{Film Festival} Bloody Hell, Dead Northern Horror Film Festival’s First Wave Just Dropped

Dead Northern Horror Film Festival just dropped its complete lineup for 2026, and festival director Josh Lawson isn’t kidding when he says the standard of submissions keeps climbing. This year’s event runs September 25-27 at Picturehouse City Screen in York, and organizers have packed in three UK feature premieres, ten UK short-film premieres, two World Premieres (Evil Thread and Darling), and 13 regional premieres. That’s more than 50 short and feature films total, so clear your calendar.

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The Highlights Reel

Aliens turns 40 this year, and Dead Northern is marking the occasion with a special anniversary screening presented by Dead by Daylight. If you’re the type who can recite Bill Paxton’s “game over, man” line from memory, this one’s for you. The programme also digs into classic Filipino horror with Aswang (1994), plus UK premieres of Free Buffet, The First Day, and Game Over.

Speaking of Dead by Daylight, the festival’s partnership with Behaviour Interactive is going all in for the game’s 10th anniversary. City Screen’s basement is getting turned into a full Dead by Daylight-inspired immersive experience, so you can literally step into the fog between screenings. Ambitious, and honestly kind of perfect for a horror fest.

Not Just Movies

Dead Northern has never been content to just show films and call it a day, and this year’s “beyond the films” slate proves it. There are filmmaker Q&As, Dead Talks panels, an Alien: Deep Space Trivia night with the Independent Horror Society, a cocktail-and-ghost-story event called Spirits With Spirits, and the Dead Northern Awards Ceremony capped off with an after party.

Dead Ink Books and INDICATOR from Powerhouse Films are joining as premium lobby vendors, which means the shopping might rival the screenings for some attendees. And Lawson’s team is teasing that there’s still more to be announced before the festival kicks off.

What Lawson Had to Say

“We honestly couldn’t be happier with this year’s programme,” Lawson said. “Every year the standard of submissions seems to get higher, and this year we’ve had to make some incredibly difficult decisions to get everything into one weekend.” He added that between Dead Ink, INDICATOR, the filmmakers, and everything else happening across the weekend, “it feels like we’ve really got something special this year.” His closing line sums up the vibe pretty well: “Now we’ve just got to survive the weekend.”

Dead Northern Horror Film Festival 2026 runs September 25-27 at Picturehouse City Screen in York. Individual tickets for screenings and events are live now.