Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition |
Season 6
Rare opportunity to have managers and producers reading your horror short screenplays and short stories.
Placement
Genre
Format
Representation Status
Winners
Winner
Short
· Horror
· 5 Pages
A young girl turns to supernatural forces in a twisted attempt to mend her broken family.
Bangor, PA
Growing up as an immigrant sparked Tania's fascination with human behavior. She went on to research psychology, publish leadership books, and lead multiple companies. Her TED talk has nearly 2 million views.
Her passion for people’s stories led her to fall in love with filmmaking. She wrote and directed multiple shorts, and her mockumentary, The...
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Winner
Short Story
· Horror
· 23 Pages
An advice columnist corresponds with a mother who's experiencing increasingly strange events in her new home.
- Verified WGA Member
Los Angeles, CA
Originally from Monterrey, México, MONTSERRAT LUNA-BALLANTYNE is a Los Angeles-based WGA screenwriter. She grew up on a steady diet of folklore, ghost tales, and family chisme that resulted in her love for writing stories about supernatural horror, the horrors of navigating complex family dynamics, and the comedy that exists within it all. She is a ...
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Winner
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A woman grieving the death of her husband finds new life in new life.
Los Angeles, CA
After a 5th grade personality test said that I should be an astronaut or a filmmaker, I chose the path with less science. My first film job was as a Set PA at 18 and I've worked a wide range of entertainment jobs since.
I've been a finalist in the Creative World Awards, the Page Awards, HollyShorts, Hollywood Horror Fest, the International Horror...
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Winner
Short Story
· Horror
· 6 Pages
A psychic medium with real horrifying visions of the afterlife finds the only way to monetize his skill is by lying.
London, GB
Andy is one of the founders and faces of the wildly popular YouTube channels Outside Xbox and Outside Xtra, which boast millions of subscribers and close to 2 billion views. Always looking for new challenges, he's turning his wild imagination and love of comedy and horror into stories that make you laugh as much as they make you scream. Find more of...
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Winner
Short Story
· Horror
· 15 Pages
After visiting a high school reunion and not being recognized, a man slowly begins to realize he is being erased from his own life.
Raleigh, NC
Caleb Dillon is a screenwriter and independent filmmaker. His feature debut, In The Pines, will begin its festival run in 2026. His next short film, Good Behavior, was a finalist in the HollyShorts screenplay contest and is currently in post production.
Caleb writes high-concept genre, epic historicals, and family dramedies. His work has been recog...
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Winner
Short
· Horror
· 10 Pages
After plain Jane is ghosted one too many times, she muscles a feral vagina-driven revenge spree.
Charleston, SC
Marisa is an American artist currently making work in the deep south. Her background is in movement, performance art, comedy, clown, and photography.
Winner
Short
· Horror
· 9 Pages
After being tossed away, the beloved squeaky toy of an abused golden retriever gets infested by a mysterious fungus and seeks revenge.
Malvern, PA
Evan is the Dean of Students at a small private school that supports special learners. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, Evan tries to incorporate elements of human psychology into his writing and he does not live a day without an abundance of inspiration. Evan is a graduate of Ithaca College’s film program where he interned at Malcolm in the Mi...
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Submerged
Private
Winner
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
When a woman encounters a distressed boy, she does her best to help until she realizes she's put herself in danger.
Los Angeles, CA
Lisa’s horror at sea script The Seraphim won Grand Prize in the Stage32 Search For New Blood competition. Her horror fairy tale The Domovoi landed on The Bitchlist 2020, along with winning a Stowe Storylab Fellowship. She focuses on supernatural and psychological themes. She’s been heavily involved in the supernatural her whole life, growing up in t...
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Winner
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A man's low-key birthday celebration comes to a very surprising end.
Louisville, KY
Phill's passion for storytelling grew from a love for the fantastical world of Japanese dai-kaiju (giant monster) cinema. While studying film production at the University of Miami, he focused on the human monsters lurking in every-day suburbia. His storytelling pursuits brought him to Louisville, Kentucky where he works as a journalist and graphic d...
