With spooky season running head on like a psycho killer wielding a machete our attention turns to the regional genre festivals that happen around the UK. Every year we check in on our friends at Celluloid Screams, the horror film festival based in Sheffield, UK, to see what they have in store for their patrons next month.
Onslaught, the latest from Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett will open this year's festival. The darkly comedic rural fantasy film The Fox will close this year's festival.
Cult filmmaker Larry Fessenden will cross the pond to host screenings of his monster quadrilogy: Habit, Depraved, Blackout and Trauma or, Monsters All. Fellow New York staters, The Adams Family, will be present for a screening of their darkly comedic end times movie, The Glorious Dead.
There will be a 40th Anniversary screening of Wes Craven's In The Mouth of Madness, starring the late Sam Neill. And the amazing JHorror Never After Dark is also screening there this year.
Everything else is in the announcement below.
ONSLAUGHT, THE FOX AND LARRY FESSENDEN IN PERSON AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS AT CELLULOID SCREAMS: SHEFFIELD HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2026!Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett's ONSLAUGHT, independent horror legend Larry Fessenden presenting his monster quadrilogy in person and the regional premiere of Dario Russo's The Fox are among the highlights at Celluloid Screams 2026 (Presented by Arrow Video), along with screenings of Mexican coming-of-age nightmare Fifteen, J-Horror creepfest Never After Dark and campy gothic horror The Restoration at Grayson Manor.Elsewhere in the programme, viewers can discover screenings of In the Mouth of Madness (in partnership with Vice Press), a short film retrospective featuring the work of Brian Lonano and much, much more.Founded in 2009, the festival has become a destination for horror fans seeking the very best the horror genre has to offer. Recently voted one of the Top 40 horror festivals in the world by Dread Central, Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival returns to Showroom Cinema, Sheffield from 22-25 October 2026 with a terrifying array of premieres, previews, terrifying short films, classic screenings and special guests."This year, we're fully thrilled to be joined in person by some of the greatest proponents of modern independent horror cinema." says festival director and founder Rob Nevitt. "Our programme always seeks to highlight the absolute best the horror genre has to offer, but to have the creators of these vibrant, boundary-pushing works with us in the flesh takes the experience to another level."Here's the full line-up of what's in store for Celluloid Screams 2026...Thursday 22 OctoberOPENING GALA: ONSLAUGHT (UK PREMIERE)Dir. Adam Wingard | USA | 2026 | 92 mins | UK PREMIERECelluloid Screams 2026 explodes into life with Onslaught, a pulse-pounding slice of John Carpenter-esque action horror from the makers of You're Next and The Guest.When a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break loose in the desert, a badass Army sniper must unleash hell to protect her young daughter.Screening with SEASON'S GREETINGS + BAGMANHABIT + Introduction by Larry FessendenDir. Larry Fessenden | United States | 1995 | 1h52mA highly original take on vampire lore, Habit is a brooding tale of urban dread from Celluloid Screams 2026 Guest of Honour Larry Fessenden.Recently single New Yorker Sam (Larry Fessenden) is mourning the loss of his father and navigating a lack of ambition while drowning his sorrows in alcohol. At a Halloween party, he meets Anna (Meredith Snaider), a beautiful and mysterious woman who, it turns out, is also a vampire. The two embark on a sexually fueled relationship that constantly feels on the precipice of boiling over into violence.Screening with TONGUEMUM, I'M ALIEN PREGNANTDir. Thunderlips | New Zealand | 2026 | 1h35mWhen a messy millennial underachiever accidentally gets alien-pregnant she must overcome sceptical doctors, a useless baby-daddy, and her oversharing mum in order to survive and reclaim her life.Expanded from directing duo Thunderlips' own short film (as seen at Culture Shock: Festival of Fantastic Film), this outrageous sci-fi body horror comedy brings the gooey goods, whilst also delivering an appropriately barbed message about bodily autonomy and a person's right to choose.Screening with THE HAUNTING OF PLAY HOUSE + THE HUMBUG + KNITTING CLUBFriday 23 OctoberDEPRAVED + introduction by Larry FessendenDir. Larry Fessenden | United States | 2019 | 1h54mThe legend of Frankenstein gets a provocative modern update in this complex, emotionally shattering tale about what it means to be human from director Larry Fessenden.Suffering from PTSD following his stint as an army medic, Henry (David Call) now works feverishly in his Brooklyn laboratory to forget the death he witnessed overseas by creating life in the form of a man cobbled together from body parts. After procuring a brain from an unwitting victim, his creation-Adam (Alex Breaux)-is born. But it soon seems that giving life to Adam was the easy part; teaching him how to live in a dark and troubled world may be perilous.Screening with THE SEEING EYE DOG WHO SAW TOO MUCHBLOOD AND GUTS (UK PREMIERE)Dir. Katie Green, Carlye Rubin | United States | 2025 | 1h20m | UK PREMIEREAn intimate portrait of indie horror dynamos and festival favourites The Adams