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Curious Refuge AI Horror Film Competition (4th annual)

Curious Refuge and Epidemic Sound · online

Deadline: Oct 9, 2026 (closed)
Event: Oct 29, 2026
Prize: $12,000 in cash prizes; $7,000 first place, $3,000 second, $2,000 third
Tools: Any AI tool
Official site: curiousrefuge.com

Rules that matter

Horror or Halloween-themed film of no more than 3 minutes in which every shot is AI-generated; up to 2 original films per entrant and no existing third-party IP. Music or sound effects must come from Epidemic Sound, private-beta tools are not allowed, and the film must be shared on at least one social channel.

Good to know

Deadline is October 9, 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Audience-favorite voting runs October 21 to 28; winners are announced October 29, 2026 (used as event_date). No entry fee is stated, but an Epidemic Sound account is required (a free trial is offered). Any publicly available AI video tool is allowed. Last year's winners are named on the page and listed below. The aggregator also lists a 2026 AI Holiday Film Competition from the same organiser with a December 6, 2026 deadline; that was not verified.

Who won

3 of these films are in our catalog and can be watched here, from the maker's own upload.

AI Horror Film Competition 2025

The Missing Segment by Sam Lavy 1st place
Morphe by The Garra Sisters 2nd place
Clinical Calm by Dorothy Pang 3rd place
Jokhini by Raj Rishi Audience Favorite

Source: Competition page, under "Last Year's Winners"

AI Horror Film Contest 2023

The 2024 round's page names its winners (Nicolas Pomet, Verena Puhm and Danny Tseng, with Szilvia Szakács as audience favourite) but not their films, so that round is not listed film by film.

Monsters Anonymous by Jonathan Bunio 1st place
The Framed Presence by Beto Padreca 2nd place
The Sound of Hell by Jason Kohen 3rd place

Source: 2023 contest page (the winners)

Sources

Checked Oct 6, 2026. See a date or a result that has changed? Write to [email protected].

Open for entries now

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