THE HORROR STORY SO FAR

Darkest Day of Horror Movie Marathon began life as Darkest Day of Horror Film Festival in the summer of 2025. Created and produced by JD Provorse and Michelle Roller of horror movie podcast We Watch Shudder, the goal was simply to bring a celebration of independent horror to the Fargo area.

Year one was planned as a stripped down event, the short you hope to develop into a feature. We had no guests, panels, or awards. It was one day, one screen, twelve hours of short and feature length independent horror movies. We really enjoyed that a lot, and it was plenty of work already, so we decided to move ahead with that format permanently.

In that first year, we programmed five features, including the Estonian horror comedy musical Chainsaws Were Singing from Dark Star Pictures, and Rachel Cain's debut feature Somnium from Yellow Veil Pictures, which premiered on Shudder in 2026. We were also proud to screen the Lovecraftian horror feature Saint Drogo from "unapologetically gay" collective Monster Makeup, as we strive to ensure a diverse array of voices in our selections..

We are excited to make Darkest Day of Horror Movie Marathon II even more of a success than our first year for horror fans in the area. Filmmaker submissions are open now through FilmFreeway, and tickets go on sale June 1!