The festival was programmed by Chris O'Neill, head of cinema at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork, Ireland, from 2011 to 2019.

[4] The 2017 festival took place from 27–30 April 2017, featuring a mix of previews, new titles and a retrospective of Stephen King classics.

[5] The 2018 festival took place from 10–13 May 2018, with a special Tobe Hooper retrospective following his death the previous year.

A number of films from 1999 were screened to mark the 20th anniversary of the DCA's opening that year.

[9] The 2021 festival was cancelled, but a scaled-down programme of events under the title Dundead Summer Camp took place from 9–11 July 2021.