Shudder treats us to virtual Halloween event ShudderFest

Since releasing their 61 Days of Halloween, Shudder has been promising us pop-up surprise “treats,” and now they have announced the tastiest one: ShudderFest.

ShudderFest should be the final sweet treat given to us before Halloween and October end, and it sounds like a lot of fun. This will be a day-long virtual event celebration accessible through ShudderFest.com.

It comes complete with panels and presentations, and it will be free for anyone who wishes to watch (whether they are a subscriber or not). Subscribers will be able to access a Shudder members-only top secret screening for an upcoming Shudder Original.

All events can be accessed by visiting shudder.com on October 31, and here is a handy-dandy schedule for you to follow:

12:00 p.m.:

Welcome to ShudderFest with Actor Keith David (Pitch Black, The Thing), followed by The Horror Royalty Hangout. Fans will get to virtually “hang out” with Tony Todd (Candyman), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Lance Henriksen (Alien, Pumpkinhead), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th franchise, Hatchet), Lin Shaye (Insidious) and horror make up/practical effects legend Tom Savini. This panel will be moderated by Yahoo Entertainment’s Kevin Polowy.

1:00 p.m.:

Blair Witch and Host Panel, featuring The Blair Witch Project co-director Eduardo Sanchez, co-producer Greg Hale and producer Michael Monello, along with Host director/co-writer Rob Savage and stars Emma Louise Webb and Haley Bishop. The moderator for this panel will be Shudder curator Samuel Zimmerman.

2:00 p.m. :

The Future of Black Horror – A discussion of the present and very promising future of Black Horror with Tales from the Hood director Rusty Cundieff, Horror Noire executive producer Tananarive Due, Lovecraft Country writer Shannon M. Houston, The Ballad of Black Tom author Victor LaValle and Kamil Oshundara, the cultural executive for Monkeypaw Productions. This event’s moderator will be writer Evan Narcisse.

3:00 p.m.:

Interview with the Glampire – Paperbacks from Hell’s Grady Hendrix will be speaking, presumably about horror in its print form.

4:00 p.m.:

Musicians Who Love Horror – Join Bright Light Bright Light, The Berserker Blothar, Sawborg Destruo and Pustulus Maximus of GWAR, guitarist/composer Steve Stevens and Arrow de Wilde (of Starcrawler) as they discuss horror in music with Yahoo Entertainment’s Lyndsey Parker.

5:00 p.m.:

Story Time with Scare Me’s Josh Ruben & Friends – Josh Ruben, the writer, director and star of Shudder Original Scare Me will be entertaining us with scary tales. Joining Ruben will be Scare Package’s Frank Garcia-Heil, Noah Segan (Knives Out), Doubt’s Dreama Walker and Jonathon Braylock James III and Jerah Milligan (The Astronomy Club).

6:00 p.m.:

Inside The Mortuary Collection – Join the talented team behind Shudder Original horror anthology The Mortuary Collection. Present will be writer/director Ryan Spindell, producers Allison Friedman and T. Justin Ross and star Clancy Brown. Immediately after, we will be presented with Kirk Hammett’s Top Five Moments in Horror and Keith David Answers Your Questions.

7:00 p.m.:

The Kingcast podcast with special guest Greg Nicotero – The Kingcast is a podcast devoted to discussing all things Stephen King, and is hosted by Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler. Vespe and Wampler will be chatting with showrunner/writer/director/FX expert Greg Nicotero. Nicotero has not only worked on special effects for several King adaptations, but also directed two of King’s stories for the Shudder series Creepshow.

9:00 p.m.:

The evening ends with a double feature available only for Shudder subscribers. First up will be John Carpenter’s original 1978 film Halloween (Shudder US and Canada only), followed by a top-secret one-time-only preview of an upcoming Shudder film that won’t be available to stream until 2021.

The panels and Keith David’s segments will replay twice in their original order. The first replay will begin Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and will then run again starting  Sunday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 a.m. The special screening will NOT be repeated.

All events other than the screening will be available to stream on ShudderFest.com. If you are not currently a Shudder subscriber, fear not! If you visit the website, you can receive a free 7-day trial subscription.

Will you be tuning in for ShudderFest? Let us know which event(s) you are most excited about in the comments section.