If the universal fear of the unknown lies at the heart of most horror stories, it makes sense that over-explaining your scary movies can end up undermining the viewer experience. That’s why short films are such a perfect fit for the horror genre, as these brief yarns are usually over before filmmakers can get the […]
If the universal fear of the unknown lies at the heart of most horror stories, it makes sense that over-explaining your scary movies can end up undermining the viewer experience. That’s why short films are such a perfect fit for the horror genre, as these brief yarns are usually over before filmmakers can get the chance to bog down their ghosts and ghouls with unnecessary lore and backstories.
And while we’ve already highlighted a small collection of memorable horror shorts in a previous article, there are still plenty of short-form scares waiting to be found. With that in mind, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six more short films to give you nightmares!
Like last time, we won’t be including any anthology segments or films within films. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite horrific short films if you think we missed a particularly spooky one.
And while it won’t be featured here due to having already been included on a list celebrating the scariest cursed objects in horror, I’d also like to give a shout-out to Dylan Clark’s Portrait of God!
Almost everyone has found themselves being haunted by an overactive imagination when walking alone at night, and it’s precisely this kind of relatable terror that makes Michael Evans’ 2AM: The Smiling Man so frightening despite the short’s low production value and overall simplicity. Following a young protagonist who encounters the titular Smiling Man while he’s out on a lonely evening stroll, the film relies on uncanny acting and impeccable atmosphere to achieve its scares rather than traditional monsters and visual trickery.
While I don’t think the film is quite as effective now as it was back when it first went viral, I still believe The Smiling Man is worth revisiting as proof that all you need is a good idea and a couple of talented friends in order to make something special.
From Lights Out to Shazam!, I’m a huge fan of Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg. I mean, you’ve got to admire a director that still brings out his A-game even when he’s saddled with a sub-par screenplay like in the case of his recent Until Dawn adaptation – a movie that’s best enjoyed as a series of freaky vignettes. However, long before he was producing blockbuster hits, Sandberg came to notoriety by posting homemade horror shorts on his personal YouTube channel – a channel that he still updates to this very day.
While there’s quite a selection of entertaining horror yarns available on ponysmasher, I really admire the eerie minimalism of his 2014 release Coffer, a deceptively simple horror flick that follows Sandberg’s wife Lotta as she deals with a mysterious wooden coffer containing unfathomable horrors. And if you like this one, don’t forget to check out the rest of Sandberg’s short horror collection as well as his highly informative making-of videos (which I sometimes enjoy more than the movies themselves).
Guillermo del Toro is known for using his reputation as a distinguished director to shed light on lesser-known filmmakers and their underrated projects. This is how Andy Muschietti’s short film Mamá was expanded into a feature-length picture, as Del Toro championed the original film’s minimalistic scares.
Boasting Hollywood-level cinematography and a genuinely frightening monster, this low-budget short is a great example of a filmmaker working within grueling time constraints and still managing to deliver a memorable finished product (as the house that the short was filmed in was set to be demolished two weeks after the location was found).
I’m a sucker (pun very much intended) for horror stories featuring a Dark Fairy Tale aesthetic, and Suckablood is a great example of filmmakers achieving that kind of atmosphere -as well as a memorable story- without breaking the bank. Inspired by the eerie nursery rhymes of yesteryear as well as the writings of the Brothers Grimm, Jake Hendrik and Ben Tillet’s charming little short feels a lot like a stylish prototype for The Babadook.
Naturally, it’s the Suckablood itself that makes short stand out from other low-budget genre yarns, with old-school practical effects (including a prosthetic-heavy costume that wouldn’t seem out of place in an ’80s flick) seamlessly blending with digital trickery in order to bring the story to life. If you ask me, it’s a shame that Hendrik and Tillet never expanded this into a feature-length experience.
Cheap and decidedly un-cinematic, Username:666 also happens to be the most famous and possibly most influential short on this list. Created by notorious Japanese horror artist nana825763, this Screenlife horror experience depicts the investigation of a mysterious YouTube channel that appears to corrupt your browser as you search for it. And as the screen devolves into hellish imagery, the droning soundtrack worms its way into your head.
This simple bit of digital trickery was so creepy that some internet users still insist that it’s based on real paranormal phenomena despite plenty of evidence to the contrary – an idea that led to a sequel video in 2010. Funnily enough, YouTube actually banned an account named 666 as a reference to the original short, with the ban only being lifted in early 2025.
1. Keep the Gaslight Burning (2018)
The only film on this list that isn’t currently available for free, Keep the Gaslight Burning is well worth the price of admission due to its impeccable production design as well as the fact that it’s based on a classic ghost story by celebrated horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes.
Unlike most of the other short-form scares here, Keep the Gaslight Burning feels like a high-level exercise in cinematic tension and atmosphere with costumes and set design that seem more expensive-looking than a lot of feature films. Of course, the ghoulish appearance of a nearly unrecognizable Rick Baker (the effects legend behind iconic practical monster movies like An American Werewolf in London) is just icing on the ghostly cake!
