As adults, the options of what to do for Halloween goes down each year. Luckily, there is a relatively new film festival that comes to Johnson City just in time for Halloween.
Highlands Horror Fest, started in 2022 by Jake VanHuss, an assistant professor of Media and Communications at ETSU, came to town just last weekend. The festival was created, then, for fans and filmmakers in college to all come together and enjoy each other’s art form. VanHuss explained that the festival was also a way for himself to show his artistic endeavors, saying that he wanted him and other filmmakers in the region to experience a “wider audience outside of posting on YouTube or social media.”
“It began as a showcase for some of my former students who were all independent filmmakers with an interest in horror films,”VanHuss said. He explained that he started a horror festival specifically due to the lack of respect for the genre, especially in the areas of Tennessee outside of Knoxville and bigger cities.
Following the first festival’s success, VanHuss wanted to bring more to filmmakers and applied for grants to seek funds for materials, future partnerships, and to increase community awareness. Through the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, VanHuss secured a grant for $8,600. Through this funding, he began collaborating with Bobby Funk, professor of theatre and dance at ETSU, and Ren Allen, award-winning body paint artist.
Unfortunately, as Hurricane Helene swept through the southeast, multiple areas that the festival was catered to were wrecked beyond belief. VanHuss saw the devastation and sprung into action.
“We partnered with two sponsors, Johnson City Brewing and Bloody Fork Haunt, to promote donations of food, clothing and supplies for the flood victims,” he said.
The devastation caused many festivalgoers to miss, including headliner Andrew Bowser. They still did a private screening of his submission, but VanHuss explained that this was an unfortunate circumstance, but the best they could do with the cards that they were dealt. As a whole, though, “things settled down a bit”, VanHuss said, confirming that they “were able to pull off the film festival without a hitch this past Saturday”.
The festival screened 13 films from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and New Jersey. The top winner was one of VanHuss’ former students, Ryan Renfro. Renfro’s work “Set the Woods on Fire” won “Best of the Fest.” Other notable winners include Joey Carrier, who took home the awards for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Makeup & Practical FX, Hope Hiester who took home Best Student Film for her work “In the Hollows” and Dalton Turner who won Best Cinematography for his film “Michael’s Not Real.”
For more information about past Highland Horror Fests and the details for next year’s festival, visit their website at highlandsfilmfest.com.
