December is upon us, traditionally when the snow begins to fall and creatures begin to hibernate in centrally heated caves with cable and WiFi. But Canadian winter and horror go together like David Cronenberg and gore...or at least they should! So this weekend fans of things that go boo in the dark should head over to the inaugural Blood in the Snow Horror Film Festival presented by Fright Nights, which kicked off last night at Projection Booth East at 1035 Gerrard St East.

Featuring Canadian filmmakers showcasing the best in homegrown horror, the festival's opening feature is zombie flick 'Sick', at 7pm by director Ryan M. Andrews, in its world premiere together with the short film "The Post-Lifers" (Toronto Premiere) directed by Greg Kovacs.

The three day festival features (quite aptly) 13 films, but there are a few stand-out films to check out. First among these is "Beyond the Black Rainbow" by director Panos Cosmatos with the short film "Roachfar" - directed by Steven Cerritos. This plays November 30 at 9.30pm.

Also notable on December 1st (today) is "In the House of Flies" (World Premiere), directed by Gabriel Carrer and screening with shorts "The Stolen" (Toronto Premiere) directed by Karen Lam, and "Self Portrait" - directed by Jovanka Vuckovic. This screens at 6.30 pm, but the short film "Hellvetica" by Kalen Artinian, screening at 11.45pm should also elicit a few morbid chuckles.

The festival pass bought online is $40.80, but day passes for today (Saturday) are $35.70, and individual films are $10.20.

Next weekend is another CanCon friendly film festival, the independent short film and video fest SHAVED II Short Film and Video Art Screening, created by Chris Laxton. Screening at Projection Booth Metro on December 8th, this is the second installment of the fest - the first one last year sold out, which might give you a reason to temporarily emerge from your goose-down draped cocoon.

This year's edition promises brand new local film and video work from independent producers, directors, and artists in Toronto.

Doors open at 8pm, and screenings begin at 9.45pm.