Lilly (Signe Naranjo) and Pete (Gilly Caulo) are a newlywed couple building a home and new traditions in the new horror short Nonno. While Lilly chats with Pete, he is arriving, groceries and supplies in hand, to their new home. Except something is a little off. Strike that, a lot is off. Connor Martin’s creepy little short plays on the newlywed jitters of creating a new life with traditional haunted house elements to good effect. The result is a satusfying creeper of a ghost story with more in its mind than a basic scare.

Peculiar  “tremors”  seem to shake portions of the house on occasion. As the short begins we learn that Pete is a Catholic, while his partner on the phone, Lily, is Jewish. Pete is insisting that the two build their own traditions in their new home. He then places a menorra on the dining room table. Setling in and waiting for Lily to arrive, Pete sips a bottle of beer and lazily watches T.V. He is awakened from a drowsy twilight by yet another tremor and strange noises. Things get even worse when he believes someone else is in the house. I won’t even describe what happens to the menorra.

Martin’s short Nonno is an elegant piece of work. The short plays on the problematic tendencies that humans have when blending traditions, beliefs, and lives by distilling them into a creepy entity waiting in the dark. I would love to see a feature version of this piece that dives further into the idea. Check this one out when you can. It’s a short that has substabce and still manages a slow build to a few gasp-inducing scares.

7 Out of 10