On Saturday, October 31st Master Ron Fitzgerald presents Extreme Halloween! It's an unforgettable evening of Gothic illusions, Music, and Madness for some truly freaky Halloween fun! Also including a costume contest with prizes and the music of Absinthe Kiss! Sponsored by Chicagoland Halloween's Haunts Against Hunger food drive which benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Bring a can of food to donate!
This is an all ages event! There is a bar for those 21+ so come start your Halloween parting with us!

Master magician and illusionist Ron Fitzgerald will be headlining the Extreme Halloween event at the Lakeshore Theater! Tickets are $15.00, call ahead or walk-ins welcome! Tell your friends, tell your enemies! This should be a show for the Halloween books!!

As many may have noticed, we are doing some site design changes. There will be more updates, and tweaks coming soon as we start to prepare to open up submissions for the 2010 festival soon.

Best Feature Film

IMurders

Best Short Film

Monstrous Nature

Best Comedic Horror Film

Dr. "S" Battles the Sex Crazed Reefer Zombies

Best Director

Jim Isaac
(Pig Hunt)

Best Screenwriter

Robert Cappelletto
(Pickman's Muse)

Best Actor

Barret Walz
(PickMan's Muse)

Best Actress

Arian Ash
(Scare Zone)

Hello Chicago!

Just wanted to send a quick thank you to all of you who came out to support the CHFF this weekend! It was a true honor to meet you all and share in this celebration of the arts.

With Blood & Gore,

Mr Willy
Spook Show Entertainment

Alan Rehbein to join the artists of our Art of Horror showing!

Alan Rehbein is an artist and sculptor specializing in fantasy, horror, and cheescake. His work has been shown at a number of galleries and can be seen at http://www.alanrehbein.com

After graduating from the Colorado Institute of Art Alan balanced traditional commercial art assignments with costuming, metalworking, monster making and building haunted attractions. Now he divides his time between Tucson and Chicago.

Currently Alan is writing and illustrating his graphic novel- “Hell Erupts” -online at http://www.hellerupts.com

Geo is an emerging artist from the Chicago area who sees herself as a part within this universe of beautiful dirt. Her philosophy is that a viewer can find immense beauty in any visible point whether or not others see that point the same way, it all depends on the eye of the beholder.

Her Dollfaced Horror dolls, which appeared at last year's Chicago Horror Film Festival, bring together "cute" and "creepy" in an unusual combination of dark beauty.

More of Geo's Dollfaced Horrors:
www.DollfacedHorrors.com

When visiting the historic Portage Theater, do you ever wonder what might happen when the lights go out at night? Well now is your opportunity to find out! Saturday night when the last film ends, the ghost hunt begins!

The Illinois Ghost Hunters organization was founded by Willy Adkins on February 16th 2006. The group has since grown to a nationally recognized and respected force in the field of paranormal investigation. IGH's goal as a group is to maintain a strong standing, conduct research effectively, educate others with their knowledge of the paranormal, and aide clients to comfort in their own homes and places of business. The group has investigated some of the countries most haunted locations such as Waverly Hills Sanatorium and Eastern State Penitentiary.

And now they invite you to join them on this late night venture into the unknown! Spots for this part of the Film Festival are very limited. Internet pre-sale tickets are highly recommended! Package rates available!

More about the hosts:
www.IllinoisGhostHunters.com
www.AfterlifeParanormal.com
www.ParanormalResearchCommunity.com

Okay, so who let the rubber chicken out of the bag. It's been in the making for a few weeks now, but it is now official. SO....Get your Rubber Chicken's ready and get ready to scream "Berwyn!" for...

SVENGOOLIE! Everyone wants him, we got 'em. He's going to be making his way to our festival on his way to Berwyn, stopping by for some laughs and some autographs. Of course, for those people out there that do not know, Svengoolie, A.K.A. The Son of Svengoolie, is from Chicago's very own long time running horror hosted Monster Movie showings on the now, WCIU. Svengoolie is one of the longest running Horror Hosts and is known for his long running gag throughout the series, the repeated use of the Chicago suburb, "Berwyn" as well as rubber chickens (So please remember to bring your chickens in tribute).

Sven, CHFF welcomes you back for the second year to our festival and we are very glad to have you coming out this year. We are all great fans of your show, and think that we have a line up of films that will make you not want to leave the theater.

So Then, what more news can I have for you?

Well, Lets take a look at some of the great events we are planning on having throughout the festival. Yes, we have some great films for you to lose some fluids over, but we also have so much more in store for you.

"We have such sights to show you!"
-quote from "Hellraiser"

Arian Ash(Lead Actress) and Jon Binkowski (Director) will both be attending this years festival and will be participating in a Q and A session following their film, "Scare Zone"

Scare Zone stars Arian Ash in a film that takes us into the depths of a strip mall haunted house, and what would happened if the inner massacre started to become real. If the blood that flowed onto the walls, what if it was real? Come and find out, and maybe you'll survive, The "Scare Zone"!

Best Feature Film

Pig Hunt
IMurders
Pickman's Muse
From a Place of Darkness
Scare Zone

Best Short Film

Monstrous Nature
Mama
Abraham's Boys
The Gatekeeper
Seance
Aaaaah! A Monster

Best Comedic Horror Film

Dr. "S" Battles the Sex Crazed Reefer Zombies
Aaaaah! A Monster
Clowns vs. Ninjas
Everything I Need to Know About Zombies I Learned in the Movies

Best Director

Jason Cuadrado
(Monstrous Nature)
Douglas Raine
(From a Place of Darkness)
Jim Isaac
(Pig Hunt)
Robert Cappelletto
(Pickman's Muse)
Robin Kasparík
(Seance)
Andy Muschietti
(Mama)
Dorothy Street
(Abraham's Boys)

Best Screenwriter

Vanessa Newell
(The Intruder)
Geoff Redknap
(The Auburn Hills Breakdown)
Dorothy Street/Matt Duffer
(Abraham's Boys)
Jason Cuadrado
(Monstrous Nature)
Robert Cappelletto
(Pickman's Muse)
Jon Binkowski
(Scare Zone)

Best Actor

Gary Perez
(Monstrous Nature)
Barret Walz
(PickMan's Muse)
T.R. Shields III
(Abraham's Boys)
Troy Jones (Abraham's Boys)
Kevin Cunningham
(The Gatekeeper)

Best Actress

Berta Ros
(Mama)
Victoria Harris
(Mama)
Klara Jandova
(Seance)
Arian Ash
(Scare Zone)
Camillia Sanes
(Monstrous Nature)
Raine Brown
(Psycho Holocaust)