This October, Ohio’s premier horror film celebration, Nightmares Film Festival, returns to Columbus. As is tradition, Nightmares has announced its “Early 13” selections in mid-August and this year’s lineup is even better than before.

Contained within its roster are the latest works from the makers of Mandy, Idle Hands, Goodnight Mommy, Let Me In, Some Kind of Hate, and Starry Eyes!

“The Early 13 is an exciting tradition for us, and has really become the unofficial start of the festival,” said NFF co-founder Jason Tostevin. “We do it because we want to give everyone a sense of the breadth and depth of the program that will take shape in October.”

This year’s Early 13 consists of seven features and six shorts…

Features:

• Daniel Isn’t Real (Midnight Feature) – Regional Premiere
• Eat, Love, Brains (Horror Comedy Feature) – North American Premiere
• The Girl on the Third Floor (Horror Feature) – Regional Premiere
• The Lodge (Thriller Feature) – Regional Premiere
• The Obsessed (Late Night Mindfuck Feature) – World Premiere
• Reckoning (Midwest Premiere, ) – Midwest Premiere
• Swallow (Thriller Feature) – Second-Ever Screening Worldwide

Shorts:

• Boo (Recurring Nightmares Short)
• Changeling (Midnight Short)
• Gaslight (Thriller Short)
• Limbo (Late Night Mindfuck Short)
• Lippy (Horror Short)
• Reunion (Horror Comedy Short)

“We choose the Early 13 each year based on their high scores with the jury, and also for their alignment with the spirit of the fest and the tone of that year’s program,” said co-founder Chris Hamel. “Just like the full lineup, there is something for every genre fan in this preview.”

Festival darling Daniel Isn’t Real hails from Some Kind of Hate director Adam Egypt Mortimer. Horror comedy Eat, Brains, Love is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jeff Hart (Undead with Benefits) and is directed by Rodman Flender (Idle Hands, Leprechaun 2). The Lodge is the latest effort from both Hammer Films and the directors of Goodnight Mommy. That’s just three of the seven features listed above. I haven’t even brought up the fact that the remaining four come from those responsible for genre favorites such as Cheap Thrills, We Are Still Here, Torment, and A Horrible Way to Die. Given the fact that the eventual final program will see at least a dozen more features and well over 100 more shorts announced, their full 2019 lineup is sure to be a delight for any horror fan who decides to attend.

Nightmares Film Festival returns to Columbus, Ohio’s Gateway Film Center on Thursday, October 24^thand runs through Sunday, October 27^th. VIP passes for the fest are currently available and going fast, so if you’re planning on attending, I suggest you get cracking! Since the Early 13 are the only programming decisions made before the final submission deadline on September 13^th, anyone interested in submitting their feature, short, or screenplay for consideration is still very much encouraged to do so.