Stage Fright Festival

Portland’s Only Queer Horror Theatre Festival

| 2026 FESTIVAL COMING || OCTOBER 8 - 18th |

| 2026 FESTIVAL COMING || OCTOBER 8 - 18th |

2026 Festival Applications Open February 2nd!

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Jeff Desautels and Amica Hunter, co-producers of the Stage Fright Festival.

OUR Bloody Mission

To produce original theatre by professional and emerging independent artists, of the highest artistic integrity, centering trans and queer creators and audiences. The horror genre has a special and symbiotic connection to queer culture. We believe in the power that theatre and horror have to build and bond communities.

Come scream with us!

THE BLOG-HOUSE OF HORRORS

CATCH all the chills, thrills, and backstage spills

Blog
Festival Lineup Announcement
Festival Lineup Announcement

This year’s festival will feature full length productions, “double features” of shorter scares, script readings, interactive installations, a mask-making workshop, and variety performances by both local and international talent including Candy Roberts (Critics Pick: Orlando Fringe Festival), Nancy Boys (Official Selection: LA Westside Comedy Festival), A Little Bit Off (Best of Fest: Saskatoon Fringe), and more.

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From the Desk of Festival Co-Producer, Jeff Desautels
From the Desk of Festival Co-Producer, Jeff Desautels

Welcome to our blog.

Here at Stage Fright, we champion dying media long abandoned by the ruling class. First, theatre. And now, the website. Some call us behind the times. Increasingly, others are calling us prophetic — as the glittering castles of hypercapitalism begin to crumble and burn, we’re over here on the sidelines, producing our little plays and writing our little blogs.

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Why Queer Horror?
Why Queer Horror?

Horror is queer (period). 

Not just in the campy cult classics and high-glam vamps. Not just in the metaphor. Not just in the monsters. Horror has always been queer. It’s woven into the blood-soaked fabric of the genre, lurking in the shadows of repression, transformation, desire, and defiance.

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