If you’re into short horror, the folks at ALTER have you covered. Rue Morgue wants to make sure you’re up-to-date on all of the cool stuff they have coming up, so each month we’ll be highlighting their upcoming releases. Take a look at what they have planned for October 2020:
Imagine a World (October 2)
Director: Joanna Tsanis
A door-to-door internet salesman refuses to leave a house until he’s made his sale.
Creaker (October 5)
Director: Vidar T. Aune
A girl wakes up at night when her bedroom door creaks open.
Drum Wave (October 7)
Director: Natalie Erika James (director of the feature film Relic)
A young pianist confronts her fear of motherhood when she marries into a remote island community with bizarre fertility rituals.
Kathy (October 9)
Director: Jonathan Hammond
The true(ish) story of a young boy and his mother who held afternoon exorcisms in the living room- and the new friend who is so Godly, she may as well be wicked.
O.I. (October 12)
Director: N’Cee Van Heerden
Chris revisits the Tiki bar where he made his first ever deal. He wants to celebrate the biggest deal he’s ever made by drinking down memory lane. It is early morning and there is only one other customer, Barry, and the Barman. Barry is drinking to forget and is in no mood to celebrate anything. Only Chris’ offer of free drinks for a week if he can’t solve Barry’s problems makes Barry change his mind. Barry has a unique problem. He came up with a truly original idea. And he is the only one immune to it. Chris doesn’t believe a word of it and is determined to prove Barry a liar and win the bet.
Good Guy With a Gun (October 14-ALTER EXCLUSIVE)
Director: Bryan Keith Montgomery Jr.
An incel walks us through his newfound epiphany on why he decided to buy a gun.
Snake Eyes: An ASMR Nightmare Experience (October 16)
Director: Costantino Ciminiello, Mitchell V. Slan
Michelle finds herself in an empty black abyss, and is forced to play a dice game that defines her fate. An unknown evil lingers beyond her in the darkness that holds her destiny. This short film is a social commentary on the gamble that Black, Brown, and Latinx bodies are forced to play on a daily basis.
Boo (October 19)
Director: Rakefet Abergel
Over the course of a rough night, Devi, seven years sober, must make a difficult choice between who she loves and what she loves. Boo is a tense tale of what happens when addiction threatens to get the best of one woman at exactly the wrong time. We all have our addictions. What’s yours?
Deep Breaths (October 20)
Director: Alex Goyette
Harper is a psychologist prone to anxiety attacks. The only thing that can help alleviate these episodes are her guided breathing exercise tapes. As she’s listening to the soothing guide, something on her staircase catches her eye — a small hole in the wall an inch up from the stair tread. She curiously places her headphone jack inside the hole, and to her surprise, a voice can be heard on the other end. She soon wishes she had never heard the voice…
Three Men You Meet at Night (October 21-ALTER EXCLUSIVE)
Director: Beck Kitsis
A young woman walking home alone encounters three different types of men. Whom can she trust?
Lane 9 (October 23)
Director: Jessica Valentine, Richard Valentine
Logline: A small town is turned upside when a transient evil takes up residence in lane 9 of the local bowling alley.
One Last Meal (October 26)
Director: Jill Gevargizian (director of the upcoming feature The Stylist, based off a short on ALTER)
Today’s the day the Missouri madman Otis Boyle finally gets executed. The Warden and his Captain of the Guards, York, have been looking forward to this for years, but they could never have prepared themselves for his last request. As Warden insists upon fulfilling their most notorious inmate’s twisted demand in the name of “tradition” and “protocol,” York struggles to keep up in order to keep his job — no matter how much it asks of him.
Curse of the Crying Boy (October 27)
Director: Nick Jongerius
Young mother Liv is woken up in the middle of the night by a strange noise coming from the baby monitor. First she thinks it is her newborn baby, but then she hears strange noises… When she rushes in, her baby is almost choking on the blanket covering her. Who did this? As Liv picks up her baby she feels another presence is inside the room. Something otherworldly.
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PYOTR495 (October 28)
Director: Blake Mawson
Set one evening in present day Moscow, 16 year-old Pyotr is baited by an ultranationalist group known for their violent abductions and anti-gay attacks bolstered by Russia’s LGBT propaganda law, but Pyotr has a dangerous secret his attackers could never have accounted for.
Couple’s Therapy (October 30)
Director: Tim Hendrix
Logline: A nice couple is having some problems so they go to a therapist.
Gwilliam’s Tips for Turning Tricks into Treats (HALLOWEEN)
Director: Brian Lonano
Logline: This is what you wanted! Gwilliam is back and offers some tips for getting special treats this Halloween.
