Brighton HorrorFest creeps back into town from 18th–30th of October at Sweet@The Yellow Book, and this year promises to be spectacularly spooky as we celebrate ten terrifying years of scares and shivers!
Over thirteen days of spine-chilling entertainment, we’re proud to showcase some of the finest horror productions from across the UK, featuring everything from theatre, cabaret, comedy, spoken word, storytelling, and much more. We’ve also a huge selection of haunting experiences to sink your fangs into, including club nights, an art exhibition, craft events, and our regular folk revival-focussed living ‘zine The Court (Sweet Productions) (30th of October, 7:30pm). The Court brings us its Samhain edition, and a spookily-seasonal Night Market, featuring some of Brighton’s best artisans and local makers. Whether you’re after family-friendly frights or adult-only terror, there’s something here to satisfy every horror-lover’s dark desires.
Brighton HorrorFest is hosted at the legendary Sweet@The Yellow Book, Brighton’s beloved grassroots independent theatre and events space. The venue is a place where the eerie and extraordinary come alive, with Sweet Venues operating at its heart year-round, and is the perfect haunted house for our festival. Our bar provides an elegant, gothic-meets-cosy hospitality, with a rotating range of local breweries on tap and a cocktail list to die for. Above in the theatre, you are warmly welcomed into a venue like no other, with its mouldering Victoriana, and perfect vibe for chilling shows.
We are delighted to welcome home a host of shows that have stalked our stages over the last decade, alongside revivified artists bringing their new work, and a wealth of rising stars ready to bring you their fresh take on terror.
This year’s line-up includes multi-award-winning favourites and rising stars alike, including:
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Sary by Different Theatre. A feminist-folk-horror theatre production, this piece of English Eerie explores themes of female sexuality, ageing and loss as kinds of alchemy.
Featuring Sharon Drain and Maria Evans. Written and directed by award-winning writer Sam Chittenden. (Friday 24th of October, 18:30).
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Jekyll & Hyde: A One-Woman Show by Sweet Productions. The international multi-award-winning play returns to Brighton. Feminist, brutal, elegant, and seductive, Stevenson’s classic science-horror is reborn in darkness (Thursday 23rd of October, 20:00).
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B.A.D.D. by Hermetic Arts. Attend the inaugural meeting of B.A.D.D. and learn how to protect your children from the clutches of Satan. Free cherryade (Sunday 19th of October, 18:30).
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Improv The Dead: Zombie Family Fun by Improv the Dead. A special family version of our Improvised Zombie Apocalypse suitable for children 7+! We create a spontaneous zombie adventure where all the decisions are made by you! (Sunday 19th of October, 15:30)
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Ramon Fear’s Terror Tapes: Live by House of Fear. WITNESS the multi-award nominated horror comedy anthology, ripped from the sightless embrace of its podcast feed! GASP as it twitches monstrously on stage! SCREAM at the fully posable cast and live soundtrack! (Wednesday 22nd of October, 18:30).
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Elysium by Ghouls Aloud. A modern ghost story with a live underscore, Elysium invites us to hear the lyrical account of the terrifying events unfolding within a high-end London gated community. Award-winning, critically-acclaimed horror with a visceral political heart.
Speaking about this year’s festival and its anniversary, our artistic director JD Henshaw said:
“I can’t believe we’ve wheeled around to October again so soon. We’ve barely managed to hide the last of the bodies from our previous edition! It’s wonderful to spend the spooky season bringing amazing pieces of live performance from all over Brighton and the UK to our audiences. We all know how difficult it is out there in the world, and managing to get from an idea in your head, to a stage full of dreams (or, in this case, nightmares) is no mean feat. To our regular audiences over the years – thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our artists and for taking the chance on experiencing new shows. To the audiences that are arriving for the first time – we are so very excited for everything you’re about to see. And to everyone – performers, writers, crew, audiences, folk we terrify in the bar – we can’t wait to welcome you to our tenth year anniversary – we hope you survive the experience!
