The Vancouver Horror Show (VHS) is a film festival that showcases horror movies. It normally happens in October in time for Halloween.

Last year’s films showed in theatres on select days between October 18th and 27th. Film screenings happen in two locations. The films happen at Metrotown in Burnaby on the first weekend. On the second weekend they are at the cinema at International Village Mall in Vancouver.

The Vancouver Horror Show is one of the many parts of the Burnaby Halloween Festival! The festival offers up over 25 different events and attractions in the City of Burnaby each year. If you’re a horror enthusiast, Burnaby has so much to offer!

See the Vancouver Horror Show website for tickets and full details about the festival.

This article includes the following information about the Vancouver Horror Show:

Festival Details | Prices | Film Festival Schedule | Other Information

The Vancouver Horror Show

The Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival celebrates its eighth year in 2025. Exact dates are still to be determined. The event is a registered Canadian charity. It has grown from running 12 films in its first year to nearly 50 films in recent years.

The festival mostly screens short films but also displays a small number of feature films. Although VHS focuses a lot on Canadian cinema, it also showcases works from other countries. This makes VHS an inclusive event that helps promote filmmakers from around the world.

Visit vancouverhorrorshow.com for tickets and the festival’s official website.

Vancouver’s Horror Movie Film Festival

Metrotown‘s Cineplex theatre in Burnaby hosted ticketed in-person screenings from October 18th to 20th last year. The following weekend, there were more screenings at Cineplex International Village in Vancouver from October 25th to 27th.

Over 50 films screened at last year’s festival. Eight of them were feature films while nearly all of the rest were short films. The movies shown were from different countries, so there were some unique and scary foreign cinema to enjoy!

Festival Prices

Tickets to the various screening usually start at about $20 each. For the most part, feature films are shown separately whereas short films are combined into groups.

Last year’s festival also included a series of VHS Talks Panel in both Burnaby and Vancouver. This will likely be the case again in 2025, though this is to be confirmed. Tickets for these events are pay-what-you-can with a $1 minimum.

Special passes are available. The Vancouver Weekend Pass includes access to all in-person screenings. The pass costs around $115. The Burnaby Weekend Pass costs the same and includes access to all screenings. The Full Festival Pass includes access to all of the weekend’s events and costs around $210 per person.

See the official Vancouver Horror Show website for full details.

Film Festival Schedule

Below was the schedule of in-person screenings and events at the 2024 Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival.

Cineplex Cinemas Metropolis at 4700 Kingsway in Burnaby held the events on the first weekend. Events on the second weekend took place at International Village Mall in Vancouver at 88 West Pender Street.

Friday, October 18th, 2024 (Burnaby)

The opening night of the festival featured a screening of Carved. The movie follows a group of people who are trapped in a creepy old village on Halloween and attacked by an evil, living pumpkin. The movie began at 7:00 pm. There was also a short film screening before the feature presentation, and a Q&A with its filmmaker after the screening.

This was a licensed event for those ages 19 and above.

Click Carved for details about this film.

Saturday, October 19th, 2024 (Burnaby)

There were a series of events at Metrotown on this day. First there was a Horror Writers VHS Talks Panel at noon, followed by the Shorts Program 1 which featured 10 short films at 2:00 pm.

Afterwards, at 5:00 pm there was a screening of three episodes of the Tales From the Void anthology series, and then the Canadian premiere of the feature film The Daemon at 7:30 pm.

Sunday, October 20th, 2024 (Burnaby)

The structure for the final day of the first weekend was very similar to the previous one. There was another VHS Talks panel at noon, this time with Horror Producers. The Shorts Program 2 at 2:00 pm had the tagline “bloody hell” and featured 11 short films.

In the evening there were two feature film presentations. The first was a futurist, post-apocalyptic horror called Finality of Dusk at 5:00 pm, followed at 8:00 pm by the mockumentary Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire.

See the official Vancouver Horror Show website for full details.

Friday, October 25th, 2024 (Vancouver)

The Vancouver portion of the festival kicked off with a special night of fun that included a screening of Never Hike Alone 2, which is an indie film and an unofficial sequel to Friday the 13th Part 6.

Before the movie there was also a live-taping of CBC’s Let’s Make a Horror podcast. The podcast was hosted by a trio of comedians who have set out to learn as much as possible about what it takes to make a good horror film.

This double bill of entertainment began at 6:00 pm at International Village. The event was licensed and was only for those ages 19 and up.

HALLOWEEN MOVIES & MOVIE SCENES

If you like horror movies and haunted houses, then check out Brinkworth Dungeon. The Langley-based haunted attraction has wax museum-style scenes from many classic horror movies. And most of what you’ll see there has been handmade by a professional artist!

In addition, if you like Halloween and movies, but kid-friendly films, then check out Howl Over Canada at FlyOver Canada. It’s a great family-friendly Halloween-themed multi-dimensional show.

Saturday, October 26th, 2024 (Vancouver)

There were four events that took place this day. The first was a VHS Talks panel that featured Horror Directors talking about how they pick their projects and bring their ideas to the screen. That event began at noon, followed by the Shorts Program 3 at 2:00 pm which featured eight films about the dead or undead.

There were then two feature film presentations at 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm. The first was All the Lost Ones which is set in a near future civil war sparked by backlash to government climate change measures. The second was Scared Shitless, the story of a plumber who has to try and save the residents of an apartment complex from a terrifying monster.

Sunday, October 27th, 2024 (Vancouver)

The closing day of the festival in the Lower Mainland featured an Indigenous theme. This day’s VHS Talks panel was called Indigenous Voices in Horror and focused on Indigenous representation in the genre. It was followed by Indigenous Horror Shorts at 2:00 pm which included seven short films.

The final feature film presentation was Altona, which is a true crime documentary about a horrific murder case in Manitoba where two teenagers were tortured and left to die in a burning home. The screening began at 5:30 pm and was only for those who were 19+.

Afterwards, at 8:15 pm there was the official VHS Wrap Party and Awards. This event was admission by donation and celebrated the best movies from 2024’s festival. It was also age restricted to those who were ages 19 and older.