The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is about to wrap up and has just announced its winners.  The awards are split into three categories: Dark Matter, Head Trip, and Shorts, each of which has subcategories like Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Check out the winners below and stay tuned for our reviews on some of the films we checked out this year.

The following were the winners in the Dark Matter category, which was juried by MPI Media’s Greg Newman, Fangoria’s Kimberly Leszak, and IndieWire’s Alison Foreman.

• Best Feature – “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone”
• Best Director – Paolo Strippoli, “The Holy Boy”
• Best Performance – Olivia Taylor Dudley, “Abigail Before Beatrice”
• Best Screenplay – Aleksandar Radivojevic, “Karmadonna”
• Best Cinematography -Cristiano Di Nicola, “The Holy Boy”
• Best Practical FX – Mio Chiba and Tokihiko Endo, “Incomplete Chairs”

The Head Trip Jury Awards, juried by Horror Press’s James-Michael Fleites, Vinegar Syndrome’s Justin LaLiberty, and Horror Mangaka Creator Gigi Murakami, awarded the following:

• Best Feature – “Every Heavy Thing”
• Best Director – Yûta Shimotsu, “New Group”
• Best Screenplay – Avalon Fast, “CAMP”
• Best Performance – Tipper Newton, “Every Heavy Thing”
• Best Editing – Simon Glassman, “Buffet Infinity”
• Best Cinematography – Eily Sprungman, “CAMP”
• Best Sound Design – Johnny Blerot, “Buffet Infinity”

The short films competition was juried by Alter’s Shannon Wiedemeyer, film critic Katie Rife, and Kailey Marsh of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, who awarded the following:

• Best Short – “Last Call”
• Best Director – Kylie Aoibheann, “The Dysphoria”
• Best Performance – Nicole Elliot, “Jeff”
• Best Special FX – Sharp FX, “The Dysphoria”
• Best Screenplay – Louise Flaherty & Neil Christopher, “The Gnawer of Rocks”
• Best Sound Design – Jack Goodman, “Eonian”
• Best Art Direction – Danny Christopher & Sarah Ball, “The Gnawer of Rocks”
• Best Editing – Marcus Fahey, “Daddy is a Hunter”
• Home Invasion Award – “Rebrand”
• Special Jury Mention for Filmmaker to Watch – Nathan Ginter, “Overgrown”

Brooklyn Horror’s first and only tribute award, was created in 2023 to honor the luminaries of horror and acknowledge their monstrous contributions to the genre.

The 2025 Leviathan Award goes to the multitalented Ernest Dickerson,