FINAL FRAME
A Horror Short Film Competition presented by StokerCon
If there’s one thing that unites us, it is darkness.
Horror cinema has long been a medium used to explore the most savage sides of society and expose our collective paranoias and fears. It is within that darkness that we seek out those flickers of light, some hope or understanding, and it becomes even more exciting when we explore it together.
What started as a small reprieve from the hustle of convention life, a communal gathering to enjoy our horrors in visual form, the Final Frame Short Horror Film Competition instantly became one of the must-attend events of StokerCon. Culled from an international array of short films, Final Frame presents two hours of films as diverse in its subject matter as its creators.
As Final Frame is an awarded competition, we have been honored to include some of the greatest minds in the genre, hailing from all sides of the culture, to bestow their expertise in judging the night’s selections. Our previous judges include:
Mike Flanagan (director of Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil and The Haunting of Hill House); Ryan Turek (VP, Development/Producer, Blumhouse Productions); Rebekah McKendry (editor-in-chief of Blumhouse Productions); Tony Timpone (former editor of Fangoria); Craig Engler (GM, Shudder/Co-Creator, Z Nation); Lisa Morton (author and screenwriter of Meet the Hollowheads and Blood Angels); Tony Wash (Creator, World of Death/Contributing Writer, Bloody-Disgusting); Monica S. Kuebler (former managing editor, Rue Morgue magazine); Daniel Knauf (creator of HBO’s Carnivale and writer/producer of Blacklist); Grady Hendrix (author, Paperbacks From Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism), Michael Gingold (writer/editor, Fangoria, Rue Morgue), Lynne Hansen (filmmaker, Chomp); John Skipp (director of Tales of Halloween and pioneering horror author); Mike McCarty (special effects industry expert, formerly of KNB EFX Group, currently at Autonomous FX Inc.); and Mark Allan Miller (VP at Seraphim Films).
It thrills us every year to to continue bringing the StokerCon audience the terrifying visions of these talented visual artists and their collaborators.
If you would like to be a part of the Final Frame Short Horror Film Competition, please submit your films, thirteen minutes and under, to https://filmfreeway.com/FinalFrame
Hope you join us at StokerCon for Final Frame and, as always, we’ll see you in the dark.
Jonathan Lees
Director of Film Programming, StokerCon
Organizer, Final Frame
Previous competition winners have included:
2023:
THE QUEUE
Director: Michael Rich
An internet content moderator confronts the darkness within the videos he screens.
2022:
INHERITANCE
Director: Annalise Lockhart
Norra, who has just turned 25, inherits the deed to the family cabin, but finds more than blood kin haunting the surrounding woods.
2021:
ABRACITOS
Director: Tony Morales
A terrible phone call in the middle of the night tests the mental and emotional stability of two sisters.
2020:
DRUM WAVE
Director: Natalie Erika James
A young pianist is forced to confront her fear of motherhood when she marries into a remote island community.
2019:
KNOCK KNOCK
Director: Kennikki Jones
Sinia does the best she can to help the kids next door, however when they are in danger, she does nothing.
2018:
GREAT CHOICE
Director: Robin Comisar
An uproarious and horrifying account of a woman who gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.
2017:
WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS
Director: Anthony Cousins
A body horror tale like no other. The story of one man’s bond with a parasitic creature that could result in the end of us all.
Based on the short story by Jeremy Robert Johnson
2016:
QUENOTTES (PEARLIES)
Directors: Pascal Thiebaux, Gil Pinheiro
A story about a little mouse, but not just any mouse. It is THE little mouse, or tooth fairy, of your childhood. If a tooth is missing, it simply must be replaced. By any means necessary…
