Nine Wild, Terrific, and Terrifying: aka WTF?! Shorts are presented in the WTF: Nightmare Fuel block of the 52nd Seattle International Film Festival.
SIFF is in full swing with its features and shorts blocks. I already reported on the Opening Shorts block, noting it was missing the WTF/horror aspect. Luckily, those are all packaged together in the WTF: Nightmare Fuel block. As said in the BoneBat review last month and seen in Emilie’s daily shorts share, the best thing about horror or weird shorts is getting that odd bug-of-an-idea and just exploring for around 10 minutes. A short allows a strange sense of artistic freedom to jump into a messed-up idea for a little bit. And these nine shorts, presented on the first Saturday of the Seattle International Film Festival 2026, are just that. All are solid pictures, and even in the confines of “genre filmmaking,” are a wonderful collection of different sorts: serious and comic, meditative and bloody, haunted and wild. Every one is worth your time.
Reported here in alphabetical order, I don’t know what order the show itself shall be in.
Be Careful What You Ask For (USA, 7m, directed by Amie V. Simon)
Disclosure: I know Amie and star Adrienne Clark in real life, thanks to Crypticon. Between writing and posting this, I’ll see them there. Heck, I even roped them into a very short-lived Stephen King YouTube review channel (we made it one episode!).
The male-gazy “why don’t you smile” phrase sends a quiver of anger down the spine of anyone who isn’t a misogynist pig. That’s what Simon explores when a dude makes unwanted advances at the wrong woman. Loved the look Simon gives the film and the looks Clark gives within. It’s very cathartic overall. Pretty damned bloody too. A simple, notable idea executed wonderfully.
Haint (USA, 15m, directed by Jamhil Eady)
A haunting story of the results of gentrification and loss of culture, and what can happen when aspects of that culture aren’t going away. I’m from the South (at least a large portion of my life), in Charleston, up the coast from where this was filmed: Daufuski Island, just north of Savannah. The film has an uncomfortable tone, the atmosphere of something around. Anyone who has been to the Lowcountry knows this feeling, where the air is sparked, filled with an uncanny spiritual energy. Lowcountry residents know all about haint blue, the color you’ll see painted on porches and entrances of houses to keep away spirits ready to mess you up in your sleep. A woman, pushed from her own home via gentrification, mulls over how she’ll deal with the increase in supernatural harm when the haint takes steps after houses are rid of the blue. The prosthetics on said monster are fantastic, and the film itself is powerful and moving.
Homecoming (USA, 12m, Directed by Skyler Knutzen)
A small town has a violent tradition, and this year’s outcome might be different from what is expected. A homespun tale of breaking generational expectations with a very grounded style. There’s a great simmer to it, a weight to the performances. It might not have the larger push of the rest of the block, but it still hits with an emotionality.
Man Eating Pussy (Canada, 13m, directed by Emily Lawson)
Hell yes, favorite horror character actor Julian Richings, most recently seen by me in Shudder’s Honey Bunch. Richings gives a telling, sad performance as a man seeking solace… by being born in reverse. He does so by meeting with a woman with a unique element, one with a fantastic, practical appliance. The conversation between Richings and the woman, played by his Honey Bunch co-star Grace Glowecki, features great writing about the nature of death and life, release and containment of the self. All with the weird edge of the character.
Open Mic (Spain, 9 min, Directed by Jano Pita)
The thought of trying out open mic is a scary concept, will it bomb and embarrass, or sour to find a new life (like in Is This Thing On…). Pita’s film focuses on that horror with a fantastic build of tension, leading to a wonderful WTF moment or resolution. I need not spoil, but it was a wonderfully put-together short.
Praying Mantis (Taiwan, 18m, Directed by Joe Hsieh)
A short that straight out of BoneBat animated options. The animation reminded me of Metalocalypse in how it looked and moved, finding a weird balance between low-level stagancy and detail of oddity. And this is an oddity for sure. A hybrid of a praying mantis and a woman tries to find a mate. Bloody, strangely humorous, but altogether nasty, it’s a weird mix, and I love that. Perhaps a tad long for the story.
Scissors (USA, 12m, Directed by Hannah Alline)
A wonderful and hilarious turn on the slasher. We’ve all seen films that take the piss out of the tropes, and it’s great to have another one, but it still feels fresh in its reversal and commentary. Ethan Embry, straight from his Scream 7 slashings (I’d say spoilers, but I shrug, it was obvious), plays a different killer who tries to take down the wrong woman-filled cabin in the woods.
Wall Udder (USA, 9m, directed by Alexandra Hayden)
The WTF of the title really comes into play here. Like Praying Mantis, it matches the BoneBat energy but in a very different way. I love when WTF shorts take the weirdest thing and present it as just part of life. Here, a couple looks at their relationships and personal hangups around their treatment of a wall udder. Yes, a four-teated object on the wall that dispenses milk. That puts a wonderful “wait, what” as coded and direc issues come oup and around, leading to a whole ‘nother level at the end. Loved it.
Final Thoughts
Once again, SIFF presents another great collection of shorts. These 9 are as WTF as promised, digging into all sorts of subgenres and styles. Each is worth your eyes. This review is posted after the airing, but shorts travel and eventually end up online. Keep an eye out for each. WTF: Nightmare Fuel Shorts Block is presented as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, running from May 7th through 17th, 2026. See more at Siff.net.