Reel Fear
Two days of curated horror at a historical Jacksonville theatre. Programmed, not flooded — every film earns its slot. Reel Fear opens the season the weekend before Halloween, anchored by an A-list featured guest revealed this summer.
The headliner is locked.
The reveal is coming.
Reel Fear’s Inaugural Special Guest of Honor is a working A-list voice in the genre we’re honoring. Across two days in Jacksonville, the guest will join us for:
- A 45-minute moderated audience Q&A on Saturday
- One dedicated hour of autograph & merchandise lobby time each day
- An on-stage presentation of the inaugural Lumina Excellence in Cinema Award
- Informal mixer presence Friday evening
Full reveal coming Summer 2026.
Two days.
Themed shorts blocks.
A guest of honor.
An award.
Reel Fear programs psychological, atmospheric, supernatural, body, slasher, and folk horror across curated blocks — a feature anchor, shorts, and microshorts in each session. Saturday includes a moderated featured-guest Q&A, the Lumina Excellence in Cinema Award presentation, and a costume contest open to all attendees.
- Curated short films at a target twenty-minute run time
- Micro-shorts (under 10 min), shorts (10–39 min), features (40 min+)
- Themed blocks distributed across two programming days
- Moderated 45-minute featured-guest Q&A on Saturday
- One-hour autograph & merchandise lobby time each day
- VIP filmmaker lobby mixer Saturday
- Saturday afternoon: Lumina Excellence in Cinema Award presentation
- Reel Fear Costume Contest with audience prizes
How Reel Fear unfolds.
After Dark
A lobby mixer, then a curated opening block: micro-shorts and shorts that set the season’s tone. Featured-guest signing in the lobby between blocks.
Closing Feature
The night’s anchor — a feature-length horror film that closes Opening Night with a single, sustained piece of cinema.
Daytime Mix · Q&A · Award
Afternoon block of microshorts and shorts, followed by a moderated featured-guest Q&A, the Lumina Excellence in Cinema Award presentation, and the Reel Fear Costume Contest.
Closing Block
One more short and the night’s closing feature — Reel Fear’s strongest cinema, played with the festival energy at its peak.
Block sequencing and final lineup locked by Lumina programming three weeks before the weekend.
Submit to Reel Fear.
Submissions are open now. Early Bird closes June 30 · Regular Deadline July 31 · Final close September 20. All three chapters accept submissions through one FilmFreeway listing.
First 30 filmmakers: use code FOUNDERS30 for a 30% off submission waiver.