The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is an annual competitive international genre film festival held in Brooklyn, NY, showcasing the best new independent horror, sci-fi, and genre cinema from around the world. Now in its 11th edition, it is considered a premier East Coast genre gathering, running eight days with world and regional premieres, retrospectives, and special events at Nitehawk Cinema.
Weekend programming morning to late night; weekday screenings kick off late afternoon
Nitehawk Williamsburg: L train to Bedford Ave; Nitehawk Prospect Park: F/G to 15th St–Prospect Park
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is back for its 11th edition, running eight days from October 15 to October 22, 2026. The home base is once again Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg, which hosts every screening this year, Opening Night included. If you like your October movies dark, weird and international, this is the week to clear your calendar.
What is Brooklyn Horror Film Festival?
Brooklyn Horror is an annual competitive genre festival that brings new independent horror, sci-fi and adjacent strangeness from around the world to Brooklyn screens. It programs world and regional premieres alongside retrospectives and special events, and over a decade it has grown into what many consider the premier genre gathering on the East Coast.
Part of what makes it work is the setting. Nitehawk is a dine-in theater, so you can watch a body-horror film while someone quietly drops a plate of food in front of you, which is either a perk or a dare depending on the movie. The crowd skews toward people who actually care about this stuff: filmmakers, programmers, genre diehards and curious locals who wander in and come back the next night.
The festival also matters because of where it sits in the calendar. By mid-October, a lot of the year’s buzziest genre titles have played Sundance, Fantasia or Fantastic Fest, and Brooklyn Horror is where many of them get their New York or U.S. debut. For a city that does not have a dedicated major genre festival on the scale of some other places, it fills a real gap.
What’s on this year
The festival returns to its full eight-day format this year. Weekend programming runs from morning straight through to late night, while weekday screenings kick off in the late afternoon, which is a mercy for anyone who has to work.
Opening Night is the U.S. premiere of Nicky Murphy’s vampire mockumentary I Love Paris, presented by MUBI, according to Variety. The screening is followed by an Opening Night Party presented by Dark Sky Films. Opening Night takes place at Nitehawk Williamsburg, like every other screening this year.
The Centerpiece film is the New York premiere of Marion Le Corroller’s body-horror Species (Sanguine), also reported by Variety. If a vampire mockumentary and a French-flavored body-horror picture are the two anchors, that tells you something about the range the programmers are going for this year.
Beyond those two titles, the full lineup was publicly revealed in mid-September 2026. The slate includes world and regional premieres, shorts blocks and special events, with guests including Michael Dougherty and the Adams Family, and Kick On has been confirmed as the Closing Night film. Check the festival’s own announcements for the complete schedule as October gets closer.
Tickets and how to go
Festival badges are on sale now through the festival’s Eventive page. These are multi-film packages rather than all-access passes in the traditional sense, and the one the festival is highlighting is the Possessed Package, which covers 16 selections. If you plan to see more than a few films, a package is almost always the smarter buy, and it also means you are not refreshing a ticket page the morning individual sales open.
Individual tickets go on sale September 18 at 10am ET. The festival has not confirmed the exact per-ticket price for the 2026 edition, so budget on the assumption that Opening Night and the Centerpiece will cost more than a regular slot and that popular titles will sell out first.
Getting there is easy, and with every screening under one roof this year, you can build a full day of films without worrying about transit time between venues.
A few practical notes from people who have done this before. Nitehawk seats are assigned, so arrive early enough to order food before the lights go down if you want to eat, because servers come through during the previews and then go quiet. Weekend days run long, and the late-night slots are where some of the wildest programming tends to land, so plan your energy accordingly. And if you want to go to the Opening Night Party, buy that ticket early. It is the one night of the festival that always draws a crowd beyond the usual regulars.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 2026 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival?
It runs October 15 through October 22, 2026, an eight-day stretch. Weekends go from morning to late night, and weekday screenings start in the late afternoon.
Where are the screenings?
All 2026 screenings, including Opening Night, are at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg.
What is the Opening Night film?
The U.S. premiere of Nicky Murphy’s vampire mockumentary I Love Paris, presented by MUBI, with an Opening Night Party afterward presented by Dark Sky Films.
What is the Centerpiece film?
The New York premiere of Marion Le Corroller’s body-horror film Species (Sanguine).
How much are tickets?
Festival badges are on sale now, including the Possessed Package with 16 selections. Individual tickets go on sale September 18 at 10am ET. The exact per-ticket price for 2026 has not been confirmed.
Has the full lineup been announced?
Yes. The full 2026 slate was announced in mid-September and includes the Closing Night film, Kick On, along with guests such as Michael Dougherty and the Adams Family, shorts blocks and special events.
