May 31
Summer Deadline – July 13
Final Deadline – August 13
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), Mass Hysteria (2020 Best Feature Film), and Haunt Season (2025 Best Feature Film).
Special screenings from previous years include Honeyspider, The Houses October Built 2, Candy Corn, the world premieres of 10/31 Part II and Sharp Candy, and the Paramount original horror film Shell.
Studios who previously participated in special screenings at the festival include Paramount Pictures, Epic Pictures, and RLJ Entertainment.
Watch horror icon Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, Hatchet III, Halloween II) discuss her HIFF 2020 Best Actor award-winning performance in Official Selection feature film Ten Minutes to Midnight in the video below.
Watch a playlist of HIFF alumni films here!
Follow the Halloween Film Festival official Facebook page HERE!
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