Every year, a highlight for horror buffs at Midsummer Scream in the Long Beach Convention Center is the Screaming Room Film Festival presented by HorrorBuzz. Carefully curated each year by festival directors Eric Ryan and Amantha Ryan, the fest fosters a platform for short films and up-and-coming filmmakers to bring their creative horror visions to life in front of captive audiences.
Here’s a look at what you need to know about Screaming Room Film Festival presented by HorrorBuzz at Midsummer Scream 2026.
What to Expect
The assortment of films this year includes supernatural horrors, psychological thrillers, slashers, monster features, haunted tales, and animated nightmares, taking audiences from cursed rituals and dark folklore to terrifying creatures and desperate fights for survival. The lineup also embraces horror-comedy, gore, crime, music-inspired scares, and twist-filled anthologies for a mix of chilling, bizarre, and blood-soaked stories.
Friday, August 7, 2026
- Sinister Cinema
- Friday, August 7 | 7:00 PM – 7:59 PM PT
- 4 films | From seductive late-night calls to chaotic divine rituals, step into a web of dark forces where striking a deal with the unknown turns ordinary reality into a terrifying battle for survival.
- Tales of the Occult
- Friday, August 7 | 8:00 PM – 8:59 PM PT
- 6 films | Prepare to confront a shadowland where dark beliefs manifest as monstrous entities, generational curses, medieval torments, and venomous rituals.
- Stalkers & Slashers
- Friday, August 7 | 9:00 PM PT
- 5 films | Survive a twisted world of relentless predators and psychological terror, where unsuspecting targets are stalked, home invaders become the prey, and the desperate must escape both real-world maniacs and the supernatural underbelly of an abandoned asylum.
Saturday, August 8, 2026
- A Captive Audience
- Saturday, August 8 | 11:30 AM – 12:29 PM PT
- 4 films | Endure the claustrophobia of being hunted across barren deserts, trapped in an ominous music school, and stolen from the supposed safety of home in a collection where escape feels impossible.
- Waking Nightmares
- Saturday, August 8 | 12:30 PM – 1:29 PM PT
- 4 films | Confront the terrifying depths of the subconscious as isolated souls grapple with postpartum dread, sinister phone booth encounters, and threats lurking closer than they seem, proving darkness always lies within.
- Drawn to Horror
- Saturday, August 8 | 1:30 PM – 2:29 PM PT
- 8 films | Experience the chilling artistry of animated terrors where characters endure surreal spacetime traps, body-horror outbreaks, and sinister bargains, proving that the most unsettling nightmares are those drawn from the darkest depths of imagination.
- Creatures of the Night
- Saturday, August 8 | 2:30 PM – 3:59 PM PT
- 4 films | From malicious refrigerator fungi to literal inner demons stalking Parisian streets, confront a terrifying assortment of monsters that prove nowhere is safe from the things that hunt after dark.
- Happy Halloween
- Saturday, August 8 | 4:00 PM – 4:59 PM PT
- 4 films | Unwrap a basket of spooky delights where Halloween rituals go bloodily awry, a grief-stricken radio host breathes life into a sinister legend, and an enthusiast discovers that one of his festive decorations has an appetite of its own.
- WTF???
- Saturday, August 8 | 5:00 PM – 5:59 PM PT
- 4 films | Brace yourself for a mind-bending descent into pure absurdity where a deadly succubus, a club bathroom trap, mannequin political drama, and a mysterious smell of milk collide to leave you thoroughly shocked, disturbed, and “udderly” confused.
- Splattertown
- Saturday, August 8 | 6:00 PM PT
- 5 films | Surrender to a gore-soaked descent into the grotesque with a vengeful birthday girl, a silenced boyfriend, cursed oddities, and a reborn killer unleash a wave of blood-stained, stomach-churning mayhem.
Sunday, August 9, 2026
- Crimes & Passions
- Sunday, August 9 | 11:00 AM – 11:59 AM PT
- 7 films | Delve into a dark underworld of obsessive romance and criminal thrills, when jealous wishes turn lethal, seductions spiral into dangerous delusions, and a sinister latex figure shatters the fragile peace of suburban isolation.
- Die Laughing
- Sunday, August 9 | 12:00 PM – 12:59 PM PT
- 5 films | Scream with laughter at a side-splitting collection of creative hilarity blending absurd comedy with genuine chills in the form of haunted real estate videos, a hamster piloting a human suit, and a battle of wits against an underprepared forest troll.
- Art House Horror
- Sunday, August 9 | 1:00 PM – 1:59 PM PT
- 3 films | Step into a nightmarish realm where demonic deals, parasitic families, and deafening silence blur the lines between reality and psychological torment.
- Symphony of Fear
- Sunday, August 9 | 2:00 PM – 2:59 PM PT
- 7 films | Dance to a macabre beat in this musically terrifying collection where hypnotic street seductions, a teen’s vengeful alter ego, and a cryptid band’s undead curse bring a whole new meaning to “live” performance.
- Anthology of Terror
- Sunday, August 9 | 3:00 PM – 3:59 PM PT
- 4 films | Experience a classic Twilight Zone-style descent into madness where cosmic addiction, a captive shapeshifting fish, an alien crashing a suburban cocktail party, and a botched cult ritual deliver terrifying twists and cautionary tales.
See it for Yourself
Midsummer Scream takes place in Long Beach from August 7-9, 2026.
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