Like your horror to include deadly viruses, merciless sadists and barbaric warmongers? Then watch the news. But for those in search of something more aesthetically disgusting, this is your time of year: fresh, gory produce splatters across the nation’s screens and ancient horror offerings from as far back as the 1980s are disinterred and reanimated.
Starting with the dedicated horror festivals, from Dracula-connected Whitby comes Bram Stoker film festival (to 27 Oct, bramstokerfilmfestival.com), which goes all out this year. There are dress-up-friendly events like a Vampire’s Ball and an 1880s Night, while the vampire-slanted global selection includes self-explanatory oddities such as Dracula In Pakistan and Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack. Other traditional Halloween fixtures include Sheffield’s Celluloid Screams (Sat & Sun, celluloidscreams.co.uk), where guest of honour is Brian “Society” Yuzna, while Derby’s Dead And Breakfast all-nighter (Fri, derbyquad.co.uk) hosts a five-movie marathon, including Hellraiser and An American Werewolf In London. There’s a double bill of Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus at Gorilla in Manchester (Fri, thisisgorilla.com), Nottingham’s Mayhem (Thu to 2 Nov, broadway.org.uk/mayhem) features a special teen-friendly programme (take note, Wolfblood fans), while Frightfest (frightfest.co.uk) has all-nighters in London (Sat), Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow (Fri & 1 Nov). Many of the same new titles figure in all of these, such as The Editor, a spot-ongiallo spoof from Canada’s Astron-6 team, Norwegian Nazi zom-com Dead Snow 2 and compilation sequel The ABCs Of Death 2.
For something a little less hardcore, London has a spread of pop-up events, mostly dominated by the re-release of Ghostbusters. In London, you’ve got the Nomad Cinema in Hyde Park (Thu & Fri, whereisthenomad.com); Pop Up Screens is in Notting Hill (Thu to 2 Nov, popupscreens.co.uk); Hot Tub Cinema offers jacuzzi-assisted chills at the former Shoreditch Underground station (Mon to 2 Nov, hottubcinema.com); and Backyard Cinema mounts an eight-night Zombie Apocalypse experience at a secret East End location (Fri to 7 Nov, backyardcinema.co.uk), with immersive sets, live entertainment plus Zombieland and Shaun Of The Dead. For more of an intimate one-off, Islington’s Union Chapel has Hitchcock’s Psycho with a live score (Fri, unionchapel.org.uk), while seminal horror composer Fabio Frizzi is at the Barbican with live orchestral/rock accompaniment to clips from Lucio Fulci classics such as Zombie Flesh Eaters (Fri, barbican.org.uk). London’s Prince Charles has a bagful of Halloween treats including Ghostbusters parties and a Mystery Movie All-Nighter (Sat to Fri, princecharlescinema.com).
Eastbourne’s spooky Redoubt Fortress has The Evil Dead on Halloween night (Fri, eastbournemuseums.co.uk); Birmingham Town Hall has 1927’s The Cat And The Canary with live organ accompaniment (Fri, thsh.co.uk) while Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers is at Caerphilly Castle tonight (chapter.org). Or if all that sounds too scary or far away, there’s some prime horror down your local, including The Babadook, Horns and the riot-inducing Annabelle.
