The New York City Horror Film Festival just closed its 14th annual run this weekend, filled with genre screenings and achievement awards for horror vets Sean Cunningham and Tom Atkins.  One of the standouts from this festival was not a full length feature, however, but a short.

That’s because Stephen W. Martin just received his 45th festival award for his horror short, “Dead Hearts.”  It’s been making its way through the festival circuit since last year, after a successful Indiegogo campaign in 2012, and has been capturing hearts every step of the way. It’s even in consideration for an Oscar nomination!

Proof that short horror can be just as affecting as a full feature, “Dead Hearts” sweet and morbid bed time tale is a definitive crowd pleaser. Check out the trailer below.

‘Dead Hearts’ is the story of ten-year-old Milton Mulberry, who falls hopelessly in love for the first and only time of his life. When it all goes terribly wrong, he wishes never to experience heartache again and shuts himself off from the world for 70 years. Finally, with no end to his heartbreak in sight, he ends his life. But death is not the end of love, and certainly not the end of this story. As an organ donor, his heart is given to a mysterious woman. Milton, rising from the grave, must follow his heart to find a second chance to fulfill his love.