Submissions Closed

International Horror Hotel Film Festival

CLEVELAND, OHIO

DEC 2, 2025 - JUN 21, 2026

15 YEARS RUNNING

Deadlines

DEC 2, 2025Opens

FEB 27, 2026Regular Deadline

APR 1, 2026Final Deadline

About festival

International Horror Hotel Film Festival

\n\nCome celebrate with us our 15th birthday!\n\nThe International Horror Hotel Film Festival and Convention is held every June in Northeast Ohio. We have open competitions for films and scripts in the following genres: fantasy, horror/slasher, horror-comedy, horror suspense/thriller, action, sci-fi and fantasy. We also accept trailers, music videos, TV pilots (film or script), and web episodes (film or script) for projects in the listed genres. Now we created new categories for first time as well as student filmmakers!\n\nCompetition is also open for our horror film scoring competition (submissions through our website). At the event, we have live Scream King/Queen Competition, FX Makeup competitions, Monologue Competitions, and new for 2026 : 1st annual Spooky Sunday Costume Competition! (Please check our website for more information.)\n\nThe third annual Room 237 Film Competition where film makers will compete to create a film in 30 days making use of a murder weapon assigned during a zoom kick off meeting. Further information about the Room 237 Film Competition will be available on the Horror Hotel Film Festival Web Site by January 2026. Start building your team and get ready to compete!\n\nThe event features four days of film screenings, two days of panel discussions and lectures, a convention starting on Friday afternoon, special guests, networking Karaoke parties, live competitions and more.\n\nPLEASE READ ALL RULES/TERMS BEFORE SUBMITTING\n\nFilmmakers and Scriptwriters attending the festival will have receive a badge, swag bag, Q&A opportunity at end of your film screening, be part of many panel lectures, networking, attending after party cook-out and Karaoke, and many more\n

Festival Amenities

Filmmaker EventsHotel DiscountsAirport TransportAfter PartiesAll Access BadgesPress EventsIndustry PanelsQ&A SessionsSwag BagsFestival CatalogSocial Media Spotlight

Accepted Content

Genres:

Sci FiHorrorMysteryFantasy

Sub-Genres:

Psychological ThrillerDarkFantasy-DramaFantasy-ComedySuspenseCult

Martial Arts

Film Types:

StudentNarrativeExperimentalNew MediaAnimationWeb

EpisodicTV SeriesMusic Video

Categories:

Short FilmTVTV SeriesMusic VideoWeb SeriesNew Media

Festival Focus:

BIPOCInternationalYouthFirst-Time FilmmakerAdventureStudent

Submission Categories

Short Film

Films in the Short Film category

Type: Film

TV

Films in the TV category

Type: Film

TV Series

Films in the TV Series category

Type: Film

Music Video

Films in the Music Video category

Type: Film

Web Series

Films in the Web Series category

Type: Film

New Media

Films in the New Media category

Type: Film

Contact

Cleveland, Ohio

Festival Rules

Rules and Terms:

***PLEASE READ ALL RULES/TERMS BEFORE SUBMITTING***\n\nMake sure to select the right genre/category when submitting. This is NOT a virtual screening, there will be people attending. This is a public screening, if your film can’t be part of it, please withdraw immediately.\n\nFilmmakers, please also note if your film is a student project or non-English/subtitled film, as we have separate categories.\n\nFor Room 237 Competition and Scoring Competition, please use our website to submit.\n\nThere are NO restrictions as to when your film or script was completed or where it has been released. Anyone may enter the competition. All entries must receive an average score of 7 or above in the judging process to qualify for award placement.\n\nFilmmakers – all accepted submissions will be digital (1080 or 4k MP4 format) via our transfer partner MyAirBridge.com (we will provide you the link to upload). You can also mail us two copies on flash drives, please test before mailing. All live showings will be digital files, we no longer doing Blu-Ray's or DVD/s.\n\nIF YOU SUBMIT VIA SECURE ONLINE SCREENER AND YOUR FILM IS SELECTED TO SCREEN, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SEND A FINAL HIGH QUALITY MP4 (DIGITAL, EITHER 1080 OR 4K VIA OUR TRANSFER PARTNER - link to be provided when accepted). ANY SELECTED FILM NOT RECEIVED BY A GIVEN DEADLINE WILL BE REPLACED IN THE LINEUP - NO EXCEPTIONS.\n\nWe do not grant submission fee waivers under any circumstance.\n\nWe do not pay screening fees.\n\nPlease note, if your project qualifies for an award, you or a direct representative from your project must be in attendance at the festival in order to receive any physical awards. Non-attending winners will be e-mailed award e-certificates after the event.\n\nAll accepted submissions come with TWO complimentary 4-day event pass to the festival. No additional passes will be comped. Any additional passes must be purchased in advance or at the door.\n\nYou may withdraw your submission at any time, but there are no refunds on submissions.