The festival focuses on genre films such as horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, Asian, and cult.

The festival takes place in September at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, filling eight screens for eight days and hosting many writers, directors, and actors, either well-established or unknown.

The festival has become known as a launch-pad for genre films, where critical acclaim at the fest can lead to big box office returns.

[3] It also features many themed parties, outings, film-themed "feasts", and other events that are hallmarks of the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

The official sponsors of the 2005 festival were Milkshake Media, KOOP Radio, The Austin Chronicle, Jackson Walker LLP, and Independence Brewery.

The special effects team from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe installed a display of costumes, creatures and props from the Narnia film.

The first paid homage to cult midnight films and included: The second was presented by cult author Jack Stevenson and included: And the third was a retrospective of the action/crime films of director Ram Gopal Varma, featuring: There was also Meltdown Memoirs, a documentary about the making of Street Trash, which also played.

The official sponsors of the 2007 Fantastic Fest were AMD, Stella Artois, AT&T, Twitch.com, B-Side, Rue Morgue, Fangoria, and Mondo Macabro.

The official sponsors of the 2009 Fantastic Fest were Real D, G4, Dark Sky Films, Best Buy, Stella Artois, Jeremiah Weed, Ain't It Cool News, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

[22] The presenting sponsors of the 2010 Fantastic Fest were Dell, AMD, RealD, Ambhar Tequila, FearNet.com, Sony PlayStation, and Qriocity.

Faraci's re-hiring prompted the resignation of Todd Brown, Fantastic Fest's director of international programming.

Instead, they held a completely free, virtual festival with a reduced lineup called Celebration of Fantastic Fest.