The Bonebat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival is a local April tradition that may not be quite as inevitable as death or taxes, but it’s getting there. And it’s a helluva lot more fun.
Podcasters Steve Holetz and Gord Caulkins, the fest’s two-man programming/coordinating/promoting team, unleash the Fest’s twelfth iteration this Saturday April 22. This year marks Bonebat’s most grand venue yet, with the festival shambling into no less than the SIFF Egyptian Theatre. And take it from a Bonebat Stan: It’s the most winning combination of shocks and yocks you’ll see all year.
There’s a reason influential horror site Dread Central crowned Bonebat one of 2021’s Best Horror Festivals in the World, and why Moviemaker Magazine chose the festival as one of the Top Five Coolest Comedy Festivals in the World. Caulkins’ and Holetz’s winning formula—dozens of extremely entertaining horror-comedy shorts from all over the world bracketing at least one scary/funny feature and a live music performance—shows no signs of wearing out its welcome.
Bonebat XII boasts some 41 shorts, and Holetz’s and Caulkins’ stellar batting average as curators portends an embarrassment of riches. As is par for the course, the selection spans several countries, and showcases every conceivable variety of horror, comedy, horrific comedy, and comic horror. Want a portable zom-com? Look no further than Chris McInroy’s We Forgot About the Zombies. If you’re yearning for some Lovecraftian cosmic horror, Canadian director Alain Fournier’s short, The Temple, should more than fill the bill. And for that Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cup of awesome that is rock and roll and horror, strap yourself in and bang your head to Jason Sheedy’s short, The Mages of Rage and The Desecration of the House of Mimicry.
Over the last decade-plus, Bonebat’s also demonstrated a laudable commitment to local filmmakers, with PNW-grown shorts making their way to the festival’s lineup frequently. Among Bonebat 2023’s local offerings: The Fingernail Taker, from directors Tommy Heffernan and Alex Furnas; Vancouver native Rosalee Yagihara’s visceral mini-movie, Gnaw; Spokane director Jesse James Hennessy’s slasher, Jack Shit; and Portlander Hannah May Cummings’ practical-effects-laden Baby Fever. Another Oregon filmmaker, Chuck Magee, nabbed Bonebat 2023’s coveted feature film slot with his latest, Cocaine Snorting Crabs from Outer Space—and in case you were wondering, Magee beat a certain big-budget cocaine-binging bruin to the cinematic kilo of blow by several months.
Admission to Bonebat 2023 runs $45, and the fest delivers some serious bang for your 45 buck(s). In addition to 11 hours of films, Seattle surf demi-gods The Delstroyers will take the stage for a set. Admission also nets patrons individual goodie bags brimming with stuff (books, stickers/merch, artisan chocolate, and lots more from a small army of sponsors), and a ticket for Bonebat’s prize-packed raffle. Tchotchkes, chuckles, and chills don’t come any more plentiful.
Tickets, trailers, and more info can be obtained at the Bonebat website.