A Night of Horror International Film Festival will return to Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire for its second year in the United States. It will run from March 6-9, screening a variety of new horror films from around the world.

The film festival was originally founded by its director, Dean Bertram, in Sydney, Australia in 2006. This year will mark A Night of Horror’s 17th run.

Bertram said that he’s worked with many cinemas around the world but Micon was a “nice match” because of the other arts venues in the downtown area and community investment.

“Micon is a family-owned and operated business,” Bertram said. “Because they’re local and they’ve been here for such a long time and they’re so invested in the community, I think they actually like the idea of hosting arts events and doing something different in Eau Claire.” 

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The festival’s line-up includes a total of 13 films and two series of short films. A few of these works have never been seen before, premiering for the very first time at A Night of Horror.

At 6 p.m. on Friday, March 7, there will be a “Special Secret Screening” of a brand new horror film that has yet to complete its final cut. The director, who is currently unknown in order to keep the film a secret, will be present at the festival to hear feedback from audience members. 

According to Bertram, other filmmakers will also be present at the festival for Q&A sessions after the showing of their film.

The world premiere of “Lead Belly” will be screened at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. This is a coming-of-age horror film about two brothers on summer vacation who visit their recently divorced and estranged father.

“You’re experiencing cinema that you’re probably not going to experience elsewhere,” Bertram said. “There’s lots of like-minded people. If you’re interested in cinema, particularly horror or weird cinema, you get to hang out with the filmmakers … the filmmakers are so open, they’ll be in the Mousetrap [Tavern] next door or in the foyer. Friendships are always made there.”

The closing-night film, “Ed Kemper,” will have its world premiere at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 9 at Micon. The film portrays the life of a real American serial killer, Edmund Kemper, who was convicted of murdering seven women and one girl in the early 1970s.

Films presenting their United States premiere include “The Matriarch” and “They Were Witches.” 

Midwest premieres include “The Lost Episode,” “Traumnovelle,” “ITCH!” “Seance” and “Video Vision.”

Wisconsin premieres include “Tim Travers & the Time Travelers Paradox,” “New Fear’s Eve” and “Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire.”

Bertram said that several hundred films are watched each year to curate the festival’s lineup. A Night of Horror has an open submission policy and uses a submission platform called FilmFreeway.

“I’m a big believer in trying to screen submitted content rather than sourcing films,” Bertram said. “In the type of mid-tier festival space … you can look at their program and see they curated it via sales agents. They’re being disingenuous; they’re presenting themselves as an open platform but they’re really a closed platform screening a handful of submitted films.”

Running simultaneously at Micon with A Night of Horror will be Midwest WeirdFest, which Bertram also directs. This will be Midwest WeirdFest’s ninth year at Micon.

According to Bertram, both festivals rank in the top 100 on the FilmFreeway submission server site, out of roughly 12,000 festivals total. For both festivals, Bertram said that about 90% of the films are from submissions.

One exception will be at MidWest WeirdFest, where a showing of the 1977 classic horror film, “Eraserhead,” will be screened as a tribute to it’s director, David Lynch, who passed away in January. The film will be shown at 10 p.m. on Friday, March 7.

“Midwest WeirdFest was already fairly well known in Eau Claire, particularly with our audience,” Bertram said. “We have a very dedicated audience of pass holders … So we thought, ‘These people we know love horror, they always get excited about horror, so let them dip their toes into A Night of Horror at the same time.’”

Bertram said that while MidWest WeirdFest also includes elements of horror in its lineup, it is more broad in the realm of “weird” and can also include off-beat comedies, supernatural documentaries and more.

Holding a full festival pass or a day pass will allow viewers to enter both A Night of Horror and MidWest WeirdFest. Passes are available for purchase on the FilmFreeway website. Tickets for a single film are $7 each.

“I think there is a vicarious thrill to watching this stuff, which lets us see our nightmares on the screen,” Bertram said. “While we probably wouldn’t want to live them in real life, we can explore the darker parts of our subconscious via the cinema screen.”

Matczak can be reached at matczaij9603@uwec.edu.