MICHAEL DOUGHERTY IS COMING TO HAPPY HALLOWEEN... AND HE'S BRINGING SAM.

We could not be more thrilled to announce that Michael Dougherty, the filmmaker behind Trick 'r Treat, Krampus, and one of the most beloved holiday horror universes of the modern era, will be joining us LIVE at the Screaming Room 2026 as part of the Happy Halloween film block. And he's not just showing up. He's bringing the short film that started it all.

Season's Greetings, the four-minute 1999 animated short Dougherty made while he was still in school, is the seed everything grew from. It's where Sam — the burlap-sacked, pumpkin-headed spirit of Halloween who now anchors an entire mythology — first came stumbling into the world. Long before Trick 'r Treat was a cult classic, before it inspired conventions, cosplay, and a devoted community of horror fans who mark October 31st the way other people mark Christmas, there was this short. Rough, raw, hand-crafted, and unmistakably alive. Watching Season's Greetings is like watching a match get struck.

To see it in the room, on a real screen, with the filmmaker himself sitting a few feet away, that's not something we can imagine most of you are going to want to miss.

Michael isn't a stranger to the Screaming Room. This year he served on our jury, helping us shape the awards program and championing the kind of independent, personal, uncompromising horror storytelling that this festival exists to celebrate. That he made time to serve on the jury AND agreed to come screen his own work with us tells you something about the kind of filmmaker he is. He didn't have to do any of this. He just cares.

The Happy Halloween block is going to be something special. Season's Greetings will play alongside a curated set of shorts that share its spirit, films made by people who love this holiday the way Michael clearly does, and who see Halloween as more than an aesthetic. It's a mood, a season, a way of thinking about the world. The block is our small tribute to that, and having the filmmaker who arguably defined the modern conception of Halloween cinema in the room with us feels like exactly the right way to open the door.

After the screening, Michael will stick around for a live Q&A. If you have questions, about the short, about Trick 'r Treat, about Sam, about how you make a movie that becomes a holiday tradition, bring them. This is a rare chance to hear from a filmmaker whose work has genuinely shaped a genre, in a room full of people who understand exactly why that matters.

If you've been on the fence about which block to prioritize on the Screaming Room 2026 schedule, this is the one.

Come see where Sam started. Come thank Michael for keeping the season alive.