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<p>Bobby Keller saw &#8220;Night of the Living Dead&#8221; when he was 4. Since then, a passion for horror films has followed him through life.</p><p>Keller hosts the second NEPA Horror Film Festival, a screening of 13 short horror films, starting at 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at Ale Mary&#8217;s in Scranton. By raising funds through a GoFundMe page, Keller was able to build upon his inaugural effort in 2015, to expand the event schedule and book celebrity appearances this year.</p><p>Last October, Keller, a Scranton filmmaker with titles including &#8220;Mini-Golf Massacre&#8221; to his name, held the first NEPA Horror Film Festival event, called &#8220;13 Short Films,&#8221; at the River Street Jazz Cafe in Plains. His motivation grew from a desire to feature the works of local film makers.</p><p>&#8220;I wanted it to be mainly local &#8230; and then people were submitting movies from all around the world,&#8221; Keller said. &#8220;Not that it&#8217;s a huge thing at all, but it became much bigger than I intended.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;13 Short Films&#8221; drew more than 100 people to the Jazz Cafe to watch independent shorts, and Keller knew he had something upon which to build.</p><p>Subsequent events held at Ale Mary&#8217;s included a showcase of Christmas-themed horror films and a tribute to low budget, shot-on-video films of the &#8217;80s and &#8217;90s such as &#8220;Boardinghouse&#8221; and Todd Sheets&#8217; &#8220;Zombie Bloodbath&#8221; trilogy.</p><p>Keller got in touch with Sheets via AOL Instant Messenger when he was a young horror enthusiast and gore master Sheets shared his knowledge of the craft.</p><p>&#8220;He gave me a lot of advice,&#8221; Keller said. &#8220;He sent me the screeners for free.&#8221;</p><p>Keller said the intermittent events have been &#8220;hit and miss&#8221; in terms of attendance, bringing in between 15 and 40 people, but he&#8217;s sure people had fun and he&#8217;s glad he was able to organize events without having to charge an admission.</p><p>This year, Keller has engineered &#8220;13 Short Films 2&#8221; to be a microcosm of larger-scale genre gatherings he&#8217;s attended.</p><p>&#8220;I want it to be not just a film festival but a mini horror convention, something like Chiller or Monster Mania in New Jersey,&#8221; Keller said.</p><p>Keller booked cult heroes such as Felissa Rose, star of the 1982 exploitation classic &#8220;Sleepaway Camp,&#8221; actress Lisa Gaye from &#8220;The Toxic Avenger Part II&#8221; and Joe Bob Briggs, famed film critic and former host of TNT MonsterVision.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a pretty well known horror icon and one of my heroes,&#8221; Keller said of Briggs.</p><p><ins>Briggs will introduce the festival in the format of his &#8220;drive-in totals,&#8221; which are short, humorous phrases describing the highlights of a presentation, a method Briggs used to introduce films as the host of MonsterVision.</ins></p><p>The festival features local horror-art vendors and autograph signings from 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 8, followed by a break from 7 to 8 p.m. Film screenings start at 8 p.m. with the first six to seven films, followed by a 15 minute intermission. Post intermission, the remaining films will be screened.</p><p>Films showcased during &#8220;13 Short Films 2&#8221; include &#8220;Green Lake,&#8221; &#8220;Who Is Beverly,&#8221; &#8220;Bitch, Popcorn &amp; Blood&#8221; and &#8220;Hada.&#8221;</p><p>Tickets to Reaper&#8217;s Revenge in Olyphant will be raffled off at some point during the festivities.</p><p>Keller said horror movies have always been an important part of his life and he&#8217;d like to see a festival proliferate in his home region.</p><p>&#8220;Horror fans are the best fans in the world,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to promote this the right way and have the resources to do so, so we can have a successful event locally.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The NEPA Horror Film Festival starts at 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at Ale Mary&#8217;s in Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_NEPA-Horror-Logo.jpg</photo0><caption0>The NEPA Horror Film Festival starts at 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at Ale Mary&#8217;s in Scranton. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_NEPA-Horror-Shoot.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Festival founder Bobby Keller, center, expanded this year&#8217;s event with support from the community. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_NEPA-Horror-Shoot.jpg</photo1><caption1>Festival founder Bobby Keller, center, expanded this year&#8217;s event with support from the community. </caption1><photoCredit1>Courtesy of Jess Meoni </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Festival will welcome celebrity guests</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>IF YOU GO</p><p>What: NEPA Horror Film Festival</p><p>Where: Ale Mary&#8217;s, 126 Franklin Ave., Scranton</p><p>When: Oct. 8 starting at 4 p.m.</p><p>Additional information: Tickets cost $10 before Oct. 8 and are available at Ale Mary&#8217;s. Tickets are available for $15 at the venue&#8217;s door the day of the event.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

NEPA Horror Film Festival expands event schedule for Scranton showcase