With Halloween quickly approaching, most people are in full horror movie mode. Cable channels are pumping out the classics and seriously, who am I to tell you NOT to watch John Carpenter’s Halloween on Halloween?! But if you’re craving something new to fill your yearly quota for guts and gore, check out the awesome selection of new and indie genre films at this year’s New York City Horror Film Festival (NYCHFF). The Festival celebrates its 15th year in 2017 and runs Thursday night, October 26th through Sunday, October 29th at the Cinepolis Chelsea Theater in the heart of Manhattan.

Founded by the late Michael J. Hein, NYCHFF has grown into New York’s largest genre fest, focusing solely on horror and science fiction. The crew that runs the festival is a true family, most have been here since its inception. This year, they will screen over 40 feature-length and short films over the 4-day festival, and many of the films have Q&A sessions with the casts and crew afterward. The festival hosts run trivia contests with the crowd before the showings. They will hand out awards for the best films and deliver their annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Chucky himself, Oscar nominee Brad Dourif. Dourif first became a horror icon, portraying Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer who transfers his soul to a “Good Guy” doll, in 1988’s Child’s Play. He later starred with George C. Scott in the classic Exorcist 3 (1990) and recently played the voice of Chucky for the 7th time in Cult of Chucky, which debuted this month on Netflix.

You can check out the entire schedule of films for NYCHFF, and purchase your tickets at nychorrorfest.com. You can purchase specific program tickets which include a feature-length film and shorts before it, or buy VIP weekend passes. The Cinepolis Chelsea is located at 260 West 23rd Street in New York City. The Brad Dourif Lifetime Achievement Award presentation will go on Saturday night, and the film awards will go on Sunday after the final screening.

We’ll be providing coverage of the festival this year, so keep it here at Geeks Of Doom this weekend for our news and reviews.

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