Amelia Gotham in Mannequin

The 2013 short Mannequin from Cowmaster Studios is testimonial to the interesting things apartment dwellers can find discarded by their fellow tenants. Of course, it's unclear if the mannequin was discarded by someone, or perhaps, escaped from a department store and was just hanging out at the complex's trash area (since it's a place visited often and by every resident there), in hopes someone would take her into their apartment.

For whatever reason the mannequin was there, when the lovely resident (played by Amelia Gotham) just snapped a photo of the mysterious figure and walked away, it apparently pissed off the living doll. The ending leaves the viewer guessing the outcome. As for Amelia, find out more on her at her official website.

Ijeoma Aniebo in 6:30pm

While I was watching the Nigerian short film 6:30pm I kept saying to myself, "this is gonna be good," since I was anticipating a shocking and climatic ending to a very suspenseful 9 minutes and 40 seconds. What I got instead was (SEMI-SPOILER ALERT) an anticlimactic ending that made me say "huh?" "so, that's it?" and "did I miss something??"

Kerry Finlayson in Bedfellows

Drew Daywalt's 2008 horror short Bedfellows is very short, very simple, and awesomely terrifying. It stars Kerry Finlayson, who's a seasoned actress and no stranger to fright films. Learn more about her at her official website.

I felt the already-very-short short, would be even more frightening if it were even shorter, so the above is a shortened 1:15 version (including titles and credits) of the original 1:30 film, that you can see here and then decide for yourself which is more frightening.

Cerina Vincent and Annika Marks in Skypemare

John Fitzpatrick's 2013 horror short Skypemare, has won several awards at major film festivals and earned very favorable reviews from horror critics. Even though the two main characters are chatting through Skype, a modern social medium, the film follows a simple, straightforward premise that was always a winning formula for so many classic slasher movies of the late-70s to mid-80s: Girls home alone at night (and in this case, it's Halloween, no less), TV newscaster reporting on an escaped maniac loose in the area, etc. However, this story takes a different turn at the end and serves as an example of what can be the unfortunate consequence of a very well-played prank.

Debra Lamb in "Event"

The above 2001 USC student short film Event, is a rarity in that it features Scream Queen Debra Lamb in one the few student films she starred in during the early 2000s. During this period, Debra did just this and one other USC, and two UCLA student films. Event was produced by director Teresa Kuan and her cinematographer Sarah Johnson.

Lotta Losten in Lights Out

Have you ever been home alone and heard a noise after you turn the lights out? You turn the lights on and everything seems to be fine. Shut the lights out, and a minute later, there's that strange sound again. Is there something there in the darkness that isn't there in the light? Or someone? Of course not. You've just seen too many horror films and have an overactive imagination. Or it's just the wind ....or the house settling. However, if you actually see something in the dark that isn't there in the light ....

Judy Cerda in American Horrible Story

In this scene from Jason Salazar's comedy-horror short American Horrible Story, Judy Cerda plays a realtor who's very up front with details about the house she's selling. The film was produced by Beyond Forever Studios and you can see it in its entirety at their Youtube channel. Also check out Judy as Hollywood agent Amelia Orange in Salazar's web series The Uploaders, another Beyond Forever production. For those wondering; the large and lovely Georgian-style house the above scene was shot in, is located in San Francisco ....which means the price tag on it is even larger than the house itself. See my June, 2011 interview with Judy here.

Tiffany Apan's Driving Nowhere

November 2020 Author's Addendum: The below trailer for Driving Nowhere, as well most of the media related to the film, has long been removed from public access online. To find out if the film is available from any source, I suggest you contact Tiffany through her official website (link below).

 

The above trailer for the soon-to-be-released supernatural thriller Driving Nowhere, features Tyffani Richards, Heidi Engel, and Tiffany Apan. The short film has gotten some very favorable reviews from fans and critics at the indie film festivals it's shown at, and even won the award for Best Horror Short Script at the 2012 International Indie Gathering Film Festival. Tiffany Apan, who, in addition to starring in the movie, wrote and directed it, is also a talented singer and musician. Learn more about her at her official website.