Vancouver Horror Show 2026: First Wave Announced, Michael Dougherty in Attendance to Present Anniversary Screening of TRICK 'R TREAT (Exclusive)

VANCOUVER HORROR SHOW FILM FESTIVAL® ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF 2026 PROGRAMMING & FEATURES

 

The Festival will Feature a Trick ’R Treat 19th Anniversary Screening with Michael Dougherty, Special Guests & Industry Events

 

The Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival (VHS) has announced the first look at its ninth edition, announcing a special presentation of the cult classic Trick ’r Treat with director Michael Dougherty in attendance, four feature-film premieres and acclaimed filmmakers and special guests, plus a slate of creator-focused industry programming. VHS returns to Vancouver for its ninth edition from October 14–18, 2026.

 

Leading the festival’s special presentations is a 19th anniversary screening of Trick ’r Treat with acclaimed writer and director Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) in attendance. The screening event will feature an all-new 4K restoration of Season’s Greetings, Dougherty’s original animated short film that first introduced audiences to Sam, the mysterious trick-or-treater who would later become the modern horror icon at the centre of Trick ’r Treat.

 

The first-wave feature lineup includes the World Premiere of Encryption, an inventive sci-fi mystery from award-winning filmmaker Brayden DeMorest-Purdy, Western Canadian Premiere of Sleep No More, an Indonesian body-horror nightmare from acclaimed filmmaker Edwin and British Columbia premieres of Ithaqua, Hammer Films’ chilling return to creature horror starring Luke Hemsworth, and The Glorious Dead, the latest apocalyptic vision from celebrated DIY filmmaking team the Adams Family.

 

The first wave also includes four creator-focused events bringing established filmmakers and industry professionals together with emerging talent: an in-depth In Conversation with Michael Dougherty about building a career from original genre filmmaking to major studio franchises; The First Five Minutes of Horror, featuring filmmakers Zach Lipovsky (Final Destination Bloodlines, Freaks), Eli Craig (Clown in a Cornfield, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) and Rachel Talalay (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Tank Girl, YAGA) and editor Greg Ng (Backrooms, Longlegs); Indie Horror Distribution: From Festival Buzz to Theatrical Release, featuring producers Sean Harris Oliver (Hunting Matthew Nichols) and Kurtis David Harder (Influencer, Influencers); as well as the return of VHS’s Live Table Read Series, with Karen Lam (Armageddon Road) and Dennis Heaton (Murder in a Small Town) among the participating industry panelists.

 

Additional feature films, short-film programs, guests, events and festival programming will be announced as VHS unveils its complete 2026 lineup.

 

Industry Programming & Special Events:

 

TRICK ’R TREAT 19TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING WITH MICHAEL DOUGHERTY

VHS opens its ninth season on October 14th with a special 19th anniversary screening of Trick ’r Treat, joined by the film’s acclaimed writer and director Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters).

 

A modern cult classic of anthology horror, Trick ’r Treat features a star-studded ensemble cast crossing paths with Sam, the pint-sized enforcer of Halloween tradition who has since become one of contemporary horror’s most recognizable figures.

 

The presentation will also include an all-new 4K restoration of Season’s Greetings, the original animated short film which first introduced the character of Sam before bringing him to the screen in Trick ’r Treat.

 

FROM CULT CLASSICS TO BLOCKBUSTERS: IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL DOUGHERTY

VHS will welcome Dougherty for a special conversation exploring a career that has moved between original genre storytelling and large-scale studio filmmaking.

 

Best known for creating the cult horror anthology Trick ’r Treat, Dougherty went on to write and direct Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, building a career that spans fiercely original genre projects and major international franchises.

 

The conversation will explore the creative, practical and career-building realities of working as a genre screenwriter and director, offering insight into navigating the path from independent passion projects to major studio productions.

 

THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF HORROR

How does a great horror film earn an audience’s attention before the story has barely begun?

 

The First Five Minutes of Horror brings together prolific creators from the genre in conversation about what grabs an audience. Using opening sequences from specific films as a jumping-off point, the conversation will explore how filmmakers establish tone, character, stakes, visual language, pacing and genre promise — and how the choices made in a film’s opening moments can shape everything that follows.

 

Confirmed participants: Zach Lipovsky (Final Destination Bloodlines, Freaks), Eli Craig (Clown in a Cornfield, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) and Rachel Talalay (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Tank Girl, YAGA) and editor Greg Ng (Backrooms, Longlegs).

 

INDIE HORROR DISTRIBUTION: FROM FESTIVAL BUZZ TO THEATRICAL RELEASE

Producer Sean Harris Oliver (Hunting Matthew Nichols) and filmmaker and producer Kurtis David Harder (Influencer, Influencers) join VHS for a practical discussion about what happens to an independent horror film after shooting wraps.

 

The conversation will explore how independent films can move from production, through festivals and toward meaningful audience-facing distribution, including producer-led release strategies, sales and distribution relationships, publicity, theatrical positioning and audience targeting.

