18th – 30th October 2025
Brighton HorrorFest 2025 runs from Saturday, 18th October to Thursday, 30th October. The festival takes place mainly at The Yellow Book venue in Brighton. It offers a range of horror-themed theatre, cabaret, comedy, and games. This year marks the festival’s tenth anniversary.
The programme includes original stage performances focusing on themes like death, the supernatural, and dark folk traditions, rather than relying on conventional horror clichés.
Visit the HorrorFest web site here.
Stay up to date with Horrorfest on Facebook and Instagram
Events include plays, storytelling, immersive theatre, and workshops. The festival aims to present thoughtful, live performance work that is serious about its subject without exaggeration. Shows cater to different audiences, including adults and children.
Brighton HorrorFest has become a recurring cultural event during the Halloween season in Brighton, showcasing both established and emerging artists. The atmosphere is created through live theatrical craft and engagement with darker themes, grounded in folk and local traditions, rather than sensationalism. The full schedule is spread over 13 days with performances every day within the venue at 3A York Place. It focuses on offering varied expressions of horror through drama, comedy, and live interaction. This gives attendees an opportunity to experience a range of horror-related performances in a single festival event.
I want to see at Brighton HorrorFest…
Our handy (or maybe handless) guide to what to see at HorrorFest.
I want to see …
… some classic theatre in the horror genre. Then see Jekyll & Hyde: A One-Woman Show. You can read our 2024 Durham Fringe review of this show here.
… some family-friendly comedy improv. Then see Improv the Dead: Zombie Family Fun
… a darkly delicious vampire-themed dress-up evening. Then see Vampire Ball II
… a dark and twisted folk horror tale exploring desire, cowardice and the power of nature.Then see Tom Hiccup’s Well
… some solo storyelling for HG Wells’ gripping and darkly funny short story. Then see The Red Room
… Breton ghost stories from and award-winning theatre company. Then see Dealings with the Dead
… some early evening original horror story telling. Then see Waiting At Eldridge
… some solo horror satire. Then see B.A.D.D.
… an acclaimed show from the Edinburgh Fringe based on Edgar Allen Poe. then see One Man Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum and also see One Man Poe: The Black Cat and The Raven. (You can listen to our Edfringe interview with performer Stephen Smith here. And here’s our review from 2024).
… a live podcast. Then see Ramon Fear’s Terror Tapes: Live
… a feminist-folk-horror theatre production based on the 19th century Sussex tale of ‘Ol’ Sary Weaver’, then see Sary (Read our review of Sary from Brighton Fringe here).
… some film. Then see Die Puppe & The Darkness Remains – Screening with Q&A
… some highly acclaimed folk horror music, then see The Worst of The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act
… some cult horror cabaret. Then see Spooky Snookie’s Hallowen Playlist: Cursed Dates
… some folk horror spoken word. Then see Blood Palace: a spoken word anthology
… a celebration of folklore, folk culture, and folk horror with talks, stories, and music, Then see The Court
… some acclaimed theatre and music. Then see Elysium
… a chance to trick or treat and party on Halloween. Then see The Yellow Book Halloween Party
More recommendations will be added throughout the festival.
HorrorFest Interviews
Here are some early podcast interviews some of the show makers, writers and performers.
Let’s kick off with this fascinating conversation with Sweet Venues founded J.D Henshaw. Among many other activities in theatre and venue making, producing and arts writing, J.D also created Dundee Fringe. Paul Levy delves into the world of horror arts, seeking a clearer definition of folk horror and the aims of this Brighton-based festival, now in its tenth year. You can also listen to a previous podcast chat between Paul and J.D from the Edinburgh Fringe 2025 here.
Second up, Paul Levy chatted to Tom Johnstone about Tales from the Dad Side.
Tales from the Dad Side is a storytelling event featured at Brighton HorrorFest 2025. It takes place on Monday, 20th October, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The show is written and presented by Tom Johnstone and Paul Light, who are authors and middle-aged fathers. Their show focuses on stories reflecting childhood fears, family tension, and the anxieties of parenthood, all under a theme they describe as “Dad Horror.” The performance blends personal experience with humour and dark themes, offering a candid, grounded perspective on the challenges and fears associated with being a father.
Paul Levy then caught up with writer and performer Sarah Johnson. Sarah Johnson’s show at Brighton HorrorFest 2025 is titled “Medusa – Ancient Monster, Modern Defender.” It is scheduled for Friday, 24th October, at 8 pm and will be held at the Sweet venue within The Yellow Book in Brighton. Johnson, a performer and historian shares her research on Medusa, exploring her story from ancient mythology through a modern perspective.
The show examines themes of chaos, violence, betrayal, and how Medusa’s image has evolved over time. It is a thoughtful performance that combines historical insight with personal reflection, aligning with the festival’s focus on live storytelling and non-traditional horror narratives. The show offers a fresh look at Medusa not just as a monster, but as a complex figure with cultural significance that resonates today. The performance provides audiences with a layered understanding of myth and its relevance.
The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act at Brighton HorrorFest 2025 is presented by the group known as The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act, often abbreviated as TWAVA. Their show is called “The Very Worst of The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act” and takes place on Saturday, 25th October, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm at The Yellow Book venue in Brighton. The show features a selection of their most unsettling and harrowing songs, blending neo-folk, gothic rock, and folk horror styles. The show explores dark themes such as magic, murder, and misery rooted in folk traditions, with a focus on the sinister side of these stories.
Richard Wilson chatted about this show.
Paul Levy also chatted to the makers and performers of the interactive Monster Mystery Mansion, described as a live horror adventure drawing inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons and Resident Evil, offering an interactive haunted investigation experience. The event is designed to be immersive, allowing participants to engage actively in a narrative-driven adventure in the perfectly apt Yellow Book theatre space run by Sweet Venues.
Paul Levy chatted to Lex and Pete who also has a solo show called Pete Mitchelson: Horror Storyteller. Children create the scariest horror stories. In primary school, my friends and I would bunk off and hide in the attic, “to protect the musical instruments from the ghosts”. We told each other spooky tales. We began to build on each other’s lore, until eventually, the stories began to spill out of the attic and affect the school…
Blood Palace: A Spoken Word Anthology is “A spoken word anthology of poetry and prose, written and performed by Irish poet Gabriel Magill, exploring the darkly shadows that hide out amongst our everyday lives. Expect the morose, the macabre, and, most of all, the simply human.”
Alfie Bridle brings The Shadow in the Mirror back to Sweet Venues at Yellow Book bar after a run during Sweet Fest back in May 2025.
Storyteller and host of Sweet Venues Brighton’s regular storytelling evening. Tall Tales, brings his own show to HorrorFest. Brighton Telltales Presents: Anthology of Wrath.
Improv the Dead is the name of the group and this horror comedy improv show for adults. Their Zombie Family Fun version is also on a Horrorfest. Paul Levy caught up with some of the cast just before the family version.
We’ll be providing more features throughout the Festival, so do check back regularly.
