My New Found-Footage Horror Short, The Custodians, Is Now Available

I'm excited to announce the release of my new independent found-footage horror short, The Custodians, now available to watch on YouTube.

The film follows a man who has decided to document a secret his family has kept for generations. He believes something ancient has been watching his apartment complex for a very long time, and as he ventures farther from his apartment, he begins to suspect that he may not be alone.

With The Custodians, I wanted to explore how an ordinary setting can become unsettling when viewed through the lens of something mysterious and potentially enormous in scope. The story begins with a serious confession and gradually moves toward a discovery that takes things in an unexpected direction.

As with my other independent films, I handled the writing, directing, filming, and editing myself. I enjoy the creative challenge of making found-footage horror with limited resources, using atmosphere, pacing, and an unusual central idea to create something memorable.

If you enjoy found-footage horror, slow-burn suspense, unsettling mysteries, and independent filmmaking, I hope you'll give it a watch.

Watch The Custodians on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xQnoSZfNt8Y

Thanks to everyone who watches, shares, and supports my films. Every viewer helps an independent project find its audience.

— Chris von Halle

It Waits at the Lodge Reaches 3,000 Hours of YouTube Watch Time

I'm happy to share a milestone for my independent found-footage horror film, It Waits at the Lodge: the film has officially reached 3,000 hours of watch time on YouTube.

Released in 2025, It Waits at the Lodge is an approximately 40-minute horror film about Chris Sanders, who seeks solitude at a remote lodge, only to experience a series of strange and troubling disturbances.

I wrote, directed, acted in, and edited the film myself, completing it in about two weeks while working full-time. It's a very independent production, made with the resources available to me, so seeing the film accumulate this much viewing time is especially meaningful.

Three thousand hours amounts to 125 days of cumulative viewing. Of course, that doesn't mean any one person spent that long watching the film. It means that, added together, viewers have devoted that much time to something I created.

The journey hasn't been without its challenges. Independent filmmaking means putting a tremendous amount of time and effort into a project without knowing how audiences or festivals will respond. That's part of what makes milestones like this encouraging: the film continues to find viewers beyond its original release.

I'm grateful to everyone who has watched It Waits at the Lodge, left a comment, shared it with another horror fan, or recommended it to someone else. Your support helps independent films continue to find an audience.

If you enjoy found-footage horror, slow-burning mysteries, and unsettling stories told through a camera's lens, you can watch the full film on YouTube here:

Watch It Waits at the Lodge on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cISCaaHyL6I

Thank you for watching and supporting my work!

I Kept Finding a Girl in My Mailbox

So...I found a tiny porcelain girl in my mailbox.

Naturally, I made a horror film about it.

I Kept Finding a Girl in My Mailbox is now available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vSidGNHWt3U

The premise is pretty simple: Chris opens his mailbox and discovers a tiny porcelain girl inside.

And then things get increasingly strange.

That's about as much as I want to reveal about the story here. There are a few things that happen along the way that I think are much more effective if you encounter them while watching the film rather than reading about them beforehand.

It's another short found-footage horror story, built around the idea of taking something completely ordinary — checking your mailbox — and introducing one very strange thing into it.

From there, I let the situation escalate.

Watch I Kept Finding a Girl in My Mailbox on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vSidGNHWt3U

This is my latest little horror film, following I Came Home But My Apartment Was Gone, which I released recently. I'm having fun continuing to make these strange, small-scale found-footage stories — especially ones that I can create largely on my own and that start with an ordinary situation before taking a turn into something much less ordinary.

I hope you'll give it a watch.

And if you do, I'd love to know what you think.

Bizarre Evening Deaths Receives Honorable Mention from LA Indie Horror Fest

I have some nice news about my short horror film Bizarre Evening Deaths.

The film was not selected for the official lineup of this year's LA Indie Horror Fest, but the festival has given it an Honorable Mention, recognizing what they described as its “innovative take on horror.”

The festival also had some particularly kind words about the film's creativity and inventiveness, encouraging me to continue pursuing unusual ideas and keeping my imagination active.

That part actually means quite a bit to me. One of the things I try hardest to do with my films is make something that feels a little different from what I've seen before, rather than simply making another variation on a familiar horror concept. So having a festival specifically recognize that quality is gratifying.

Bizarre Evening Deaths now has an official Honorable Mention laurel from LA Indie Horror Fest, which I'll be adding to the film's promotional materials.

Onward to the next weird thing.

The Ashes of Tomorrow Box Set Is Now Available

I’ve just released something a little different: the Ashes of Tomorrow Box Set, bringing three of my young adult dystopian books together in one collection.

[Get the Ashes of Tomorrow Box Set on Amazon for $6.99 → https://tinyurl.com/bdhu7uak]

The collection includes The Fourth Generation, Mass Exodus, and The Castle in the Girl—three stories that explore survival, identity, rebellion, secrets, and what happens when young people are forced to question the worlds they've been told to accept.

What's Inside?

The Fourth Generation

In a world where no one lives past seventeen, a dying boy's final wish to uncover the rulers' forbidden mansion leads to a secret that could determine the survival of humanity itself.

Mass Exodus

When her father vanishes from the last human settlement on Earth, seventeen-year-old Jayniss defies the rules to search for him—only to uncover terrifying truths about intelligent predators and the fragile survival of humankind.

The Castle in the Girl

When Princess Michelle begins dreaming of a strange modern world and hears a mysterious voice urging her to find the castle dungeon, she must uncover the terrifying truth behind her seemingly perfect kingdom—and the secrets hidden within her own identity.

Together, the three books total roughly 140,000 words, making the box set a substantial collection for readers who enjoy YA dystopian fiction.

The Ashes of Tomorrow Box Set is available now for $6.99 on Amazon.

[Get the Ashes of Tomorrow Box Set → https://tinyurl.com/bdhu7uak]

If you enjoy books such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, or The Maze Runner, you may find something to enjoy in these three dystopian adventures.

Thanks, as always, for reading.