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Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mention
Short Story
· Thriller
· 16 Pages
When wide-eyed seven-year-old Justin and his young mom Sukey flee her monstrous boyfriend in the dead of night, they struggle through a rural landscape of threats and predators as they make a run for an oceanside theme park they've only ever seen on TV.
New Albany, OH
Jason's short genre work has been screened and awarded around the globe.
Honorable Mention
Short Story
· Horror
· 20 Pages
A NASCAR driver’s body begins to fail him, piece by piece
Los Angeles, CA
Jeremiah's first taste of success came when his farce THE FLANAGAN-HILTON LONG BEACH RESORT was staged in Colorado. Despite regional high school theater being a well-acknowledged career peak (and also a lot of fun), he pushed even further into the realm of film to explore darker, wackier fare alongside his longtime partner Dakota Friesen. Together t...
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Cassie Strickland Is Not Under the Bed
Private
Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 15 Pages
Trapped and terrified by a dark presence he believes is under his bed, Clay makes a desperate call to Howie, his only friend. Howie insists that whatever sounds Clay thinks he hears, whatever deathly chill he thinks he feels, the inner demons Clay is plagued by are strictly metaphorical, and that definitely, absolutely, beyond any doubt, Cassie Stri...
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Vince Gatton
No bio available.
Show 1 more writers
Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 20 Pages
Ant - a scrappy, ass kicking survivor - has shut down her emotions to survive a world crawling with zombies triggered by emotion. She’s convinced she can handle anything, until a rookie partner with the emotional control of a golden retriever and a sensitive new mission prompt feelings she can't outwit or kick in the face.
Dublin, IE
Jo Budzilowicz is a filmmaker and writer based in Ireland (via New Jersey, New York and Chicago). She majored in Film Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University and has nearly 20 years experience in the industry, primarily as a Documentary producer and development executive with award-winning production companies like The Documentary Group, Con...
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Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 2 Pages
Two friends driving on a deserted road at night see a man fall out of the sky and stop to help—with terrifying consequences.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Amy T. Martin is intimately familiar with the behavior and peculiarities of ghosts and astral beings because for 25 years she lived in a very haunted house. She writes true ghost stories under her pen name, Annie Wilder, and has appeared on MY GHOST STORY and MONSTERS AND MYSTERIES IN AMERICA.
Honorable Mention
Short Story
· Horror
· 6 Pages
At God’s Future Soldiers, an intensive Christian summer camp, a teen girl’s faith is tested when God comes to her in a dream and demands she harvest souls for the coming end times.
Portland, OR
Jerry J. Sampson is an award-winning screenwriter and fiction author who specializes in horror, thriller, and other genre storytelling. Her latest short film, "The Safety Games" is preparing for the festival circuit, she is the author of the short story collection "The Scream & Other Dark Stories", and is at work on a new book of horror tales.
Her ...
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Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A young boy's game of hiding inside department store clothing racks is interrupted by otherworldly forces.
Los Angeles, CA
Stephen Chen is a Midwest-born Taiwanese American who left his career as a classically trained civil engineer to pursue screenwriting after learning that his pipe dream was just a regular dream. He's dabbled in standup, improv, and sketch comedy, but found himself gravitating towards writing character-driven scripts that explore themes of loneliness...
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Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 5 Pages
An Indian immigrant awakens inside a confined metal box, with the walls slowly closing in… unless he can do the work assigned to him.
Los Angeles, California
Nishanth has always wanted to be a nepo baby. Unfortunately, he isn't one.
He is a plucky young filmmaker from India, now based in LA, with a degree in Film Production & Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University. His work has received acclaim - from his short film airing on PBS to his co-written whodunnit feature winning the Grand Prize in the ...
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Show 1 more writers
Killer Clown on Roller Skates
Private
Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 19 Pages
When a supernatural clown on roller skates crashes a Halloween roller disco, a risk-averse teenager must skate to save her twin brother’s life.
No bio available.
Michael and his Monster
Private
Honorable Mention
Short
· Unknown
· 1 Pages
A Childs nightmare realizes his kid has grown up.
No bio available.
