Lambertville Halloween Film Festival

THE WHAT

ACME Screening Room kicks off Lambertville's historic Halloween festivities with the fifth annual Lambertville Halloween Film Festival.

Be a part of the judged LHFF short film festival and stick around for a weekend full of parties, horror guest speakers, special events, and cult classic film screenings.

This season our short films will be broken down into the following categories:

Heart-Stopping Horror: Pure, visceral, traditional horror
Mind Games: Psychological and tension-driven horror
Dead Funny: Horror comedy and dark humor
Twisted Visions: Experimental, avant-garde, boundary-pushing horror
But.. if you have something you think we would like- send it to us!!!!!!!!!!

Submissions will be screened by a jury of professional horror filmmakers, collectors, and devoted artists and enthusiasts of the macabre. Judges this year inlcude:
1. Joseph Gioconda. Joe is a fascinating multi-faceted figure in the horror world. In addition to being an accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, he is a writer of true horror novels and historical fiction. He studied to become a Catholic priest, but then decided he wanted a secular life — eventually earning his law degree from Yale. That unique background (seminary + law) deeply informs his horror writing. THE POPE'S BUTCHER was his first novel (#1 Amazon bestseller the first week after publication.) Followed by SALEM'S ROPES and FLEETING CHILLS. As an avid horror film prop collector, many pieces of his collection are on site at his "Nightmare in New Hope" art gallery. Add that visit to your "to do" list when you attend the LHFF in October!

2. Damien Glonek. Damien is most known as the co-creator of Living Dead Dolls, which holds the record for the longest continuously running horror themed dolls series. A lifelong horror fan since the age of five, after being dragged to the theatre by his parents to watch The Car, he is co-host of the podcast Discover the Horror and has previously written for entertainment websites, horror magazines, and in addition to being a published artist, he is also the Director of Development for Mezco Toyz. In Damien's spare time, he collects horror movie posters, watches horror movies, reads about watching horror movies and talks about reading and watching horror movies to anyone that will listen.

3. Brad Anderson. Brad is an American film director, producer, and writer who got his start in filmmaking early — receiving a Super 8 camera at age ten — and then later trained at the London International Film School. He first gained attention with a string of indie romantic comedies that premiered at Sundance, before pivoting to the psychological thrillers and horror films he's best known for, including Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004) starring Christian Bale, and The Call (2013) with Halle Berry. Beyond features, Anderson has also made a significant mark in television, directing episodes of prestige series such as The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, and the sci-fi drama Fringe.
More to come!
6 of the best projects walk away with an award.

THE WHERE

Historic Lambertville, a scenic town nestled on the banks of the Delaware river, takes two things very seriously: its artistic community and Halloween. Thousands of visitors swarm every year to get a peek at Union Street's decorations - which could rival a Universal sound stage - and, of course, to score some king size candy bars.

In the middle of it all is the ACME Screening Room, an independent Arthouse Cinema with over 18 years of screenings. No stranger to the horror community, the ACME has been host to guest genre directors including Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast) and Lee Esposito (Lillith).

THE WHO

You, of course. ACME invites any and all horror directors with a short film to send in an application to be a part of this year's Lambertville Halloween Festival. We do not have any particular restrictions on exclusivity or how old the film is. We believe that good horror is good horror regardless of which audiences have already seen it or how long the film has been in the can. We welcome shorts from 10 seconds to 44 minutes!