REC SP  ·  CH 66 — ARCHIVE 0:00:00
horror, rated in the dark · the pendulum keeps the time until sign-off
the archive remembers — your account, reviews & lists are saved in this browser and survive reloads and site updates. catalog snapshot: jul 2026. poster art streams in from the wikipedia archives when the signal allows — otherwise you get the house-brand sleeves.

⏵ Feed the channel — submit a short tape

— OR — Upload video file
embeds accepted from youtube & vimeo. direct uploads play for this session in the prototype — permanent hosting arrives with the backend. sign in to transmit.
✪

THE DEAD AIR FESTIVAL

DREAD PENDULUM's open-screen contest for short horror. Submit your film, get rated by the community on the same seven channels as everything else, and compete for THE GOLDEN STATIC — plus a permanent spot on the front shelf. Season one closes OCT 31 2026, midnight. Winner = 50% audience pulse, 50% jury panel.

✪ Enter the festival

— OR — Upload file
after submitting you'll get a verification code to paste into your video description — that's how we prove the upload is yours.

▸ festival rules — read before entering

01 · YOUR WORK ONLY. The submitter must be the film's creator or an authorized rights holder. Every collaborator gets credited. Submitting someone else's film — including "lost media" or a stranger's upload — is theft, and earns a permanent ban from the festival and the site.

02 · PROVE THE UPLOAD IS YOURS. Each entry gets a unique verification code. Paste it into the description of your YouTube/Vimeo upload (or submit from the channel that posted it). Entries whose codes never appear are quietly dropped at review. The jury may also request project files or raw footage before a win is confirmed — winners who can't produce them forfeit.

03 · AI: DISCLOSED OR DISQUALIFIED. Fully human-made films are the heart of the festival. AI-assisted work is welcome only with a complete, specific disclosure — which tools, and exactly where — shown as a label on your entry card. Fully AI-generated films compete on the separate SYNTHETIC shelf and cannot win the Golden Static. Undisclosed AI found at any point, including after a win, means disqualification, title revoked, ban.

04 · RIGHTS & CLEARANCES. Original score, licensed tracks, or public domain only. No unlicensed samples, footage, fonts-with-terms, or trademarked characters. "It's just fan work" is not a clearance.

05 · CONTENT LINES. Fiction only — no real violence, harm, or cruelty; nothing illegal; no sexualized minors, ever; no doxxing or targeting real people. Extreme gore and strobe sequences need a content warning card up front. The jury can reject any entry that crosses a line, no appeal.

06 · FAIR PLAY. One entry per creator per season, ≤ 20 minutes, made within the last 3 years. Vote manipulation — bots, bought reviews, coordinated brigades, review-swapping cartels — disqualifies the entry; audience pulse is only half the score precisely so the loudest fanbase doesn't automatically win. Jury members can't vote on entries they worked on.

07 · THE AWARD. Season shortlist = top 10 by audience pulse (min. 10 reviews). Winner picked 50/50 by audience pulse + a rotating jury of horror filmmakers and critics. Prize: THE GOLDEN STATIC, a permanent front-shelf feature, and a winner badge on your profile. No entry fees, ever — a festival that charges to enter and pays in "exposure" is one of the oldest scams in film.

08 · YOU KEEP EVERYTHING. Entering grants DREAD PENDULUM a non-exclusive right to embed and feature your film. That's it. You keep full ownership and can withdraw your entry at any time before the season closes.

before you go — lineups, dates and prices change every season; always check the venue's own page. extreme haunts involve waivers, age limits, physical contact and safewords — read everything before you book, and know that walking in is optional but walking out is always allowed.

☎ the phone-in — you're on the air

be kind to the other callers. the switchboard remembers.
sign in to pick up the phone — listening is free.
// live lines

THE SEAT IS WARM.
THE CHANNEL NEEDS A CURATOR.

You have been watching like one. Rating on all seven channels. Adjusting nothing. We measured the chair while you scrolled — it is already your shape. The pendulum is patient. Sign-off is at 2.