Spooky YouTube

Horror or just plain creepy is something many think can only occur in live action but animation with its ability to render into existence whatever can be dreamed of in a style that can evoke feeling can do just the same. Presented here are three short films that seek to frighten or just unnerve.

Enjoy!

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Dead Horse

• Directed by Ruby Taylor
• November 1, 2022

What’s most surprising is that Dead Horse is a final project for a student at a university and not something by a professional animator seeking to get work by advertising what they can do. Why is it surprising? Because this is so well done.

In three minutes and 41 seconds this individual tells an animal centric body horror story. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end and you could even ultimately see a theme of kinship in the narrative. It is short but densely packed.

There is a beautiful yet haunting style used in the animation. It plays on your fears and it’s just engaging. You want to see more but all there is is this and it wraps up everything neatly and concisely.

Dead Horse is an eerie bit of creepy animation that I highly recommend. But be warned you will want more.

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Occupied-Animated Horror Short Film

• Directed by Liam Fink
• May 7, 2023

This is a little better than four minutes and is more of a short vignette than an actual story. Some gentleman is checking the restrooms late at when he hears some noises. Rather than do the stupid thing he eventually hightails it out a Dodge. And in that it’s a much more humorous take on horror than it is anything else. Finally someone with a brain in horror!

The animation is a little flat. But that doesn’t take away from the effectiveness of the short story. It’s just a humorous little short film. And there is absolutely no dialogue. I don’t think you even need to understand English in order to get what’s occurring in the story. I say that because occupied and vacant are the only two words that you see and both are in text form.

Occupied is an entertaining and humorous short that will please animation and horror fans.

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Beacon-Animated Scifi Horror Short Film

• Directed by Andrew Stadler
• October 31, 2022

Beacon feels like it is a little Alien and a little bit Dead Space with a dash of the Cthulhu mythos for good measure used in a story about a spaceship crash survivor. The environment the story occurs in is appropriately stark and the creature designs are rather intriguing. The animation is high-quality, and the look of our only human character is a bit more stylized than one would expect in something that lacks cheer which creates an effective contrast.

If I had any complaint about this short film it would be all the huffing and panting and grunting that the human character makes. It seemed unnecessary and quite excessive. With the blowing of the wind and the crunching of the snow, there is more than enough ambient noise to prevent this from being a silent film.

And it did feel a bit too short. Then again, I’m used to science-fiction survival horror films being significantly longer than this. I certainly can see potential for expanding upon the narrative here without adding in stuffing. There’s certainly room to grow it.

And that is the issue with Beacon-you will want more. Then again you should always leave your audience wanting more. This hooks you from the start and never lets go.

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Here we had three distinct visions that I feel succeeded more often than not. Some were influenced by other works or took a novel approach with what they did. All were good and show there are gems available on YouTube.