Welcome to the Hitchcock Architecture of Suspense Film Festival!

October 30, October 31, and November 1, 2026

at the Shepherdstown Opera House

Located in historic Shepherdstown, WV, one of the most haunted towns in the USA

Over three days, we’ll be screening three of Hitchcock’s finest films guided with wit and wonder by Hitchcock expert and author Christine Madrid French, author of The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Costumes Invited! Come dressed as your favorite Hitchcock character, a building from the films, the mood of suspense—or the master director himself.

Participate fully in the Film Festival, avoid the hassle of buying three separate tickets, AND get a 15% discount by buying a three-film pass that will admit you to all Festival films and discussions at the Shepherdstown Opera House on October 30, 31, and November 1, including:

Psycho - Friday, October 30 at 7:00 pm

North by Northwest – Saturday, October 31 at 1:00 pm

Vertigo – Sunday, November 1 at 1:00 pm

About Christine Madrid French: French is a California-based architectural historian, writer, and Hitchcock scholar, born and raised in Los Angeles and a graduate of the University of Virginia. She is the author of The Architecture of Suspense (2022), has worked with the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is a contributing writer to Vanity Fair. Her book, The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (2022, University of Virginia Press), explores how Alfred Hitchcock used architecture not as backdrop, but as method of manipulating the audience and storyline. Blending architectural history, film analysis, and untold production stories, Christine Madrid French cleverly reveals how real buildings and cinematic space shaped some of the most enduring images of suspense in American film.