by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

If you are skipping out on the shorts at film festivals, you are usually missing out on some of the most interesting and creative pieces of media the fest has to offer. If you want to discover new filmmakers who are on the cusp of making a name for themselves, shorts are the way to go. Salem Horror Fest curated a plethora of interesting and diverse horror shorts and you can find the full line up HERE. Below is a handful of the unique horror shorts that were featured this year. 

Knit One, Stab Two dir. Alison Peirse 

Alison Peirse is one of the best in the horror biz when it comes to thoughtful and extensive research. This video essay is exceptional and highlights how the smallest details can set up or subvert our expectations of characters, and in particular women. This short showcases the history of knitters and knitting in horror movies. Pulling from a wide range of movies, she highlights how important these details can be to the overarching narrative of stories and their connection to our cultural history. It is incredibly impressive when someone can hone in on such a small detail and show the larger implications it has on our experience as a viewer. This is informative, entertaining, and beautifully edited. 

Domestic Bliss dir. Jennifer Scott, Nicole Townssend

Domestic Bliss looks like it all takes place in a Barbie Dream Home, which helps to enhance and subvert the traditional ideas around “domestic bliss”. A woman prepares a special meal for her boyfriend who has trouble with commitment and treats her more like a housekeeper than a partner. This is a fun yet cynical look at traditional cisgendered heterosexual relationships that has big The Love Witch vibes. This is especially true with the themes around women with power, that they use to appease men. If you want a great looking short that takes on outdated and misogynistic marital values this is a great viewing choice. 

Canceled dir. Christopher Guerrero

There has been more of a trend for horror to take on cultural appropriation. Something that is still far too prevalent in our culture. In Canceled a social media influencer appropriates Mexican Culture for her Halloween costume. Soon after posting to social media a sinister force comes to get revenge. This is a very short, yet fun film that has some very effective creature effects and an important social message. Canceled is a great example of how horror is uniquely suited to take on societal ills while also being entertaining. With recent horror features like Satanic Hispanics focusing on Hispanic culture, it is clear that issues like this are being taken on in full force within the horror community. 

Honeymoon at Cold Hollow dir. Nat Rovit

With recent features like Enys Men coming out that are shot on film it is clear that there is a resurgence in the technique and style. Honeymoon at Cold Hollow uses this look to heighten the grindhouse feel of its tale. In this short a recently married couple honeymoons at a remote cabin. They are snowed in and fight for survival but there are dark forces in the woods that could put the newlyweds in mortal danger. This is another great looking movie and it does successfully emulate the look and feel of 70s horror flicks. It is entertaining, claustrophobic, and chilling. We can only hope that Nat Rovit maintains this sort of look and feel in their next projects. 

Mud on My Shoes dir. Rosie Geozalian

What’s not to love about Mud on My Shoes. It is a stop motion animation narrated by Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley and it is based on a rhyme of the same name. If you’ve seen Tim Burton’s short Vicent (narrated by Vincent Price) then you get the scene of what this short is like. It effectively blends the macabre story elements of early Tim Burton and Edward Gorey. Which makes this the perfect short for those who grew up loving all things creepy and scary when they were young. The animation is wonderful and the imagery of the creature is nothing less than iconic. With the popularity of stop motion like Mad God hopefully we will get more creative projects like this. 

I would also like to give a shout out to a few short films I saw at other festivals this past year. Aftertaste was shown at Brooklyn Horror Fest and is a great blend of Asian folklore and toxic culinary culture. Ringworms was also showcased at BHF and is a fun homage to grindhouse horror with great practical effects and effective performances. And finally Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead which played at The Final Girls Berlin Film Fest. This is a wonderfully weird queer horror short that has the aesthetics of Anna Biller and a positive message. 

As usual the shorts were the best part of the festival. There are so many interesting and beautifully crafted shorts out there that typically do not get the love that feature length films do. So go show these and other shorts some love and support them by going and following the filmmakers, with any luck they will have some exciting new projects on the way.