Queer Horror Shorts + Panel Talk (SOLD OUT!)

What terrifies who, and why?

Fans of the genre will not be surprised to learn that horror, at its core, is inherently queer. It disrupts the status quo and exists outside of what is considered ‘normal.’ In the media, what is meant to terrify us has historically been queer coded, and the monsters of our collective imagination share similarities with queerness itself: they shock, challenge, and defy easy classification. However, the genre has been reclaimed by queer creators, who are now at the forefront. During the annual QFFU Horror Shorts night, we aim to highlight, celebrate, and showcase this genre that unsettles those comfortably confined within societal norms while providing solace to those who do not feel at home in a patriarchal heteronormative world.

Dearly Departed — Gabriella Lichtneker (The Netherlands, 3 mins)

A queer comedy horror about accidental death, interfering ghost hunters, and how joy can be found despite the hand the (after)life might deal you.

GLORY, HOLE — Hiram Harrington (Ireland, 17 mins)

Two gay men, one cis and one trans, clash at a nightclub glory hole. Prompted by a desire for revenge, one tries to castrate the man he believes raped him. The other tries to talk him into leaving, sparking an odyssey of nightmares and violence.

Content warning: Audiences should be aware the entirety of the film deals with a trans person’s response to sexual trauma. Content warning for discussions of rape, abuse, sexual violence, and violence. Content warning for full-frontal male nudity.

Griffica — C.J. Arellano (USA, 12 mins)

Award winning short in which a man suspects that his all-too-perfect coffee-loving boyfriend may be a demon in disguise. 

POSSUM — Daisy Rosato (USA, 15 mins)

An artist resident loses his mind and hacks a possum to death. Ashamed, he confesses to the other residents, who must decide what to do with the kill and how to punish the artist. Through unanimity, and sidebars into the politics of class, gender, and disability, they come to a shocking conclusion.

SMOOTH — Sepand Marshiahof (UK, 20 mins)

After being rejected by her stalker for being too hairy, a trans woman spirals into a dysphoric limbo, and the only way out of it is through her own skin. SMOOTH intends to shine light on an underexplored dimension of transness: how cultural diasporas influence our understanding of gender.

To the Brink — Hugo Docking (UK, 4 mins)

Roll up, roll up! For one night only, witness our violent stop motion cabaret for the cynical and depraved. Guilt, alcoholic apathy, and the inevitable looming apocalypse threaten to push a young man to the brink.

Content warning: Puppet gore, violence, suicide, drugs reference, one use of strong language.

Wūûūwūûū — Rae Yen-Sung (UK, 3 mins)

A 2D animation combining digital drawing with pen and fiber-tipped markers on paper, offering a mutating, ever-shifting vision of worlds within worlds within worlds. Wūûūwūûū introduces a cast of obscure, interconnected creatures, who variously consume, inhabit and host each other, in an ongoing, cyclical symbiosis of survival.