The “Edinburgh Fringe of Horror” – Edinburgh Horror Festival – is back in full this October after two years negotiating the restrictions of COVID. It will return live and in person (though ghosts are also welcome) to its spiritual home of The Banshee Labyrinth from Thu 27 Oct to Mon 31 Oct.
Past performers at the festival include Fringe favourite Danger Dave Reubens with his chaotic stunt magic, burlesque performed by Beetlejuice, live podcasting, cabaret, comedy improv and even bizarre seance performances.
Although unable to put on a full live programme these past two years, the festival has not sat on its laurels. It has now become a registered charity, opening up new ways to engage with local communities and creatives. And it is inviting creative minds to get involved. Submissions for this year’s Horror Festival are now open and will run until summer. Almost any type of act can submit a show and bring their scariest and most unsettling performances to the stage in the most suitable of spooky venues.
The festival’s home, Banshee Labyrinth, is reputedly Scotland’s most haunted pub, running deep into the ancient vaults under South Bridge where Edinburgh’s criminal underworld used to hang out. Burke and Hare are reported to have skulked round the corridors and wynds of the underground seeking out victims to kill and sell.
Molly’s Chamber, in the lower levels of the bar, is named after the pub’s most famous ghost. During renovation many years ago, a construction team dislodged a child’s shoe many, and since then the shoe’s owner has been seen and felt wandering the rooms. On more than one occasion staff have had to search the areas at the back of the venue – where the oldest sections are – after customers reported seeing a young girl walking around. Other times children’s handprints have been seen on the inside of windows, and staff have felt themselves being grabbed whilst preparing to open up the venue alone.
Festival chair and resident magician, Ash Pryce is hard at work preparing his new show Ghosts to grace the stage – mixing magic and ghost hunting in an attempt to make contact with Molly, in the first magic show to be created specifically for the underground vaults, and the ghosts of the Banshee Labyrinth. There’s a chance to see Pryce, and improvised comedy horror from Alex Staniforth, when the festival team also resurrect their sell-out monthly events starting in June.
Edinburgh Horror Festival 2022 is @ Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh from Thu 27 Oct to Mon 31 Oct
To submit your own show visit www.edhorrorfest.co.uk/participate