The Knoxville Horror Film Fest was founded in 2009 by Knoxville filmmaker/horror enthusiast William Mahaffey in an effort to spotlight the work of local genre filmmakers, regardless of budget or means.
In the process of preparing the inaugural festival we also stumbled upon several highquality national and international horror shorts to screen alongside those created in our own backyard.
The first annual Knoxville Horror Film Fest was screened at the Pilot Light on October 23rd, 2009 to an audience of unexpected size and enthusiasm. The program ran for five hours, featuring ten local films and six additional shorts hailing from everywhere from Louisville, KY to Spain.
This chilling story of a young mother faced with a gruesome family curse took home the bulk of the prizes at KHFF09!
BEST LOCAL FILM
17 year-old Keller's slick post-apocalyptic tale of the undead wowed KHFF 09 audiences with its production value.
BEST GORE EFFECTS
This uncomfortably charming tale of a young girl's love for her ailing sister contained some of the evening's bloodiest moments, and one of the best endings.
BEST US FILM
De La Cuerda's unsettling "love story" was probably the least horror-ish film at KHFF 09, but that didn't stop it from being the most disturbing.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
