Last Updated on October 15, 2026 by BJ Colangelo
As we gear up for the 2026 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards, we're looking back at where it all started. This year's ceremony airs on Shudder on October 25, 2026 at 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT).
The FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards began as so many things do — over a meal with friends. In the late summer or early fall of 1991, former FANGORIA publisher Norman Jacobs sat down for lunch at Mendy's diner downstairs from the Fango offices at 475 Park Avenue South. Jacobs was joined by Fango's Tony Timpone and convention partner Adam Malin. Norm came up with the name; he also coined FANGORIA, GOREZONE, and TOXIC HORROR.
In April 1992, FANGORIA Vol 1 #111 announced the first annual FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards. The magazine announced the nominees on a single page devoted to the inaugural ballot, featuring 11 categories (on page 11, as it were) and instructions for readers to mail their ballots to the Fango offices in New York. (You can read the issue in its entirety for free in our online archives.)
But the inaugural awards were not confined to the pages of Fango! The first annual Chainsaw Awards ceremony took place in person May 16-17 at the 1992 LA Weekend of Horrors. The whole thing was hosted by none other than Bruce Campbell. Winners were then announced in the December 1992 issue #119 for those not in attendance.
That year's big winners were The Silence of the Lambs, Bride of Re-Animator, The Addams Family, Body Parts, and Terminator 2. Lance Henriksen and Jeffrey Combs were the two inductees to the FANGORIA Hall of Fame, and they were both on hand to be welcomed to the fold by a director they had each collaborated with: Stuart Gordon. (Can you imagine!?) Well, I suppose some of you don't have to imagine, because you were there— living it.
Check out this sweet spread in the issue, which includes some of the Chainsaw Awards highlights and a list of the winners.
Fango legend Michael Gingold wrote the original article recapping the inaugural Chainsaw Awards and previously gave us a rundown of the ceremony's highlights on the site. There's no summing it up better than Gingold, so you can read that right here.
In fact, we have a collection of Gingold's Chainsaw Awards flashbacks spanning 1992-1996. Get lost in the Chainsauce (is that a thing?) and take a trip through time with Gingold as your guide.
We're going to flash forward a few years because, in October 2006, FANGORIA held the first-ever televised “Fuse FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards” at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The Chainsaw Awards aired exclusively on Fuse on Sunday, October 22nd at 10 pm ET; it was a big to-do and a major milestone.
Hosted by Jamie Kennedy, “the night's festivities were kicked off by masked rockers Slipknot and a chainsaw-wielding Leatherface who presented the honor for “Most Thrilling Killing (Best Death Scene)” to SAW II's Emmanuelle Vaugier. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis accepted the “Killer Video” award for “Dani California,” while musician turned director Rob Zombie walked away with “Killer Movie” for The Devil's Rejects.
The Hills Have Eyes was the big winner that year, taking home the trophy for “Looks That Kill (Best Makeup)” and “Bloodiest Beatdown.” 30 Seconds to Mars, Chingy and Avenged Sevenfold all performed live during the two-hour event. Award presenters included Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund, Avril Lavigne, Jada Pinkett Smith and her band Wicked Wisdom, KORN's Jonathan Davis, Linkin Park, Sum 41, Fall Out Boy, Samaire Armstrong, Brande Roderick, Regina Hall, Jenna Jameson and “The Girls Next Door.”
2021 marked the beginning of a fitting partnership between FANGORIA and Shudder, with Monster Kid host David Dastmalchian presiding over the festivities. The lockdown edition featured presenters and winners sending in their presentations and acceptance speeches with plenty of very familiar faces. (You can watch the full show on YouTube, and read a full list of the 2021 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards winners right here.)
The Chainsaw Awards returned to Shudder in 2022, again with host David Dastmalchian, this time pushing the envelope and building an even bigger, better beast coming out of lockdown.
If you want to see the full list of 2022 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards winners, we've got you covered.
The 2023 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards ceremony drew loads of in-person guests to present and win! Complete with Muppet Show-style backstage antics, this time, host David Dastmalchian was joined by co-host Peaches Christ.
In 2024, the FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards officially made the shift to an October airdate. (It just makes sense, right?) This widened the nomination eligibility window, making voting even tougher, with only one vote to cast from an even larger crop of excellent movies. We also introduced a new category, Best Video Game, which you all seemed to be pretty happy about.
The pre-taped awards show aired on Shudder once again, with returning host David Dastmalchian, this time joined by former Fangoria Digital Managing Editor, Angel Melanson, as the 2024 co-host. David and Angel got into some antics in an abandoned TV station as we worked to track down the awards show's lost footage with the help of some of our most horrific friends. Evil Dead Rise was the big standout of the evening, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre took home the first-ever FANGORIA Chainsaw award for Best Video Game.
In 2025, the Chainsaw Awards remained a pre-taped experience airing on Shudder, but the show left Earth behind and went where horror legends like Jason Voorhees and the titular Leprechaun had gone before, escaping to the one place capitalism hasn't corrupted… (say it with me in your best Tim Curry voice) SPACE!!
Last year marked a shift in hosts, with Fango fave Barbara Crampton co-hosting the show with writer/director/comedian Josh Ruben. Like the Academy Awards, it was a huge year for Ryan Coogler and Sinners, who took home many major awards, as did The Substance, which earned Demi Moore the Lead Performance statue.
This year, show director Michael Varrati takes us into the cornfields for an eerie, autumnal venture into pumpkin patches for yet another incredible show. Tune in to see who you voted for to win horror's greatest honors, what new surprises FANGORIA has in store, and who will be the lucky recipients of this year's Editor's Eyeball awards.
To save you the scroll back up, this year's ceremony airs on Shudder on October 25, 2026, at 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT).