 

Designed for emerging and independent filmmakers, the panel will examine what producers can do early — from packaging and positioning to marketing materials and release strategy — to give their films the strongest possible life beyond the festival circuit.

 

Confirmed participants: Sean Harris Oliver and Kurtis David Harder.

 

VHS TABLE READ SERIES

The VHS Table Read Series returns in 2026, giving emerging writers the opportunity to hear their scripts performed live by professional actors in front of an audience and a panel of established screenwriters and filmmakers.

 

The program offers writers immediate, practical insight into how their work translates from the page while helping them strengthen their scripts and prepare for future development, financing and production opportunities.

 

Confirmed industry participants: Karen Lam and Dennis Heaton.

 

First Wave Film Lineup:

 

ITHAQUA — Making its BC Premiere at VHS, Ithaqua is a chilling new creature feature from legendary horror studio Hammer Films. Set in the frozen Canadian wilderness, the film follows a mercenary who must unite the dwindling survivors of a remote 19th-century fur-trading outpost against the cold, starvation, and an ancient evil that leaves its victims with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Casey Walker, Ithaqua stars Luke Hemsworth (Westworld), Leenah Robinson (40 Acres), Kevin Durand (Abigail), Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire), and Craig Lauzon (Royal Canadian Air Farce), and introduces Hammer’s first original monster in 60 years.

 

 

SLEEP NO MORE — Making its Western Canadian Premiere at VHS, Sleep No More is a wildly imaginative Indonesian body-horror nightmare set inside a decaying East Jakarta wig factory. After their mother dies violently on the job, two sisters begin searching for the truth: one believes chronic sleep deprivation drove her to suicide, while the other suspects demonic possession. As a shadowy figure begins preying on exhausted workers — and turns its attention to their mysteriously regenerative younger brother —t he siblings confront both a supernatural terror and the brutal system feeding it. Directed by acclaimed Indonesian filmmaker Edwin (Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash), the film stars Rachel Amanda (Stealing Raden Saleh), Lutesha (The Big 4), and Iqbaal Ramadhan (Dilan 1990).

 

THE GLORIOUS DEAD — Making its BC Premiere at VHS, The Glorious Dead is a darkly funny, fiercely original apocalyptic nightmare from the Adams Family, the celebrated DIY filmmaking team behind Hellbender and Where the Devil Roams. When a small-town sheriff and her deputy awaken to a world where blood runs from the taps, people disappear, creatures roam the woods, and the dead refuse to stay buried, they face an escalating day of chaos that tests the limits of faith, community, and humanity. Co-written and directed by John Adams and Toby Poser, the film stars Poser (Hellbender), Zelda Adams (Hellbender), and Lulu Adams (Where the Devil Roams).

 

 

ENCRYPTION — Making its World Premiere at VHS, the Vancouver-shot Encryption is an inventive sci-fi mystery from award-winning filmmaker Brayden DeMorest-Purdy. Conspiracy theorist Theo (Alex Zahara, Final Destination Bloodlines, School Spirits) and his niece Eddie (Megan Charpentier, Mama, It, It Chapter Two) follow a trail of clues Theo left behind before losing his memory. Their cross-country search leads them to a hidden cache belonging to Cryp-Tech, a shadowy organization determined to keep its otherworldly horrors buried. Pursued by the unrelenting Jane Dough (Karin Konoval, Planet of the Apes trilogy, The X-Files), Theo and Eddie must uncover the truth — and escape Cryp-Tech alive if they have any hope of sharing it with the world. The film marks a return to the imaginative, hands-on spirit that first inspired DeMorest-Purdy to make movies at 12: running around town with a camera, building props and costumes, and creating unforgettable memories with friends.

 

 

About VHS

Founded in 2018, the Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival (VHS) is a Canadian Screen Award-qualifying film festival and registered charitable organization dedicated to bold genre storytelling and the filmmakers, screenwriters and artists who bring it to life. Named one of the “90 Best Genre Film Festivals on Earth” by Dread Central, VHS ranks among FilmFreeway’s 20 most popular horror festivals worldwide.

 

VHS has screened hundreds of films for thousands of attendees including the Vancouver premiere of Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2, the Canadian theatrical premiere of V/H/S/85, as well as a 30th-anniversary celebration of Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight featuring stars William Sadler and Sherrie Rose, producers Gil Adler and Alan Katz, and MastersFX founder Todd Masters.

 

The festival has hosted and moderated filmmaker Q&As for special advance screenings of major genre releases, including Longlegs with director Osgood Perkins and Clown in a Cornfield with director Eli Craig.

 

Guests and industry participants have included Orphan Black co-creator Graeme Manson, Final Destination Bloodlines director Zach Lipovsky, filmmakers Vincenzo Natali, Gigi Saul Guerrero and Karen Lam, writer-showrunner Dennis Heaton and actors Aleks Paunovic and Richard Harmon, among many others.

 

Through its programming and industry initiatives, VHS works to strengthen Western Canada’s genre-film ecosystem and establish Vancouver as a destination for filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences who share a passion for genre storytelling.

 

VHS returns to downtown Vancouver for its ninth edition, October 14–18, 2026.