Honorable Mention
Short
· Sci-fi
· 12 Pages
In Victorian London, a woman's quest to prove her worth through the use of cybernetic upgrades unleashes her deadly alter ego.
Vancouver, BC, CA
TOBY MARKS is a neurodivergent award-winning writer who has worked in London, LA, and Vancouver and pitched to media companies across the world, including Netflix, Shudder, and Neon. She likes the 3 M’s (magic, mystery and murder) telling stories with math/science motifs about smart dynamic women in dark, ominous settings. In 2022, her horror-comedy...
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Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A woman is told to smile one time too many, unleashing a rage that makes the men quickly regret their request.
California
Azzurra Nox is a Pushcart Prize-nominated author, Bram Stoker-nominated publisher, and award-winning screenwriter. She's especially interested in making writing dark, feminist, and queer. When she's not writing she's busy plotting new ways to make her characters' lives miserable.
Honorable Mention
Short Story
· Horror
· 14 Pages
A necrophile, foot fetishist podiatrist meets his match.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Author of three traditionally published Southern Gothic, horror-thriller novels.
Manly Wade Wellman Literary Award finalist
Killer Shorts short prose semifinalist. (honorable mention)
His work has been compared to that of Chuck Palahniuk, Quentin Tarantino, and Tom Piccirilli.
Honorable Mention
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
While looking through their recent photos, Anne and Zoë begin to notice something deeply unsettling about the images...
New York, NY
Jason is a lifelong New Yorker and horror fan. He has worked on TV shows that aired on CBS, NBC, and HBO, assisted Oscar-winning producers, and scared visitors at an annual haunted attraction in Sleepy Hollow, NY. He has a BA in Film and English from Cornell University.
Honorable Mention
Short Story
· Horror
· 11 Pages
Two beings struggle to survive in a forest, as modern civilization and threats close in on them, ultimately leading to a shocking discovery.
Baltimore, MD
I am a writer from Baltimore, and my work has been published in many literary journals.
Finalists
Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 21 Pages
After witnessing his father kill his little brother, Marshall doesn't dream for 7 years. On his 14th birthday his ability to dream returns, and he discovers a strange talent for slipping from his own dreams into the reality of others as a terrible retributory monster.
Ferndale, California
I was inspired by the free time provided by the horror of the pandemic to begin writing short stories. I sold my first piece of writing, a horror novella, to a small independent publisher this past summer.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A woman fights to survive when she meets the cause of her misery.
Los Angeles, CA
Kimberly is an Actress & Writer/Director born and raised in New York. She's a lover of horror, comedies, surrealism/ absurdity and her work is centered within these genres. The stories she's interested in telling are those of the misunderstood & exploring motivations to understand their perspectives. Her mission is to provide a platform where black ...
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Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 3 Pages
Following the 2024 presidential election, a domestic dispute escalates in an unexpected way.
Los Angeles, CA
Hi! I write comedy and horror, often landing somewhere in the middle with horror-comedy hybrids. It’s hard to decide whether to react to life’s absurdities with screaming or maniacal laughter, and I like that horror-comedy doesn’t force me to choose.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
This 1-page horror short is best to go in blind.
Washington, DC
Thomas is a former corporate sell-out, born-again creative. A screenwriting, skateboarding, dad who used to travel the world investigating fraud who's still an accountant in his unfree time. A fine young man who writes comedic adventures with capable heroes ending up in the wrong situation.
Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 35 Pages
Newly released mental health drug Emotex is on track to help reduce teen suicides in Egglemore County. But on the eve of its national rollout, something goes terribly wrong. A harrowing short story told in a found-footage style format.
Portsmouth / London, GB
Screenwriter and author having a whale of a time in the horror world, writing visceral, concept-driven horror stories, anchored by complex characters and offbeat narratives. Huge proponent for LGBT+ representation in horror, and flipping tropes into something that make bloodthirsty audiences sit back and enjoy the ride.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A young man's date is interrupted by a confounding bathroom emergency.
New York, NY
Sarah Richardson writes about deeply flawed characters with both humor and empathy. She was a top 10 finalist in the 2021 Killer Shorts competition, and was shortlisted for the 2020 WIF/Black List Episodic Lab. A short she wrote & directed screened at the Hobnobben and Citizen Jane film festivals, and her music videos have premiered on Aquarium Drun...
