The first year of the festival began as spinoff of the monthly film night hosted and programmed by Kelly Michael Stewart called Fright Nights at the Projection Booth. The program that year included 6 feature films and 13 shorts, including the first iteration of the festival's popular "Short Film Showcase" in the form of a "best of 2012 shorts" programming block and a midnight film on the Saturday night of the festival. Running from November 30 to December 2, 2012, titles that year included the World Premieres of Sick: Survive the Night and In The House of Flies, along with screenings of Beyond The Black Rainbow, Devil's Night, Famine and the Canadian Premiere of Blood for Irina.
