Hundreds of people attended the 15th year of the Horror Hotel Film Festival (oooh – scary) from Thursday June 19 – Sunday June 21 at the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel in Cleveland Ohio.
The four-day event brought together film makers, screenwriters, fans, vendors, and industry guests for screenings, lectures, competitions, networking events, and special programming throughout the weekend. This year, the festival received more than 240 submissions and selected 175 films and scripts for its 2026 program. In addition to the official selections, the festival presented nominations in both film and script categories, along with additional awards recognizing standout work across this year’s lineup.
Festival co-owner Johnny K.Wu was busy dealing with clowns and other issues.
But we caught up with him and he explained the horror genre and how the nuances of set design, technology, makeup etc. transfers to other genres as well. Watch.
There were panels to learn about all aspects of the industry from well-known figures.
There was a vendor and resource area with organizations and a variety of items for sale.
The people (creature?) watching was fun.
Scream Queen
The festival’s competition lineup included the Room 237 Competition, a timed filmmaking challenge designed to showcase creativity, speed, and originality under pressure. Additional competitions include the Visual FX/Makeup Competition, Monologue Competition, and Scream Queen & Scream King Competitions. People were open to sharing their techniques and ideas. For example, you could watch the makeup artists at work and ask questions.
Visit Horror Hotel Film Fest for information about next year’s event.
