Listed below are the Quarterfinalists of the 2024 Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition. These exceptional screenplays and short stories were selected from over 1,124 submissions. Congratulations to the writers who have made it this far and thanks to all for submitting!
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Here are the Main Category Quarterfinalists:
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Here are the 1 Page Quarterfinalists:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| GEORGE MORRIS | “Keep an Ear Out” |
| JOSHUA DAVID MATTHEWS | A Beautiful Dream |
| FRANCESCA PAZNIOKAS | Annunciation |
| AMELIA CLOVER | Another Mouth to Feed |
| JASON RICE | Breakfast with Bag Man |
| CHRIS MITCHELL | Check For Monsters |
| JOSHUA HEATON | D.O.A. |
| MATT GILBERT | DO-GOODER |
| JEREMY JACKSON | Don’t Bail |
| KELLY ASHER | Don’t Blink |
| VICTORIA HARRIS | Enjoy Your Stay |
| DAVE THORPE | Epilogue |
| COLE MCCABE | Fill ‘Er Up |
| TRAVIS WILLIAMS | Fish Special |
| BRADLEY AUSTIN | Garden of the Grafted |
| VICTORIA HARRIS | In the Depths of Dark Water |
| DARREN HINCHY | Joe’s End |
| SAM CARRUTHERS | Margaret’s Golden Birthday |
| CHRIS MITCHELL | Mirror Me |
| MOSES NEBRASKA | MUSCLE OUT THE DEMONS |
| NOËMIE MARTINEL | No Peeking |
| JEREMY WEINER | Not Again, Gary |
| FORREST LANGLEY | Paralyzed |
| PHILLIP DISHON | Reunited |
| EVAN BAUGHFMAN | Scary Larry |
| FRANCESCA PAZNIOKAS | Sea Child |
| JOHN ACQUAVIVA | Sheared Secrets |
| JANET LOFTIS | Shoe – Floating on Water |
| JOSEPH X CASILLAS | Ten Thousand |
| FRANCESCA PAZNIOKAS | Terminated |
| TONY HIPWELL | The Lure |
| MARKO PANDZA & JASON KERR | The Miracle |
| DEVI BHADURI | The Only Exit |
| EMMA HUANG | The Smile Room |
| JOSHUA HEATON | Tooth Fairy |
| NATHAN PATTON | TRAILER TRASH |
| STEPHEN CHEN | Uncle Roger’s Basement |
| KARELINE CASTOR | Watch This |
| LEE COTMAN | We Don’t Bite Our Friends |
| AIDAN KILPATRICK | Wet Dreamer |
Here are the Short Story (Prose) Quarterfinalists:
| WRITER/S | TITLE |
| DEREK LADD | A Shade of Scarlett |
| CHRISTINE RIFKIN | Alternates |
| GAVIN JOHN | Don’t Look Away |
| TIYAN NEWMAN | Eden |
| LARISSA ZAGERIS & LISA KROGER | Family Fun Night |
| KATHERINE SAINTE-MARIE | Fever Dream on Devil’s Lake |
| DEREK LADD | Flies |
| MARK RENSHAW | Ganglers |
| LEE MATTHEW GOLDBERG | INTERVIEW |
| BRYAN DEMORE | Jeremiah |
| RODDY MCCANCE | La Cara Del Tiempo |
| ANDY FARRANT | lofi beats to kill to |
| DANIELA KRÁLOVÁ | Maryja |
| JACKIE FENN | Nurture |
| J. ALEXANDER GREENWOOD | Obsidian |
| SHAINUR ULLAH | our teacher doesn’t call us by our real names but by our future potential |
| ADAM NARIMATSU | Out of the Mouths of Babes |
| CURTIS MATZKE | Puppets |
| C. E. SIMON | Red River Valley |
| LARISSA ZAGERIS | Something In the Night |
| LARRY SOLIDARITY | Space Hurricane |
| JEFFREY FREEMAN | Spirits |
| SHAUN O’LOUGHLIN | Stay on Trail |
| MELISSA SWEAZY | The Beach House |
| VASANTHI VARADARAJAN | The Birdhouse |
| SURINA BELK-GUPTA | The Burned City |
| LEN FORGUES | The Cat’s Meow |
| JOSHUA HEATON | The Faded Man |
| JULIE ANN SLABY | The Final Spectacle |
| GOVINDA JONES | The Guest Room |
| JON DOUGLAS RAINEY | The Kitchen Drawer |
| C.T. ROEMER | The Mercy |
| LARISSA ZAGERIS | The Strand |
| AZZURRA ROWLAND | The Unconventional Tea Party |
| CHARLENE CLARKE-TODORUK | The Wood in the Window |
| JERRY SAMPSON | The Wood Sprites Made Me Do It |
| P.M. RAYMOND | Things Are as They Should Be |
| ALYSSA DIPALMA | Tilly’s Testimonies |
| DAVID SHARP | Under the Moonbow |
| ALEEZA BENYONA | When I Call Home |
Big thanks to our sponsors 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, 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, Screen Queens, Rianne Pictures, Alliance of Women Directors, LIFTT, Black Screenwriters, Ms. In the Biz, and Indigenous Australian Filmmakers.
