For our latest watchlist, we’ve picked a lucky 13 horror shorts to watch this Halloween, spanning folk horror, found footage and dark comedy.
Whether you’re after a scare or inspiration for your next film, these shorts are worth making time for.
Catcher directed by Dylan Clark
If you’ve seen Dylan Clark’s Portrait of God (2022), you’ll know how much fear he can create in a short space of time. His more recent film Catcher follows a boy who uses a strange device to confront and erase a recurring nightmare. It’s a premise that turns the promise of a peaceful night’s sleep into something far less reassuring.
Clark’s path from YouTube shorts to feature filmmaking is also one to follow. A feature adaptation of Portrait of God is in the works at Lionsgate, with Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele producing, while Clark is set to also direct a new Blair Witch film.
O.C.D. directed by Luca Pizzoleo
For a lighter watch with a dark sense of humour, try Luca Pizzoleo’s O.C.D., featuring Steven Ogg. Delivery driver Owen is trying to manage his OCD, but resisting a compulsion has consequences far beyond anything he could have imagined. Drawing on Pizzoleo and writer Conor Patrick Walsh’s own experiences of the condition, the film takes an increasingly absurd turn as anxiety meets apocalyptic horror.
Watch O.C.D. on YouTube
Diaspora directed by Tyler Mckenzie Evans
Long-time neighbours are disappearing, and new residents are taking their place. For one woman, the changes in her neighbourhood begin to suggest something more sinister than gentrification. Tyler Mckenzie Evans’ social horror, starring Cara Ricketts and Rainbow Sun Francks, explores the threat of displacement through an unsettling story about a community changing around its residents.
Watch Diaspora on YouTube
Outside Noise directed by Ethan Evans
Trying to switch off after a stressful day, a woman turns to a sleep ambience app. But as its sounds start to overlap with what she hears in her bedroom, she begins to suspect that the app has let something in. Shortlisted in the Fiction category at the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2025, Outside Noise was directed by Ethan Evans and co-written by Evans and producer Jess Bartlett.
Their production company, Terror Arcade, has since produced Marisol, directed by Jill Sachs and now streaming on Tubi as part of Bite Size Terror.
Watch Outside Noise on YouTube
Five Star directed by Kai Hasson
A late-night callout takes locksmith Soung Kang, played by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, to a customer with an unusual request: she wants a door locked for good. What he discovers should be reason enough to leave. Unfortunately, there’s a five-star review at stake.
Kai Hasson’s horror comedy takes the pressure of keeping customers happy to a ridiculous extreme, giving its supernatural setup a very recognisable source of anxiety.
The Backrooms (Found Footage) directed by Kane Parsons
A camera operator discovers a seemingly endless maze of yellow rooms and corridors in Kane Parsons’ The Backrooms (Found Footage). Inspired by the internet’s unsettling Backrooms mythology, the short builds dread through liminal spaces, distorted footage and the fear of being trapped somewhere that shouldn’t exist.
Parsons’ online success has since led to a feature adaptation of Backrooms from A24, making the original short a fascinating example of how an independently created YouTube film can develop into a major filmmaking project.
Watch The Backrooms (Found Footage) on YouTube
FLOCK directed by Mac Nixon
When sheep mysteriously vanish from a Welsh farming community, an elderly shepherd becomes the target of suspicion because his own flock remains untouched. Shot in black and white, Mac Nixon’s folk horror explores how quickly fear and resentment can turn neighbours against one another.
Shortlisted in the Fiction category at the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2026, FLOCK also won Best Horror at Sunderland Shorts 2026, was nominated for Best British Short Film at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards and more recently nominated for Best Short Film at BAFTA Cymru Awards.
Remain Calm directed by Jake Lewis
Two petrol station workers face a creature that can detect them when they are anxious or afraid. Their best chance of surviving is to stay calm — a difficult task when something is trying to kill them. Starring Pauly Shore, Nick Swardson and Doug Jones, Jake Lewis’ horror comedy finds both humour and horror in the impossible pressure of being told not to panic.
Other Side of the Box directed by Caleb J. Phillips
A mysterious package arrives, but its contents are not something you want to invite into your home. Caleb J. Phillips’ Other Side of the Box turns a simple encounter into a nerve-racking exercise in suspense, as the characters discover that some things are best left unexplored.
The film’s carefully constructed rules and unanswered questions make it an especially effective choice for viewers who enjoy horror that builds tension through suggestion rather than explanation.
Lights Out directed by David F. Sandberg
David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out makes a familiar part of everyday life — switching off the lights — feel genuinely terrifying. A woman encounters something lurking in the darkness, but the threat disappears whenever the lights come back on. The short’s simple premise and precise timing make it an excellent example of how to deliver a memorable scare with very little.
The film also helped launch Sandberg’s career in feature filmmaking, illustrating how a short horror concept can capture an audience far beyond its original format.
The Knowing directed by Marcus January
A strange turn of events initially seems to have worked in London’s favour. But as disturbing encounters follow, her apparent good fortune begins to feel more like a trap.
Written and directed by Marcus January, The Knowing is a psychological horror about fear, fate and the strain of constantly being on high alert.
Don’t Look directed by Danny Murphy
A group of teenagers enter the wrong house and find themselves playing a game with a simple rule: don’t look. Opening their eyes could have deadly consequences. Featuring English and British Sign Language, Danny Murphy’s supernatural horror was made with a predominantly Deaf crew and selected for festivals including FrightFest, Fantaspoa and HorrorHound. FilmFreeway
Warnings directed by Curry Barker
Best known for his online comedy and horror work, Curry Barker delivers an unsettling short with Warnings. It’s also worth watching for anyone interested in the path from online filmmaking to feature films: Barker has since made Obsession, bringing his distinctive approach to horror to a wider audience.
For aspiring filmmakers, it’s a useful reminder that short-form work can be a place to experiment, develop a style and find an audience.
Take the next step in filmmaking
If you’ve made a horror short of your own, we’d love to see it. Enter the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2027 for free before 15 December 2026 for the chance to be flown to Los Angeles for an exclusive industry program at Sony Pictures Studios, where you can learn from industry professionals and connect with fellow filmmakers.
Enter for free