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Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
Don't you hate when they get your order wrong?
Omaha, KY
Moses Nebraska is an outright mystery
Dou-dou
Private
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 14 Pages
It’s the summer before high school and 14-year-old Delany is done being treated like a child. But her attempts at independence will bring her face-to-face with a nightmare creature and upend everything she knows about growing up.
No bio available.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 14 Pages
When a desperate food influencer crosses the wrong restaurant, she's cursed with an escalating hunger that can only be satisfied by one terrible thing.
New Albany, OH
Jason's short genre work has been screened and awarded around the globe.
Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 19 Pages
After a near-fatal incident, Jayda wakes trapped between life and death as a demon from her nightmares seeps into reality. With her mother’s religious fanaticism escalating, Jayda must fight to escape a darkness that blurs the line between waking and nightmare.
Los Angeles, CA
U.S. & U.K. Citizen. NYC native. NYU Tisch Alumnus. SAG-AFTRA & EQUITY (U.S. & U.K.) Artist/Performer. I’ve traveled to over 23 countries and lived in 5 different cities. I am a Law Candidate (City, University of London & USC Gould School of Law) and Entertainment Legal Professional.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 15 Pages
When Polly, working in the Sierra Mountains on a frog restoration project, adds a dried-up tadpole to her recent miscarriage held in the waters of her bathtub, she accidentally creates an avenging monster.
Topanga, California
Kuryla’s collection Freak Weather won the Grace Paley Prize (Univ of Massachusetts Press). Her stories appear in The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, The Baffler and received The Pushcart Prize and the Glimmer Train Fiction Prize. Her debut novel Away to Stay was out in 2022 (Regal House). Her shorts and feature films premiered at Sundance and Toro...
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Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 8 Pages
Gus has seen a lot of girls go missing in his time working at the old Pump 'N Go off the closed highway. And that's the way he likes them. However, when a couple comes in looking for one of the girls, his girls, he'll have to do whatever he can to stop them... Or die trying.
New York, NY
A biracial Indian child raised in gifted and talented classes and parentified at an early age, Allie Sharma Nelson never quite fit in, especially when she grew a tumor with teeth. When she got older, it became clear that in the real world, being able to build a model volcano doesn’t mean shit. As a result, she writes both pilots and features about o...
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Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 15 Pages
A teenage boy is hired to house sit for a wealthy couple whose young daughter has just died. The grieving parents have only one request for the night: Stay out of Maya's room.
Denver, Colorado
Andrew is a screenwriter who specializes in offbeat horror, dark comedy, and genre scripts with a strong emotional core. Most recently, he was a 2024 WeScreenplay Short Script Lab Fellow and a winner of the 2024 Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Andrew has a degree in Creative Writing from Middlebury College and worked for many years as a j...
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Pluck
Private
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 13 Pages
‘Pluck’ will be a fifteen-minute stop-motion surrealist horror film investigating the tension between nature vs. human control, bodily autonomy, and end-of-life agency, following an athlete at the height of her career as she struggles to hide the symptoms of a horrifying terminal diagnosis that is grotesquely beginning to mutate her body into that o...
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Kansas City, MO
Eva Louise Hall is an animator, filmmaker, and writer based in the United States. She recently received awards and industry accolades for her short film 'Mira' at the 2023 SCAD Savannah Film Festival, winning both "Best Horror" and "Best in Show" in the Shorts Spotlight category. 'Mira' was also awarded best animated short at the 2024 Fantastic Fes...
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Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 8 Pages
A priest takes confession.
Psychology & English student, hobbyist writer in the genre of horror
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
A woman faces her greatest fear at her niece's 5th birthday party.
Tempe, AZ
I'm a lover of slasher & monster movies & romcoms. I enjoy telling stories that entertain and/or frighten my audience. I'm busy crafting my next story when not working as a graphic designer. With a unique blend of humor, terror, & heart, I'm dedicated to creating memorable experiences for my readers. I'm a 2nd rounder at AFF 2023 and 2024.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
While celebrating their twenty first birthday, two club goers face the deadly consequences of breaking the rules.
