Watch: Supernatural Horror Short ‘Death Red’ Featuring Haunted Paint

by Alex Billington
August 7, 2026
Source: YouTube

“What you’re looking at is an authentic can of Barkner’s Scarlet Secret.” Be careful with that! A new horror short has debuted online after playing at festivals that’s worth a watch. Death Red is a 12-minute horror short film made by filmmaker Mitch Glass, his latest creation for the horror community (he also made the shorts Box 616 and Canary which we’ve featured previously). “This horror is scripted. Your goosebumps are not.” Death Red premiered at the 2025 Sitges Film Festival last year and played at many others. Originally sold in the 1960s as Scarlet Secret, the paint later dubbed “Death Red” was outlawed in 1984 after it was discovered to contain the remains of victims murdered by Richard Barkner, a respected paint manufacturer who used his company, Barkner Paints, to conceal his crimes. Legend warns that using it and uttering the phrase “open their eyes” will awaken the trapped souls within. When young artist Claire acquires a forgotten can, she believes it will fuel her next masterpiece. Starring Kelsey Tuma as Claire. They shot this in only 2 days! Another impressive horror short from Mitch – I really hope he gets to make his first feature soon, too.

Thanks to Mitch for the tip on this debuting online. Intro via Vimeo: “Outlawed in 1984, the paint known as ‘Death Red‘ was found to contain a serial killer’s victims. Legend warns that using it & uttering the phrase ‘open their eyes’ awakens the souls within. Now, a young artist dares to use it for her magnum opus.​” Death Red is a horror short written and directed by the American genre filmmaker Mitch Glass – to view more of his work, visit his Vimeo page or official website. Produced by Mitch Glass, Brad Rundblade, Ryan Sadler, and Jordan Tortorello. With cinematography by Ryan Sadler, and an original score by Dan Negovan. This is also the same crew that made the bank vault sci-fi short Box 616 and the other DNA sequencing sci-fi short Canary. Mitch explains: “We shot the film in just two days with a crew of six and a shoestring budget. It was a true labor of love, and I speak for everyone when I say we are proud of what we created together. More than anything, we hope this is just the beginning of the Death Red story.” For more info on the film, head to its YouTube page or visit Mitch’s site. To discover more shorts (including horror), click here. Your thoughts?

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