Family.The lines between real life and reel life blur in this intimate portrait of the Adams family - an unconventional clan of independent horror filmmakers. Blending vérité documentary footage, personal archives, and scenes from their own films, Blood and Guts paints a raw and tender picture of creative collaboration, free-range parenting, and the chaos of family life lived on and off camera. As they race to complete their final family film before their youngest daughter, Zelda, leaves for college, parents Toby Poser and John Adams must confront the inevitable shift that comes with letting go - redefining not only how they see themselves in the world, but who they are as artists when the kids leave the frame.We are delighted to welcome John Adams, Toby Poser and Lulu Adams to Celluloid Screams 2026 to take part in a Q&A after the film.Screening with NO. 3 + ONE SHOT OF ESPRESSOTHE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANORDir. Glenn McQuaid | Ireland | 2025 | 1h30m |The Restoration at Grayson Manor combines a vicious, acerbic wit with a gothic sensibility in a gloriously campy story of familial feuds, biting recriminations and robot hands with a mind of their own.After losing both of his hands in a horrific accident, debauched Irish playboy Boyd Grayson must learn to trust the one person he despises the most... his Mother. Through her immense family fortune, Jacqueline Grayson (Alice Krige) hatches a plan to rebuild her son, replacing his hands with robotic prosthetics that are controlled via his subconscious (What could possibly go wrong?!?). With Boyd incapacitated within the walls of the ancestral home, Jacqueline realises that her long-standing ambitions of her son producing an heir to their family fortune may finally be within her grasp, but with a pair of sentient prosthetics on the loose, fueled by their owner's fury and self loathing, the continuation of the Grayson bloodline is about to get... well... bloody.We are delighted to welcome director Glenn McQuaid and actor Declan Reynolds to Celluloid Screams to introduce The Restoration at Grayson Manor and take part in a Q&A after the film.Screening with A HAND TO HOLDCELLULOID SCREAMS X VICE PRESS: IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESSDir. John Carpenter | USA | 1994 | 1h35mVice Press are back with another screening in partnership with Celluloid Screams Horror Festival, this year for John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.Horror author Sutter Cane is missing. As crowds turn violent waiting for copies of his latest book, Cane's publishers enlist insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) to find him. With Cane's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), Trent sets off in search of the elusive author and finds himself trapped in Hobb's End, a town that should only exist within the author's books. As fiction and reality blur, Trent begins to realize that between the lines, beyond the page, somewhere out there in the dark, something evil is waiting to break through.Everyone attending the screening will receive a FREE In the Mouth of Madness poster by Matt Ferguson, available exclusively at the screening and will not be for sale or available elsewhere.Screening with HEADPHONES + DIRTHMOUTHSTHE GLORIOUS DEADDir. John Adams, Toby Poser | United States | 2026 | 1h20mThe Glorious Dead follows a small-town sheriff (Toby Poser) and her deputy (Zelda Adams) who awaken to a changed world where blood drips from taps, people vanish, creatures roam the woods, and the dead rise as the town descends into chaos.We are delighted to welcome back John Adams, Toby Poser and Lulu Adams to Celluloid Screams to introduce The Glorious Dead and take part in a Q&A after the film.Screening with WALL UDDER + CEILING KINGSaturday 24 OctoberBLACKOUTDir. Larry Fessenden | United States | 2023 | 1h45mThe third film in Larry Fessenden's monster saga, in which a small town is ravaged by nocturnal outbursts of violence that appear to occur when the moon is full.Charley thinks he's a werewolf. He can't remember the things he's done but the papers report random acts of violence taking place at night in this small upstate hamlet. Now the whole town must rally to find out what is tearing it apart: mistrust, fear, or a monster that comes out at night.Screening with SUNDOWNINGLONANORAMA: THE FILMS OF BRIAN LONANODir. Brian Lonano | United States | 2007-2023 | 75 minsFollowing on from last year's short film retrospective, we're thrilled to bring the delightfully deranged work of filmmaker Brian Lonano to the big screen.Several of Brian's films have graced the programmes of Celluloid Screams over the years (including the notorious Gwilliam!), so we thought it was about time to bring the man himself to Sheffield to present his films and take part in a Q&A after the screening.CRAWLERSDir. Ángel Gómez Hernández | USA | 2026 | 86 minsArachnophobes beware!Serena (Lutz), the overworked and underappreciated building manager of the Paradiso Palms apartment complex, discovers a mysterious death while doing her rounds. But what begins as a suspected viral outbreak quickly spirals into something far more terrifying: a catastrophic infestation of venomous spiders spreading rapidly through the building. Trapped by a quarantine with no way out, residents are forced into a desperate fight for survival as the threat multiplies by the second. Armed only with her intimate knowledge of the building, Serena may be the only