The London Horror Festival

October means autumn, cold, leaves falling from the tress and, of course, Halloween. The ghoulish celebration is just around the corner and with it the London Horror Festival returns to the city for another year – celebrating our fascination with the horror genre in the performing arts. 

 

The festival runs from 15th of October to 7th of November, three weeks full of horror theatre, comedy, magic and art. In this second edition, Etcetera Theatre and the atmospheric Wilton’s Music Hall will play host to the festival, with more than 15 interesting and horrifying events. 

 

One of the highlights of the terrifying event is the show Horror! Horror! by the leading horror theatre company Theatre Damned. Wilton’s Music Hall will host the production from 24th of October to 7th of November, in which the viewer will move from room to room in an evening of murder, madness and macabre surprises. 

 

The Festival will also include two acclaimed pieces from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012. From 16th to 18th of October, Etcetera Theatre will host a show called The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen, a comedy-drama about the life of the murderer Doctor Crippen. On the same dates, Last Chance Saloon will present the comedy Dracula: Sex, Sucking and and Stardom, which sold out at this year’s Edinburgh festival. It’s a funny show with ridiculous characters, absurd humour and pop music covers, a new version of the traditional Dracula by Bram Stoker.

 

Tin Shed Theatre Company also retells an old story through the eyes of a cynic narrator in Dr. Frankenstein's travelling freak show, a new twist on the perennial classic – Mary Shelly’s Frankestein. 

 

Elsewhere during the festival, Quint-Essential Theatre Company brings The Lost Souls, two darks and intriguing stories, Mannequin and The tea party, that will be performed from 19th to 21st of October.

 

The festival opened with the first Stage Fright horror writing competition, with three short-listed entries performed live by the Wireless Theatre Company. There’ll also be improvisation, the company The Improsarios will perform Fresh, Live and Dead, a improvised piece built around suggestions from members of the public.

 

All in all, a freakishly good festival for all the horror lovers out there. 

 

For tickets and timetable info, check the website.