13 Days of Halloween: Horror Short Review: The Pumpkin Man: Demon of Fall (2021)

Written and directed by Ryan Sheets and starring Sylvia Muchmore, The Pumpkin Man: Demon of Fall is a 10+ minute horror short that has some style but lacks a killer edge.

An amateur photographer named Jenny has travelled to an old house and its surrounding land to take pictures for her portfolio. It’s there that she finds an old book and promptly reads aloud from it. An incantation of sorts, it awakens the dreaded Pumpkin Man. A demonic monster with a pumpkin for a head, she can only see it when she looks through her camera lens.

As it approaches, she runs away and manages to escape. At home, she begins to relax but the Pumpkin Man doesn’t give up that easily. Want to find out what happens next? Check it out yourself below.

There are some clear moments of talent here and the short overall looks and sounds great. The problems lie in the story which feels quite generic and the ending which is just lacklustre. A sudden switch to uber-gore when the short has been heavily weighted towards supernatural tension is also quite jarring.

It’s fine. It’s a perfectly fine short. Sure to entertain those looking for a cheap Halloween thrill.

This is some Evil Dead type shit.