PORTLAND, OR - We are extremely excited to announce that Author and Screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka will be our 2018 Guest of Honor! With over 200 screenwriting credits, he is best known in the US for Marebito, "Innsmouth Wo Oou Kage," "Ultraman Gaia," and "Mononoke." He is also well known among fans for putting Lovecraftian and Mythos elements in many of his works. As the screenwriter for the 1989 original video movie Psychic Vision: Jaganrei (which means "Evil Spirit"), Konaka penned one of the first films in the "J Horror" movement, influencing Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, and others. His mythos novel Terror Rate, was translated to English in the anthology Inverted Kingdom, edited by Ken Asamatsu. His vampire novella will be translated into English in 2019.

Mr. Konaka will appear at the festival for Q&A and panel discussions throughout the weekend.

This Friday, Can Evrenol's highly anticipated Lovecraftian feature film, HOUSEWIFE shows opening night of the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival® in Providence, RI, taking place on College Hill at the beautiful Metcalf Auditorium at RISD Chace Center (20 N Main St, Providence). We're very pleased to bring this amazing film to Lovecraft's hometown. Can Evrenol is the director of BASKIN (2015) which garnered many extreme reviews, and was called one of the bloodiest and one of the weirdest horror films of that year. Reviewers noted its slightly Lovecraftian overtones, but won't be able to miss the influence of the Ol' Gent from Providence in this one... it has everything he would've loved (and a few things he would've hated!): nightmares becoming real, a generational family curse, strange books of forbidden secrets, artists under the sway of cosmic power, a modern day cult, tentacles, and a little blood, nudity, and sex (that's the stuff Howie wasn't too fond of, but you'll love). Don't miss it on opening night!

Also on Friday is a full short film block of amazing new Lovecraftian shorts, followed by two blocks of shorts on Saturday, and the feature films THEY REMAIN, directed by local filmmaker Philip Gelatt (Europa Report), and COLD SKIN, directed by Xavier Gens and featuring a survival story on a desolate island beset by monstrous fish people. Sunday will showcase two more blocks of short films, bringing the total of Lovecraftian short films to 24, from countries as diverse as the US and Canada to the Czech Republic and Spain, with 10 countries represented overall in the madness! The festival will end Sunday afternoon with NECRONOMICON: THE BOOK OF HELL from Argentinian director Marcelo Shapces, which follows the chaos in the wake of the discovery of the fifth copy of the Necronomicon in the bowels of the University of Buenos Aires (as cited by Lovecraft himself, in his "History of the Necronomicon"). Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos should not miss this film, or indeed, the whole festival. Single day tickets and 3-day passes are still available on Eventbrite, and will be available at the door (if they remain).

The Full schedule of films and events is available now on the official Web site. (click here)

Last held at the Providence Public Library, the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival® will take place August 17-19th 2018, at its new digs, smack dab in Lovecraft country, up on College Hill at the beautiful RISD Metcalf Auditorium. With fantastic projection, excellent sound, and a lovely dark auditorium, the Metcalf ups our film festival game, ensuring that you'll be immersed in the cosmic horror of our independent film selection.

We're also expanding from two days of film to three days, bringing even more Weird to the hometown of H. P. Lovecraft. Tickets are available now! Click here to get both full 3-day passes and single day tickets at Eventbrite.

Barbara Steele will appear at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival® this Saturday, October 7th at 1 pm! The First Lady of horror will be with us to briefly introduce the special screening of Mario Bava’s gothic masterpiece, BLACK SUNDAY, and will do a Q&A afterwards and will sign autographs in the main lobby. This is a rare opportunity to see the legendary actress talk about her long and storied career! Since seating is limited, 3-day pass holders will be admitted to the theater first. If you are coming for the screening on Saturday, we ask that you arrive at the Hollywood Theatre by 12:30 pm so that we can try to accommodate as many people as possible.

Barbara Steele, born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, originally studied to be a painter, but ultimately became one of the best-known and well-loved horror actresses of all time. Her first film role was in the British comedy, Bachelor of Hearts, but her breakout role was in Black Sunday, which was Mario Bava's directorial debut. Steele continued to capture the hearts and minds of international audiences in Fellini’s 8½, and gothic films like The Pit and the Pendulum, Castle of Blood, Terror-Creatures From the Grave, An Angel for Satan, Nightmare Castle, and The Silent Scream. Lovecraft fans may remember her as Lavinia Morley in the Curse of the Crimson Altar with Sir Christopher Lee, loosely based on Lovecraft’s story “The Dreams in the Witch House.” (We screened this in 2014)

After a hiatus from horror film work, Barbara returned, much to the delight of her fans, in the 1991 mini-series Dark Shadows as Dr. Julia Hoffman, and continues to pick her projects carefully. Her recent roles in Lost River (written and directed by Ryan Gosling), voiceover work in Kevin McTurk’s The Mill at Calder’s End, and most recently as the voice of Azathoth on the new Dreams in the Witch House Rock Opera’s "Fevered Dreams" EP, have cemented her place in the cosmos as the ultimate leading lady of horror.