Los Angeles, California
Desiree Middleton is a speculative fiction screenwriter and author who just completed a year long mentorship with the Writer’s Guild Foundation, Veteran Writers Program, where she recently pitched her scifi/horror culmination project. She is a former mentee of the Netflix Animation Program. Her sci fi horror script Facsimile was shot on location at ...
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Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 25 Pages
No logline available.
Los Angeles, CA
A queer genre writer from New Orleans, Carter's original pilot ROUGAROU is in development with Sony Pictures Television, Alfresco Pictures, and Robia Rashid. He won the 2021 Austin Film Festival Josephson Entertainment Fellowship Award and served as script consultant on Greg Sestero's directorial debut MIRACLE VALLEY, now on Tubi. He specializes in ...
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Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 16 Pages
While driving home through a snowstorm, four friends pick up a traumatized young woman in need of medical attention, but discover her pregnancy isn't human.
Los Angeles, CA
Joshua has been writing screenplays and developing stories for over fifteen years and working in television post production for the last decade. Recently, Joshua co-created, wrote, and developed an original horror anthology series that was pitched around major studios in Los Angeles. Currently, he is writing two feature-length horror screenplays, de...
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Finalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 11 Pages
One dull summer, three friends set out to find a secret, impossibly frightening horror film hidden on a streaming service, and unlock a nightmare in the middle of a scary movie marathon.
No bio available.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 18 Pages
An ex-hunter with a rough past is approached by an old friend with an uncomfortable favor to ask.
Charlottetown, PE, CA
Walker MacDonald is a screenwriter, designer, and filmmaker based in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada. Versed in comedy, satire, and genre writing, Walker tells fun stories with a beating heart -- whether being broken, or ripped from a chest. 70% of his body is made of movies.
Semifinalists
Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
After her mother dies, a woman is confronted by an eldritch creature.
Silver Spring, MD
Tanner has won numerous short story awards in comedy, sci-fi/fantasy, and essay categories and has recently decided to return to his childhood love of screenwriting. He may not have a typical screenwriter's background, but being the odd one has never stopped him before.
Semifinalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 7 Pages
A recounting of a gigantic creature's rampage through the island of Puerto Rico as told by three distinct experiences
Brooklyn, New York
Puerto Rican filmmaker and writer based in New York City with experience in fiction and documentary film as well as social marketing content creation. Experienced in narrative and commercial writing and producing. I also write about film on the side with pieces published in Comics Beat and Bright Lights Film Journal.
Bug Boy
Private
Semifinalist
Short Story
· Horror
· 22 Pages
A young migrant boy near death in the Arizona desert is rescued by a hunter and endures years of subjugation before an experimental medical treatment dramatically changes the trajectory of his life.
California
J.J.'s film noir dramedy short "Counterfeit" was optioned, sold & produced. It's being screened at festivals in the U.S. & overseas. Recipient of a Creative Screenwriting fellowship to Writers Boot Camp. His sci-fi script "My Stardust" is a top Coverfly short, a WeScreenplay winner, & PAGE Awards top-10 finalist. He has braved online screenwritin...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
Pushed past the breaking point, a distraught housewife takes pulpy revenge on her cheating husband on Halloween night.
Chester, NH
Shaun's unique background in bioscience, rock music, and the global seafood industry, paired with a lifelong obsession with intricate storytelling and fascinating characters has pushed him to pursue a writing career. Finding comfort in screenwriting, Shaun creates thrilling stories with relatable characters and strong, believable dialogue.
CHOP CHOP
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 1 Pages
Delivery time at a quaint old-fashioned butcher shop... that is open 24 hours?
Suffolk, GB
Freelance Writer for Stage, Screen and Print | Developing Filmmaker
Anoop is a British Punjabi writer, who lives in Ipswich and works across East Anglia. He creates socially conscious narratives, interwoven with imagery drawn from ecology and nature. Anoop's work is often a synthesis of fairy tale, horror, sci-fi and comedy, rooted in themes of id...
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