Listed below are the Top 10 Finalists and Honorable Mentions in each category of the 2025 Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition. These exceptional screenplays and short stories were selected from over 1,200 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 21st! And if you’d like to receive a notification when this contest re-opens for entries, subscribe to our Substack newsletter. Looking for feedback? Purchase Notes from Killer Shorts via our Short Script Coverage now.
Here are the Top 10 Finalists in the Main Category:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| TANIA LUNA | Baby Tooth |
| CAMARA AARON | Dou-dou |
| JASON TOSTEVIN | Eat Me |
| MARY KURYLA | Invasive Species |
| MARISA GREEN | KEGEL |
| ANDREW WILLIAM WEAVER | Maya’s Room |
| EVA LOUISE HALL | Pluck |
| EVAN SCHULLERY | Squeak |
| JOSHUA POTTER | The Sixth Passenger |
| WALKER MACDONALD | Twice Shy |
Cassie Strickland Is Not Under the Bed by VINCE GATTON & ALLAN PIPER, Dead Inside by JO BUDZILOWICZ, Indian in a Box by NISHANTH R. & NATHAN XIA, Killer Clown on Roller Skates by CATHERINE CASEY and Quiet Minds by TOBY MARKS 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!
All Top 10 finalist screenwriters in the main category will receive a free copy of Final Draft 13, Crowdfunding Consultations with Seed & Spark, We Make Movies Memberships, Script Coverage from Stage 32, plus increased rank on Coverfly’s The Red List…but who will win industry circulation, access to Robert McKee’s Horror Webinar Series and the coveted skull typewriter trophy designed by Tyler Green FX Studio? Stay tuned!
And now, here are the Top 10 Finalists in the 1-page category:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| KIMBERLY DIVAD | A GAME |
| JULIA DIDDY | Aqua Tofana |
| THOMAS SCHRACK | Baby Monitor |
| SARAH RICHARDSON | Deliverer |
| MOSES NEBRASKA | doorslash |
| ADRIAN KENNEDY | Home Birth |
| BRITTNEY COON | SCREAMS & LAUGHTER |
| DESIREE MIDDLETON | Stall Me |
| LISA JAY | Submerged |
| PHILLIP DISHON | Surprise, Surprise |
Fallen Man by ANNIE WILDER, Hanzo’s Hideout by STEPHEN CHEN, Michael and his Monster by JAMES FERDA, Resting Bitch Face by AZZURRA NOX and The Red-Eye Effect by JASON TURER also received honorable mentions.
The 1st Place winner in the 1-page category will receive a trophy and prizes geared toward helping them produce a micro-short horror film; including $500 cash, Final Draft 13, a QWERKYWRITER Mechanical Keyboard, We Make Movies Membership, and a 1 Year All-Access subscription to Stan Winston School.
And finally, here are the Top 10 Finalists in the Short Story (Prose) category:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| MICHAEL KEENER | …within a dream |
| MONTSERRAT LUNA-BALLANTYNE | Dear Nora |
| ROB ULITSKI | Decay |
| ANDY FARRANT | Hotline to Heaven |
| KAMARIA WILLIAMS | Hypnagogic |
| CALEB DILLON | Identity Theft |
| ALLIE NELSON | Last Seen |
| AKUORKOR ALLOTEY | Quis ut Deus |
| CARTER FRIEND | THE NUT CRACKER |
| MATTHEW JACKSON | The Stream |
A Lullaby for Night by JASON TOSTEVIN, All That’s Left by JEREMIAH BLACKMAN, God’s Future Soldiers by JERRY J SAMPSON, Sole Survivor by ROBERT CREEKMORE and The Whole Truth by BRIAN BRENNAN also received honorable mentions.
All Top 10 finalist authors in the short story (prose) category will receive a free copy of Scrivener writing software plus increased rank on the Coverfly website. The 1st Place winner will receive publication on the Killer Shorts website, Book Brush Membership, a 30 minute zoom meeting with #KillerAlum Chris Hicks, Professional Screenwriter and Author of I AM NOT ALONE, plus the coveted skull typewriter trophy designed by Tyler Green FX Studio!
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Big thanks to our sponsors Final Draft, Rue Morgue, Stan Winston School of Character Arts, Horror Pack, QWERKYTOYS, Seed & Spark, We Make Movies, Book Brush, Stage 32, Robert McKee’s Horror Webinar Series, Ghoulish Gary, The Script Butcher, Coverfly, Filmfreeway, Script Hive, ISA, Script Hop, Script Revolution, Scrivener 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, Rianne Pictures, Alliance of Women Directors, LIFTT, Black Screenwriters, and Indigenous Australian Filmmakers.
