Abertoir
The International Horror Festival of Wales

Sean S. Cunningham is a director, producer, writer and all-round horror hero. He is best-known for creating the Friday the 13th series, and particularly for helming the first film of the franchise. From making his debut producing The Last House on the Left, to producing and directing other classics such as House and Deep Star Six, Cunningham’s mark on the genre is undeniable, and it’s a delight to welcome him to Abertoir as guest of honour.

Stephen Thrower is an acknowledged world authority on horror movies, being the author of such tomes as Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco and Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci. As well as his work on horror films, Stephen Thrower is an accomplished musician, a former member of Coil, his current musical project is the band Cyclobe.

Jane Giles was the programmer of London’s famous Scala cinema between 1988-1992. Since then she’s been a film exhibitor, distributor, teacher, journalist and author of four non-fiction film books including Scala Cinema 1978-1993 (FAB Press).

Steve Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Media at Northumbria University. His research mainly focuses on representations of sex and violence, gender politics, and ethics. He is the author of Torture Porn: Popular Horror after Saw (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013), and the co-editor of Zombies and Sexuality (McFarland, 2014).

Musicians, producers, and DJs Mark Daly and Michael Harding have been working together as Animat since 2005. They have released music on the Big Chill, Dubmission and Bloodsugar labels, appeared on numerous compilations and remix albums and had music used in multimedia projects at Tate Britain and New York’s Leverhouse Gallery. They have established a national reputation in the UK for unique live soundtracking events, performing live at cinemas, festivals and other venues across the country with cult films including Dark Star and The Straight Story.

Silent film pianist Paul Shallcross is a staple part of the Abertoir Horror Festival, bringing his in-depth knowledge and passion for the silent era to the fore in his regular performances for classic silent horror films.  He has toured many different venues around the UK playing many different kinds of music, but his association with Abertoir always brings him back here to perform his new music publicly for the very first time.

Rob Kemp knows about horror movies and Elvis Presley...and so The Elvis Dead was born, his first solo performance.

Gavin Baddeley is an English writer specialising in the devilish and decadent, Gothic and macabre, with a special interest in the darker fringes of history. In addition to penning numerous books in these areas, he’s written for numerous, diverse periodicals and newspapers, ranging from The Observer and Knave, to Metal Hammer and Medieval History magazine. While researching his first book, Lucifer Rising, Baddeley was made an honorary priest by the 20th century’s leading Satanist, San Francisco’s ‘Black Pope’ Anton LaVey, and has subsequently made numerous media appearances and advised sundry bodies as a leading expert on the dark arts. He has also made annually appearing at Abertoir part of his varied career, so let's hope evil keeps giving him plenty more topics to share with us.

Nicko and Joe have been confusing, disturbing and delighting audiences with their unique brand of comedy since 2004. Their infectious enthusiasm on stage and twisted creativity in their writing has resulted in many comparisons being made to other artists. These range from the surreal group 'They Might be Giants' to 'Trey Parker and Matt Stone', creators of South Park. As well as their live shows they already have three CD's under their belt, "Geek by Proxy", "Wallpaper" and "Auld Tartan Fudge Box", the latter proving that Joe should never be allowed to name the CDs.

Dellamorte is a DJ who has been involved in more scenes and genres than we can reasonably list here. From Northern soul nights to being co-founder of long-running London breakbeat night Rocksteady, to lighting up late night radio as part of cult electronica trio Codex Machine. He runs multi-genre Internet radio station Barricade Radio and is a member of drum & bass crew The Urban Warfare Crew, and DJs at the local Swing City parties.