Comedy Horror Film Festival Adds Fundraising to The Funny and Frightful

Seattle’s nearly as resplendent with film festivals as it is with coffee shops, so it takes a lot for a festival–especially one that’s run on a shoestring budget–to stand out. A scruffy little festival called The BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival did just that for me last April.

The 2013 edition of the festival (their third in as many years) showcased a huge variety of features and shorts that all mixed humor and horror, taking a unique slant on the very crowded corner of genre film festivals. And between BoneBat’s uniformly high quality of programming, impressive swag bags, blasts of live music from various local bands, comfortable environs (Central Cinema played host this time out), and low price, I went home seriously impressed. The readers of Moviemaker magazine agreed, voting the BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival one of the Top Five Coolest Comedy Film Festivals in the world.

Comedy of Horrors has also introduced a lot of talent to adventurous genre fans in the last few years: They’ve previously screened Seattle premieres of comedy cult hit The Puppet Monster Massacre  and the wonderful Irish horror spoof Grabbers (which enjoyed a one-week run at the Grand Illusion earlier this year), among others.

Now, festival organizers are hoping to step up their game with the help of a Kickstarter campaign. It’s the homestretch of BoneBat Comedy of Horrors’ financial push, which ends this coming Thursday, and the perks include much nifty stuff–festival passes, swag bags, hoodies, posters, corporate sponsorships, and more depending on donation level. And hosts Steve Holetz and Gord Caulkins (who also host the long-running BoneBat podcast) are hoping to up the ante with the added funds by luring non-local live music, greater compensation for participating filmmakers, and a worldwide live stream should funding come through. For anyone seeking some yocks with their shocks, you won’t find a much better forum to get behind.