The eighth annual “Hammond Horror Festival” brought phobias and time-limited productions to the stage and the screen.

The festival started on Friday, Oct, 19 with “Seven Frightening Phobias,” a 24-hour production. The play was sectioned into seven parts, each focused on a different phobia.

Taylor Bennett, a senior English major, shared her experience performing in “Pop/Pop” for “Seven Frightening Phobias.”

“This was different because instead of relying on gore and a lot of blood, it was like jump scares, which is even more creepy when you mess with the senses,” said Bennett. “It’s so titillating. It’s scarier.”

Miranda Miller, a junior general studies, performed in “Fear of Death” for the 24-hour theatre event.

“Tonight was really fun,” said Miller. “We had a mixed bag. You only have 24 hours to put this thing together, so you get what you get at the end of the day, but we had a lot of fun. Lots of things go wrong. Lots of things go right. It’s a chaotic mess, but we love it.”

With the production limited to 24 hours, rehearsal for the actors occupied a shorter than usual time frame.

“It’s insane,” said Bennett. “I am exhausted in every bone of my body. Your adrenaline, though, it rushes because I learned a script in 11 hours, not six weeks like we normally do, but it’s so thrilling.”

Miller found a new role in her fifth year of participating in the “Hammond Horror Festival.”

“In the past, I usually always get cast in a scary scene, and I get to play a creepy role,” said Miller. “This is the first year ever that I got to play a comedic role and be funny, so it was a huge change of pace for me, but I loved it.”

The following day showcased the “Macabre Showcase” and “48-Hour Film Festival.”

Santiago Rodriguez produced the audience choice winner for the film contest. The film focused on fear of commitment.

“It’s very complicated to push everything together, but we had a little bit of preparation,” said Rodriguez. “I tried to find the locations and then the actors. When time was to go, I told the writer, ‘You have just these locations and these actors, so come up with a story.'”

Rodriguez shared his thoughts on the film’s award.

“There was a lot of real good competition,” said Rodriguez. “I was surprised, but I’m also very proud of my team definitely because we won the audience choice, which means we moved them, and that’s the goal.”

Rodriguez compared his participation in this festival to his last time being in the competition.

“I definitely think we made so much progress since then,” said Rodriguez. “In my mind, the competition was definitely tougher, and at the same time, I think that experience from that one helped me, helped this one flow a little bit better and faster. It was ambitious, but we got it done.”