2026 Virtual Program
Los Angeles, CA– Access:Horror Film Festival, a celebration of disability in genre film, kicked off its 2026 program with an in-person opening night showcase at the Alamo Drafthouse Winchester on September 25. Following a sucessful night of accessibility-centered shorts, the virtual program will stream globally from October 4 through November 1, 2026.
“After a momentous kickoff at Lost Weekend, we’re thrilled to bring this year’s edition of the most accessible horror festival on the planet to audiences around the world,” Caris O’Malley, Access:Horror Co-Producer enthused. “This year’s lineup takes Access:Horror to new heights, with films that plumb the darkest depths of the human (and porcine) appetite alongside others that reveal the human body for the ticking time bomb it is. Every official selection comes with captions and audio description, so the festival is more accessible than ever. It’s also scarier than ever. On October 4th, body horror is on the menu, and dinner is served.”
Access:Horror was created as a space to explore and celebrate the history, impact, and future of disability in the horror genre, through conversations, connections, and various artistic forms, including film. We acknowledge the interwoven nature of identity and media representation, and celebrate the many intersectional identities that have been at the heart of horror cinema since the beginning. We believe in horror as an agent of change, and seek to elevate discourse that uplifts marginalized creators and gives them space to create new work that imagines new worlds.
Access:Horror was founded by filmmaker and activist Ariel Baska to center disability advocacy through genre cinema. Named one of the most accessible film festivals in the nation in Forbes, this year’s lineup features shorts dissecting medical racism, neurodivergence, disability, depression, and queer persecution.
Ahead of the global streaming launch, Baska shared, “Slurs are becoming more common in everyday language, including in Oscar-winning Hollywood films. The government is unleashing daily violence on the disability community through Medicaid cuts, institutionalization, and rollbacks to disability rights protections. For disabled people, this is already a horror movie, which is why, this year, horror feels like the most honest genre out there. Access:Horror is proud to share a lineup of validating, crucial, and cathartic terrors that illustrate the strength of the disability community. Open captions and audio description make the program stronger still, letting us reach more audiences and turn more stomachs with these filmmakers’ gnarly tales”.
This year’s lineup features groundbreaking short films that utilize horror to dissect real-world medical racism, neurodivergence, disability, depression, and queer persecution.
| The virtual component showcases 19 international titles, featuring all 9 opening night selections alongside 10 additional festival films, plus filmmaker Q&As, panels, and industry talks. This year’s streaming lineup is organized into three programs, each one built around a different way horror gets under your skin. Watch them online, at your own pace, through our streaming hub. Every film across the virtual program features open captions, and 9 of the 19 titles include audio description. |
| A Fermenting Woman (dir. Priscilla Galvez) – A peculiar chef and fermentation expert prepares a career-saving meal using a very special ingredient. Walk the line between mouthwatering and revolting in this controversial culinary gamble for all the yeast and kimchi lovers out there. Fantastic Fest, 2025. Nominated for Lost Weekend Awards: Best Horror Short, Best Short, Best Short Director Blindsided (dir. P. Patrick Hogan) – A relentless POV horror short experienced entirely from inside a blind woman’s perspective as she navigates an unseen threat in her home. Slamdance, 2026. LA Shorts, 2026. Nominated for the Lost Weekend Award for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short Cold (dir. Liz Whitmere) – A visceral horror-thriller tracking a woman’s body literally decomposing; a horrific transformation weaponized and dismissed by those around her as standard aging and menopause. Female Eye Film Festival, 2026. Everhand (dir. Lee Cleaveland) – When a one armed farmer orders a mysterious machine, he and his wife must face off with a company rep in order to reclaim their humanity. Slamdance, 2026. Four Itchy Boys (dir. Andrew Hebert) – An LGBTQ+ body horror and queer/trans allegory detailing the sudden media circus surrounding an unexplainable itch. A 2026 Raindance official selection, directed by Andrew Hebert and starring Twilight’s Booboo Stewart, American Horror Story’s Nico Greetham, Never Have I Ever’s Gilberto Ortiz, and Alone at Dawn’s Ben Weinswig. Dances with Films LA, 2026.Nominated for Lost Weekend Awards: Best Short, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short, Best Director, Best Production Design The Hog Queen (dir. Katherine Craft) – A high-octane drag show survival horror set in a small-town Texas gay bar where a night of performance turns into a fight for physical and creative survival. Maryland Film Festival, 2026. Features Marissa Bode of Wicked. Nominated for the Lost Weekend Award for Best Comedy Short. Inner Demons (dir. Jasmine J. Johnson) – A psychological thriller where clinical depression is literalized as a relentless, stalking physical entity. SXSW, 2026. Mango (dir. Joan Iyiola) – A searing, experimental essay film unpacking the physical reality of fibroids and the systemic trauma of medical racism against Black women. Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2025. Executive Produced by Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners). Nominated for the Lost Weekend Award for Best Horror Short. Tal (Mask) (dir. Charlie Gillette) – A haunting, claustrophobic meditation on immigrant identity and familial expectations. Locked inside a law firm late at night, a secretly queer Korean-American artist is forced into a psychological confrontation with himself. Written by and starring non-binary actor Wesley Han (Russian Doll), delivering a deeply personal and striking lead performance. Asian American International Film Festival, 2026. Nominated for the Lost Weekend Award for Best Horror Short |
You can browse the streaming program and get your access pass HERE.
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