Black horror legends and emerging filmmakers take center stage at St. Albans’ ‘Deadhead Film Festival’

By Matthew Young, BBG

Horror legends Ken Foree and Bill Moseley, the stars of Director Rob Zombie’s 2005 cult-classic, “The Devil’s Rejects,” will bring their iconic presence to St. Albans, on Saturday, Oct. 3, for the second annual Deadhead Film Festival, where the two actors will participate in a question-and-answer session and autograph signings.

This year’s festival will take place across two downtown venues, and give horror fans the chance to hear directly from the independent filmmakers whose movies will be screened, as well as the opportunity to interact with legends of the genre.  The event will also feature on-site tattoo artists, horror creators and numerous other local artisans, as well as both food and merchandise vendors. 

“This is only our second year, so we’re still up-and-coming,” Carah Chafin, president and director of the Deadhead Film Festival and chair of the Deadhead Productions Film Festival Foundation, told BBG last week. “It started as more of an idea of a collective rather than a festival.”

Chafin, who describes herself as “a girl from West Virginia who grew up doing special effects in local haunted houses,” said she found herself asking how she could parlay her love and passion for all things horror into a successful career. 

“I’m lucky enough to be doing those things today, but I also really want to make sure that the people who are in those positions right now also have those resources,” Chafin said.

After finishing college in Pittsburgh, Chafin, who grew up in Charleston, relocated to Los Angeles to begin her career as a filmmaker and special effects make-up artist. While reconnecting with local friends during a trip back home to West Virginia, the opportunity to screen films at the Alban Arts Center/63 Main Events in St. Albans presented itself. 

“That snowballed into our films, and some of our friend’s films,” Chafin explained. “Then the idea to open it up to other filmmakers came about, and before long it transformed into a full on film festival that was open internationally. Since then it’s continued to grow into a really cool thing.”

“We’ve rebranded as a nonprofit, and we really strive to help independent filmmakers, particularly in Appalachia,” Chafin added. 

As noted by their mission statement, the Deadhead Film Festival is “dedicated to creating educational initiatives and hosting independent film exhibitions that uplift underrepresented filmmakers. We shine a spotlight on women in film, students, and the incredible, untapped talent hailing from West Virginia and the broader Appalachian region.”

In keeping with the mission, Deadhead’s panel of judges has selected Leticia “Letty” Buchanan’s 2026 short film, “Paralysis,” as the festival’s winner for Most Horrifying. 

During its six-minute runtime, Paralysis tells the story of an episode of sleep paralysis, in which Natasha – the film’s protagonist – finds herself “trapped in a world where time stops, her body betrays her, and a grotesque entity crawls closer, turning her struggle to wake into a desperate fight for spiritual survival.”

As explained by Buchanan herself, “Paralysis was conceived from years of my own personal struggle with sleep paralysis. For a long time, I lived with an overwhelming fear of falling asleep knowing that once I did, I might be trapped in terrifying hallucinations and intense unexplainable sounds.”

“I tried everything to protect myself,” Buchanan adds. “Listening to calming music, watching sermons as I tried to fall asleep, even sleeping with a Bible resting on my chest. When I finally began speaking openly about my struggle, I discovered I was not alone. So many people endure the same terror.”

“With Paralysis, I wanted to translate that experience to the screen and place the audience inside the feeling of being frozen, unable to speak and stripped of control over your own body and surroundings,” Buchanan continues. “The use of atmospheric sound is intentionally designed to immerse the audience in the fear and vulnerability of these episodes.”

Buchanan began her career as an executive assistant for CNBC’s “Wall Street” program, before working into a news associate role on “Morning Call.” Buchanan would cover many live events for the network, including New York Fashion Week’s Baby Phat Show, and  “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” with Ryan Seacrest. After her time at CNBC, Buchanan served as a researcher and writer for Court TV, and worked on rights and clearances for the HBO series, “Taxicab Confessions.”

Buchanan made her directorial debut with “Betty,” an award-winning horror-comedy film which she also co-wrote. Buchanan also contributed to the PBS documentary, “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause,” along with journalist Tamsen Fadal.

“As one of the few women of color working in the horror genre, this film is also a statement of presence, including a cast and crew made up of all Black and Hispanic filmmakers,” Buchanan notes. “I hope Paralysis contributes to greater diversity and inclusion in a space where those voices are still underrepresented, while telling a deeply personal story that resonates with anyone who has ever felt trapped by fear and anxiety in their own mind.”

Currently, Buchanan’s focus is on producing narrative films, documentaries, and music videos. Buchanan, along with filmmaker Eddie Lebron, co-founded “Love Your Face Films,” and together the duo works to promote diversity and provide opportunities for underrepresented individuals within the media industry.

Despite not featuring any celebrities of Hollywood horror, the turnout for last year’s Deadhead Film Festival, Chafin noted, was “surprising in all of the best ways.”

“Our community showed up for us, and we met so many new members of the community that inspired us to keep going, and inspired us to envelop ourselves into a nonprofit,” Chafin said. “We really wanted to foster and give back to that community. Our attendance was really, really awesome. We had a lot of people we knew, and a lot of people we didn’t know. And a lot of people were there to celebrate exactly what we were doing.”

“The reassurance was great, the community was there to support us, and this year we are seeing that tenfold because we just recently sold out our theater,” Chafin added. “More than anything, it’s great to see that people want to come out and involve themselves with independent cinema.”

For 2026, fans of the Deadhead Film Festival are being rewarded for their loyalty, as both Ken Foree and Bill Moseley are scheduled to appear. 

Best known for his iconic role as Peter Washington in George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie-classic, Dawn of the Dead, Ken Foree also appeared alongside fellow West Virginian Taso Stavrakis in 1981’s Knightriders, and  1990’s Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. In 2004, Foree had a small role in the Dawn of the Dead remake, before appearing in Rob Zombie’s 2005 film, The Devil’s Rejects. In 2007, Foree reunited with Zombie, to play the part of Joe Grizzly in the reimagining of John Carpenter’s Halloween. 

Bill Moseley rose to fame after his iconic role as Chop Top in the 1986 sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, before adding titles such as The End of Innocence, Night of the Living Dead, Army of Darkness, Grindhouse, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Disciples, and American Exorcist to his extensive film resume.  Moseley would join with Foree and Zombie for both 2005’s The Devil’s Rejects, and 2007’s Halloween. 

As explained by the Deadhead Film Festival’s Vice-chair and Treasurer Devon James, 11 total awards will be given out during the ceremony. 

“We have four big awards,” James further explained. “‘Best Narrative’ that we give $1,000 [to the winner], and ‘Deadhead Woman in film,’ which is a $500 award. Then we do ‘Special Effects,’ and ‘The Mothman Award,’ which is a regional award.”

The 2026 “Mothman Award” will be presented to Coleton Browning, a young filmmaker from southern West Virginia, who got his start filming fan-fiction for his YouTube channel.

For the 2026 awards season, Deadhead has chosen to focus exclusively on short films. However in future years, both Chafin and James hope to open the festival to features, and other film types.

“Horror has always been alive and well in Appalachia, but particularly West Virginia,” Chafin added. “There’s so much rich folklore in the area, but then there’s also just a rich community of people who are into modern and classic horror. It’s a fun place to be – especially this time of year.”

While tickets for the awards ceremony and question-and-answer session with Foree and Moseley are sold out, tickets remain available for the 2:30 p.m. autograph signing. The street fair portion which will feature vendors does not require a ticket. For more information, including a complete schedule of the day’s events, visit deadheadfilmfest.com.