Amongst the claustrophobic confines of a truck carrying undocumented imgrants across the U.S./Mexico border — the coyote pun perhaps unintended, but when the title of your film is The Wereback all bets are off — one woman is containing true horror inside her as the full moon causes a transformation.

Directed by the Estrada Brothers, this looks gorgeous and has some moments of genuine terror. It’s a short, so you’re going to be left wanting more, but isn’t that the hallmark of something that is really trying for greatness?

The Wereback is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

In just eight minutes, director and writer Charlie McWade, along with cinematographer Brendan H. Banks, take viewers along for a dark ride as a woman awakens in the silent woods to repeatedly hear a call that awakens her from her warm and safe bed and brings her out into the night.

Weee Wooo is McWade’s first short, as he’s usually in front of the camera. And just when things get wild, the film stops. So here’s to more of his work in this vein, as this atmospheric little film got under my skin and excited to see more.

Weee Wooo is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

Let’s just get it out of the way: horror can be an escape, but the truth is, it’s always political, offering a lens for us to see the world in a way that may be too harsh to face in the light of the day.

This film is about Bryce and Mitchell’s trip home across country, which is suddenly stopped by red and blue lights in a town that grows darker not for any horror movie villain, but for the reality of racism and police corruption.

And then — and only then — do the horror elements arrive.

Mylo Butler, the director, cinematographer and co-writer with Jada Lewter, has added some incredibly gorgeous visuals into this, as well as moments of true heart and beauty amongst all the ugliness. This does what all shorts should — it makes you wonder where else the story could go.

Sundown Town is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

When Glenna Piccolo’s mutant son’s tastes go from animal meat to human flesh — and he tires of his “radio games” — she must figure out how to keep her flesh and blood and guts satiated.

If your tastes run to the gorier side — and if you’re reading our site, chances are they do — you’ll like this one, which feels like a lower budget The Deadly Spawn in under twenty minutes. That’s a compliment.

Writer/director Jean-Paul DiSciscio has made something really strange and wonderful here and it’d be great to see it play out with a much longer running time and a much larger budget.

Poor Glenna is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

Chris McInroy is the director of Bad Guy #2, Death Metal, We Summoned A Demon and the segment “One Time In The Woods” in Scare Package and if you’ve seen that, you have some idea of just how bloody and brilliant this short is going to be.

GUTS is all about Tim, who is in love with a girl in his office, wants a promotion and has to deal with all manner of bullies during his day because, well, his guts are on the outside of his body.

Do not watch if you are grossed out by guts, eating guts, drinking guts, eyeballs ala Fulci, whittling awards killing people, spraying blood, ooze, gristle, gore, more guts and fun. I almost puked at one point and I thought I had a cast iron stomach, so Mr. McInroy, you can consider that a standing ovation.

Hunt this down, find it and fall in love. Or throw up. I mean, either way, you’re living, right?

GUTS is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

Filmed in one of America’s oldest deep coal mines and featuring practical FX from Emmy award-winning makeup artist Santino Ferrese (Star Trek Discovery), Fire on the Mountain is all about the battle that a young woman must take on to stop a centuries old demon from unleashing hell on Earth.

Director Patrick Corcoran has recently made a full-length called Schimbarea that I want to track down after seeing this. I mean, how can you not love a movie where “a ragtag group of chainsmoking teenagers must join together to keep it from terrorizing their small Pennsylvania town.” Reading, PA represent!

It looks great and shows plenty of promsie. Exactly what you hope from when you check out a short film!

Fire on the Mountain is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October. To learn more, check out this movie’s official Facebook page.

Within the structure of an album that teaches you how to scratch — and sounds like something out of The Avalanches — Chinese-American DJ Logan Lee is poised to make his live debut at his best friend Beatrice Pan’s house party. He’s a nervous wreck, she has a potentially evil — and cybernetic alien — boyfriend and his mom has given him perhaps the strongest strain of marijuana ever made.

Director and writer Raymond C. Lai has taken a small budget and short running time and infused it with plenty of big energy and bigger ideas. I had a blast with this and really hope that this becomes a full-length feature at some point. Great ending, too!

Logan Lee and the Rise of the Purple Dawn is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

Director and writer Matthew Avery Berg has created several shorts, with Marked being the latest. It tells the story of a tattoo artist named Sasha (Daniel Giacomini in his first film) confronting his past when a client (Eric Roberts!) knows what each mark means on his body.

While a very quick film, this is yet another reminder of just how good Roberts is as an actor. Of course, he just made four movies in the time that it took me to write that sentence and I’m sure we’ll watch as many of them as we can. Berg was smart to get him on board as he elevates this short into something beyond the average.

My only criticism is that the sound design is a bit hot and seems almost comical in some moments. But that’s a small thing and this short deserves your view.

Marked is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.

When Brad (Hank Northrop) brings his liberal girlfriend Lane (Danielle Dallas Roosa) home to meet his conservative parents Marnie and Jeff (Cheryl Dent and Christopher Carroll) tensions escalate starting with her not wanting to eat the mole poblano — she’s vegan — and building as her career and even where they met get called into question.

You may — or may not — know that I’m married to the daughter of a very conservative family to the point that just the other day, I listened to me get referred as having “well, you know” politics. So yeah — I’m completely understanding of the nervousness that comes with a first dinner with the parents. However, I’ve never upset them enough to transform one of them into a literal fire breathing demon.

Director and writer Gregory M. Schroeder made a fun short here. I’d have liked a bit more tension before the giveaway, but it’s still well-made and worth watching. Here’s hoping that he expands on this and keeps building his career.

Welcome to Our Home is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.