one who can keep them alive - if she can confront her deepest fear.Screening with THE END IS AT HAND + IN THE TEETH OF TIMEFIFTEEN (UK PREMIERE)Dir. Jack Zagha, Yossy Zagha | Mexico, Argentina | 2026 | 1h37m | UK PREMIERETwo best friends preparing for their quinceañera face desire, cruelty, and social pressure - until one girl's body begins to transform into something monstrous in this coming-of-age nightmare.Set in Mexico City, Fifteen reimagines the iconic quinceañera as a chaotic mix of comedy and creature horror. Through Mayte and Ligia's unbreakable bond, the film explores class divides, the illusions of adolescence, and the fear of growing up-wrapped in kitsch aesthetics, blood-soaked humor, and biting social critique.Screening with BREEDER + SCISSORSCELLULOID SCREAMS SECRET FILM #1Dir. ? | ? | ? | ? |A festival tradition since our first edition in 2009, our secret film is kept under wraps and only revealed as it is about to begin. In past years we've showcased premieres and previews of such high profile films as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, COLOR OUT OF SPACE, SYNCHRONIC and THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. What delights could this year's secret film bring? You'll have to wait and see.Screening with THE TRICK + JEALOUS PEOPLE ARE UGLY PEOPLECELLULOID SCREAMS X DIRT IN THE GATE MOVIES: 35mm MYSTERY GRINDHOUSE SCREENING MYSTERY 35MM GRINDHOUSE FILMDir. TBC | TBC | TBC | TBCThe wildest screening of the festival is back for 2026. What cinematic brainmelter do we have in store for you this year? We've teamed up with 35mm heroes Dirt in the Gate Movies (organisers of Grindfest) to trawl the vaults to find a film that you absolutely won't want to miss, so be sure to grab a ticket.Sunday 25 OctoberWHEN THE WIND BLOWSDir. Jimmy T. Murakami | United Kingdom | 1986 | 1h24m | 40th AnniversaryA naive elderly British rural couple face the initial onslaught of a nuclear war in this devastating animated classic based on Raymond Briggs' 1982 graphic novel.Elderly married couple Hilda and Jim Bloggs have their quiet, simple lives in the English countryside interrupted when they learn of an impending nuclear attack. Not completely understanding the gravity of their situation, Hilda and Jim obediently follow the official guidance provided by the government, leaving them woefully unprepared for the new world that surrounds them.Screening with TRADING CARDS + SUMMER PROJECTNEVER AFTER DARKDir. Dave Boyle | Japan | 2026 | 1h45mA travelling spirit medium encounters an unexpected and deadly presence in this chilly supernatural thriller.Airi is a wandering medium who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living. Summoned to exorcize a spirit from an isolated country house by its new owner, Airi comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy her experience. While investigating its origins, she uncovers dark secrets and finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force.Screening with GRÝLU SKER : AN ICELANDIC GHOST STORYCELLULOID SCREAMS SECRET FILM #2Dir. ? | ? | ? | ?A festival tradition since our first edition in 2009, our secret film is kept under wraps and only revealed as it is about to begin. In past years we've showcased premieres and previews of such high profile films as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, COLOR OUT OF SPACE, SYNCHRONIC and THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. What delights could this year's secret film bring? You'll have to wait and see.TRAUMA OR, MONSTERS ALLDir. Larry Fessenden | USA | 2026 | 1h58mA writer investigating her town's dark past for a newspaper article stirs up fears about lurking monsters in director Larry Fessenden's concluding chapter of his monster quadrilogy.Cassandra (Laeticia Hollard) is a young historian who has moved to the small town of Talbot Falls to write her book on scientist George Washington Carver. When she becomes aware of a series of murders that occurred in the town's recent past, however, Cassandra begins to investigate for a piece in the local newspaper. The resulting article unleashes fear and paranoia regarding hidden monsters amongst the local townspeople and, as it inevitably spreads online, attracts the attention of dark forces and stokes the fires of division and deep-seated trauma in Talbot Falls and America at large.Trauma Or, Monsters All unites the classic monster archetypes from Habit, Depraved and Blackout in a vivid mashup that explores the notion of otherness through a distinctly modern lens.We are delighted to welcome our 2026 guest of honour Larry Fessenden to Celluloid Screams to present his modern monster quadrilogy and take part in an extended Q&A after the screening of Trauma or, Monsters All.CLOSING GALA: THE FOXDir. Dario Russo | Australia | 2025 | 1h30mA darkly comedic tale of a trickster fox let loose in the henhouse of Australian culture, featuring the voices of Olivia Colman and Sam Neill.Nick (Jai Courtney) is an average Aussie guy, but when his fiancée Kori (Emily Browning) cheats on him he is unwise enough to listen to a sly fox (Olivia Colman) who promises to transform his partner into the perfect woman and in doing so take control of the natural world.Festival passes and day passes are on sale Saturday 12 September at 12 noon (UK Time)Individual Tickets are on sale Saturday 19 September at 12 noon.Follow along on socials and visit https://www.celluloidscreams.com/ for details of this year's festival.