The Short Film Showcase has been a staple of the London staging of FrightFest for some time, but 2025 marks the first time that it’s been a feature of the Glasgow edition. It’s no exaggeration to say that, among the variable quality on offer over the weekend, the seven films all contribute to make the showcase one of the highlights. All recent work from the UK and Ireland, each of the films have something to offer, from simple ghost stories to ambitious retellings of folk legends. 

First up was Canary Bones (Kyran Davies/ UK/ 2024/ 12 mins). A dying industry haunts this ghost story of corporate revenge. Years after a disaster claimed many lives in a coal mining village, a representative of the energy company travels to the Welsh valleys to survey the mine for potential reopening. But deep in the shafts and tunnels, there is more than abandoned seams and rusting equipment. A simple ghost tale elevated by some beautiful production design – and the use of the local mining museum and heritage railway – Canary Bones is as claustrophobic and atmospheric as its premise promises.

Mulch (Henry Leroy-Salta, Alexander Tol/ UK/ 2024/ 10 mins) is a playful and very funny little piece that plays like the animals of the Irn Bru ‘Butcher’ ad getting their revenge. A man goes for a hike through a forest in memory of his father, who took him hunting as a child. But the woods never forget. Again, this is a simple tale with excellent cinematography – a fairly constant trait among the various films – and some lovely old-school animation that could be right out of Watership Down.

The Pearl Comb (Ali Cook/ UK/ 2024/ 21 mins) may well be the most assured film of the lot. Based on the Cornish folk legend of Lutey and the Mermaid, The Pearl Comb is a fairy tale to make the Brothers Grimm’s head spin. An old woman known to be a healer tells the tale of her late husband Lutey, who encountered a mermaid and made a bargain for a magic comb. The catch is that she would return to claim him in nine years. Visually stunning with assured direction, The Pearl Comb is a fantastically dark story with a satisfying sting in the tail.

By the Light of the Fire (Luke Cossimo Keogh/ UK/ 2024/ 5 mins) is a more stripped-back affair than the previous short, but still makes an eerie impact on very limited means. A Roman soldier takes a break by a campfire and is told a story of cowardice and duty neglected by a mysterious stranger. A very simple but effective use of a truncated time frame. And yet again, the camera work is a highlight.

A haunted house comedy that bites its thumb at the housing market next with Conveyance (Gemma Creagh/ Ireland/ 2024/ 15 mins). A young couple find what they think is their dream home after years of searching. However, there is more than the white goods left behind. Can the couple deal with an unwelcoming ghost who cares nothing for how much below the asking price they snapped up the property? There is no reinventing of the wheel here, just a very well put together and performed, and ultimately benevolent ghostly tale.

The Birdwatcher (Ryan Mackfall/ UK/ 2024/ 13 mins) is a technically ambitious work from burgeoning production company Myskatonic. Investigators – including Enys Men‘s Mary Woodvine – examine a birdwatching hut in the depths of a forest, the site of a mysterious disappearance. An enigmatic cosmic horror on a small scale, The Birdwatcher is another visually impressive short that finds a creepy expansiveness in its deceptively confined spaces.

The showcase concludes with a home winner. Pumpkin Guts (Bryan M. Ferguson/ UK/ 2024/ 13 mins) was made for a measly £800 and its a lovely slice of John Carpenter worship that makes you salivate at the though of what the filmmakers could do with a budget. Each year at Hallowe’en a pumpkin appears on one person’s doorstep with a gruesome request contain within. Fail, and you’re pinched. Very much among the more light-hearted efforts of the day, Pumpkin Guts contains some exuberantly gross effects, and makes superb use of lighting and shadows that easily cover any budgetary constraints. A witty and imaginative spin on the slasher movie.

Screened as part of Glasgow FrightFest