Horror Fest

Horror Fest is a web series that was created by Mike Barkhoff and originated after the success of Candlelight.

The series' original run lasted two seasons from 2017 to 2018, airing primarily in October but with promotional material also occurring throughout the year, interspersed.

On October 31st, 2021, Live Free announced a revival of the series coming in 2022 for it's third season. This followed Drakoloid syndicating and re-airing the first season on Adult Zone across the prior two days. Barkhoff claimed to have written 'seasons worth' of more episodes during production of the released seasons.

Production [Season 1]
Following Candlelight, everybody in then Barking Vans got inspired to create their own horror short film. Josey Davis and Ashtun O'Rourke both used this opportunity to create their debut short films, both were met with mediocre responses, especially in favor to Barkhoff's short film. Ironically, both would do their sophomoric effort for Chapters. the next year and receive acclaim for those.

In The Air was a rushed episode due to Barkhoff's childhood dog being put on a short lifespan. The Digger was Barkhoff's attempt at creating a storyline bridge between it and Candlelight, an effort he gave up on due to disinterest from himself.

Production [Season 2]
Season 2 began filming in December of 2017, not more than two months following the conclusion of the first season. This was due to scheduling allowing Van Hauen to be free.

Ready Or Not was filmed January 1st, 2018. Barkhoff's intent was to release this on Friday the 13th. The former project, however, was released early at the behest of Van Hauen's excitement.

Shortly thereafter, Barkhoff discovered the 15 Second Horror Short Challenge, and decided to incorporate that into the story, allowing him to make easier and more fun horror shorts while also relaying them into a festival. These were released in May, due to Barkhoff wanting festival attendees to see his work prior.

The rest of the season was filmed from July to September, with two other projects going alongside it, Down and Twisted Sibling. An early idea that didn't form would've seen a short clip from Twisted Sibling be an episode, but Barkhoff decided against it, wanting the second feature film to entail less marketing than INFINITE..

Production [Season 3]
Barkhoff unveiled plans to respark Horror Fest's existence in November 2021, following the launch of Drakoloid Adult Zone.

Barkhoff had produced one of the episodes in the summer of 2021, intending to release it as a short film in October 2021. He ultimately scrapped it, citing it as "unfavorable".

Barkhoff filmed Season 3 of Horror Fest in Feburary 2022, after work on Living Free Season 2 completed. He reiterated the importance of lighting in the series, but also went for tapping a unique vein to differentiate the series' return from it's previous episodes. He was inspired by films such as "It Follows", "Donnie Darko", and "Butterfly Effect". Similar to Season 1, the third season is comprised of five episodes.

Marketing
While Season 1's marketing was a simple "Short film in X days", release, and share, Season 2's included posters for many of the films beforehand, as well as some trailers, exclusive to social media clips, Behind The Scenes photos, and more.

Season 2 remains, as of 2021, the most marketed web series of the Barking Vans, with many episodes receiving promotional posts, trailers, posters, and, at times a combination. Compared to other series such as Down, Chapters., and more, where episodes are often times released by surprise or without promotion for the upcoming installment.

In 2021, Barkhoff had the idea for a new web series entitled 'Colors Of Horror' for an upcoming year. Drakoloid Adult Zone launched October 29th, 2021, and aired the entirety of Horror Fest 2017 across the 30th and 31st. Following the positive reviews from a new audience, Live Free announced a revival on the series, a third season set to debut in 2022. Barkhoff has remained null on if Season 3 is a reworking of his idea for 'Colors Of Horror', but stated: "I forgot how much I had fun with that show. Horror is one of my favorite genres and I turned my back on it because of self doubt in leui of reading too much into the critics. I missed making it these last couple years without even realizing I missed making it."

Reception
Season 1 was met with positive reviews but also criticism for it's fast paced nature. Many commenters felt it was "improper" or "rushed" at times, and attributed it to the team trying to recreate the success Candlelight saw in September. Nonetheless, Candlelight was met with rave reviews and The Digger earned attention for it's usage of story telling.

Season 2 was met with much more positive reviews than it's former, with many complimenting it's use of different storytelling techniques that were cycled throughout the season. The massive criticism for Season 2 came in the source of it's marketing flaws, with some viewers comparing the season unfavorably to that of an album with too many singles, as only a third of the content actually released in October. Barkhoff later would also agree that it was a massive mistake on his behalf as the frontrunner, explaining it as "excitement" guiding their decision to release so many episodes earlier than they should have.