By NightTide Magazine

In partnership with the George A. Romero Foundation, the hybrid festival and industry summit will take place August 1st, 2025

New York, NY – Access: Horror film festival will return this summer as a hybrid festival and industry summit, both online and live in New York City, to celebrate disability in horror and genre cinema. Named as one of the most accessible film festivals in the nation by Forbes, Access: Horror will kick off events on August 1st with a 6-hour program at DCTV Firehouse Cinema in New York City (87 Lafayette St.). Featuring the tagline, “So Inclusive, It’s Scary,” The festival is taking place in partnership with the George A. Romero Foundation.

For the first time, the horror streaming service SHUDDER will also be streaming all of the Access:Horror short films on their platform.

Access: Horror was founded by acclaimed filmmaker, author, podcaster and horror activist Ariel Baska. Beyond films, the event will host panels, discussions and Q&A’s from various luminaries from horror and disability advocacy communities.
This year’s festival will have a heightened relevance in the wake of attacks on Medicaid, Medicare, and fundamental disability rights legislation.

“Access:Horror is a celebration of disability that flies in the face of the existential threats posed by RFK, Jr., the attacks on Medicaid, and a rising tide of eugenics supporters.” says Baska.

Access: Horror will be hosted by Ariel Baska, alongside Sharai Bohannon and Xero Gravity of the Blerdy Massacre Podcast, and Phil Nobile Jr., the editor-in-chief of Fangoria will preside over the awards ceremony. The event will feature a panel on Blackness and Disability in Horror and a collection of 10 short horror films. Highlights include, The Shadow Wrangler by filmmaker and actor Grace Rex, noted for her recurring role on the Apple TV hit Severance, Lady Parts, directed by Ariel McCleese (editor-in-chief of BloodLetter Magazine), and Tight, by Jessica Barr, which had its premiere at SXSW.
“I am here to create a way for community to come together and defiantly celebrate inclusivity wherever we can, however we can,” says Baska. “We are extending our reach from New York City to the wilds of Virginia and the coastal Bay Area this fall, through partnerships with Lost Weekend Film Festival at the Alamo Drafthouse Winchester, and Superfest Disability Film Festival at the San Francisco Disability Cultural Center.”
At the live event in New York, a silent auction will take place that includes items such as a piece of the Blair Witch house, a tour of the Horror Archive in Pittsburgh, and a consultation with the Adams Family of Hellbender fame, among other memorabilia and experiences. All proceeds from the silent auction will go directly to the filmmakers of Access:Horror in an effort to build sustainability for filmmakers in the festival landscape.

Finally, the festival will feature a live performance premiere of a new song by acclaimed singer-songwriter Maya Azucena. That song is to be featured in Monstrous Me, the upcoming new documentary by festival founder Ariel Baska about their relationship with horror, disability, and the movie monster, Freddy Krueger. Monstrous Me is being produced by Lilly Wachowski.

Tickets will go on sale and the Access:Horror website will include the full list of films, special guests, and schedule on July 7th.

About Access: Horror
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.
https://www.accesshorror.com/