Listed below are the Top 10 Finalists and Honorable Mentions in each category of the 2022 Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition. These exceptional screenplays were selected from 1,551 submissions. Congratulations to the writers who have made it this far and thanks to all for submitting!
Stay tuned for our Top 3 winners announcement here on April 25! And if you’d like to receive a notification when this contest re-opens for entries, you can subscribe for updates via our newsletter here.
Click here to congratulate the Top 10 and Honorable Mentions on Twitter!
Here are the Top 10 Finalists in the main category:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| JOEY SCOMA | /Haaw/ |
| HANNAH MAY CUMMING & ALEX HARTWIG | Baby Fever |
| FRANCESCA PAZNIOKAS | Dummy! |
| ANDREW YEREMEYEV | House of Wolves |
| JIM LOPEZZO | Intrusive |
| KELLY NUGENT | I Would Kill For You |
| LOLA BLANC & JEREMY RADIN | Pruning |
| BEN MATTHEW VIVIEN WOODIWISS | S(p)LICE |
| RICHARD LAWRENCE MULOCK | The Count |
| JACK O’HIGGINS | The Six Month Itch |
Ascendants by KELLY KRAUSE, Bell Tower by JASON SHEEDY, Cue Applause by BENJ WELMOND, Nerium Wake by MO BAYLISS and Z-Vax by ANDREW JOHNSON-SCHMIT & ANGIE JOHNSON-SCHMIT also received honorable mentions.
The finalist’s scripts shocked, intrigued, disturbed, horrified and impressed our readers. The screenplays will now be shared with our exciting panel of judges, who are tasked with selecting a Top 3 and overall winner!
Sophie Carroll 
Barbara Crampton 
Julian Terry 
Joe Bob Briggs 
Jenn Wexler 
Aaron B. Koontz 
Matthew Dartnell 
John Zaozirny 
Chelsea Lupkin 
Gigi Saul Guerrero 
Scott Carr 
Xavier Burgin
The Top 10 screenwriters will receive a free copy of Final Draft 12, career consultations with Coverfly, script coverage from Stage 32, plus increased rank on Coverfly’s The Red List…but who will win industry circulation, free Shudder, access to Robert McKee’s Horror Webinar Series and the coveted skull typewriter trophy designed by Tyler Green FX Studio? Stay tuned!!
Here are the Top 10 Finalists in the 1-page category:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| JASON FINK & BRANDON FINK | Angler’s Kin |
| JEREMY JACKSON | C-Section |
| CHRISTIAN CURRY AKUNA | Discharged |
| MARKO PANDZA & JASON KERR | Family Album |
| EVAN BAUGHFMAN | Freeze |
| MARIA WILSON | Haunted |
| DAVID BETTENCOURT | Imposter |
| PHILLIP DISHON | Staring Contest |
| JULE JESSENBERGER | The Butzemann |
| GEORGINA BOWLEY-MORIARTY | Upshot-Knothole |
Complications by C.J. REDFIELD, D.O.A. by JOSHUA HEATON, Gummies by MICHAEL CLIFTON, Poking Dead Things with Sticks by JASON K. ALLEN and The Hereafter by DEVI BHADURI also received honorable mentions.
The Top 3 winners in the 1-page category will each receive a trophy, with the 1st Place Winner also receiving prizes geared toward helping them produce a 1-minute horror short film; including $500 cash, Final Draft 12, a QWERKYWRITER Mechanical Keyboard, and a 1 Year All-Access subscription to Stan Winston School.
The Finalists were announced first in the Script Hive discord server, a community of over 6000 screenwriters and the presenting sponsor of Killer Shorts. Join the server to connect with other writers here. (it’s free)
Congratulations again to our Season 3 finalists, honorable mentions, and every screenwriter who was inspired to write a killer short!
Big thanks to our sponsors Shudder, Final Draft, Rue Morgue, Stan Winston School of Character Arts, Horror Pack, QWERKYTOYS, Stage 32, Robert McKee’s Horror Webinar Series, Ghoulish Gary, The Script Butcher, Coverfly, Filmfreeway, Script Hive, ISA, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Slasher App, Waxwork Records and Fright Rags.
Thanks also to our festival partners, and the following Womxn & BIPOC organizations: The Write or Die Chicks, Women Make Movies, Ladima Foundation, NYWIFT, African American Women in Cinema, The Light Leaks, Hedgebrook, Screen Queens, Rianne Pictures, Alliance of Women Directors, LIFTT, Black Screenwriters, Ms. In the Biz, and Indigenous Australian Filmmakers.
