First came the drama in the diorama. Populated with misfit toys and mischievous critters, a room-sized diorama was created by artist Beck Underwood, photographed and turned into a printed advent calendar.

 

Haunted by the idea that behind each of the windows

was a story waiting to be told, Underwood invited 25 filmmakers to make short films inspired by the inhabitants of the diorama. Each filmmaker was assigned a specific date and given the props that were used in that window to use in their short.

 

The resulting 2008 Creepy Christmas Online Film Festival premiered Dec 1st, 2008 and was met with much enthusiasm.

 

Now, ten years later, the festival is back! Original fest alumni along with some terrifyingly talented newcomers have been given a holiday-themed word as their prompt. Representing a wide variety of styles and approaches, their short films premiere this year from December 1 – 25.