Abertoir
The International Horror Festival of Wales

Christopher Lee - 100

presentation by Jonathan Rigby

Christopher Lee's official biographer, Jonathan Rigby, guides us through a celebration of the great actor and horror icon's life and career.

Fear of the Unknown: Post-War Anxiety, Rocketry and the Quatermass Experiment: The Lasting Legacy of Nigel Kneale

a video essay by Tristan Thompson

2022 is a year of important centenaries.  As well as being 100 years since Nosferatu and 100 years since the birth of Christopher Lee, this year also marks 100 years since the birth of Nigel Kneale.  An acclaimed writer, he's been the creative force behind many of the UK's most significant science-fiction masterpieces such as Quatermass, The Stone Tape and 1984.  Tristan Thompson narrates Abertoir's brand new video essay, exploring the lasting legacy of one of Britain's most unique creative voices.

Nicko and Joe's Bad Film Club #2

Comedians Nicko and Joe know terrible cinema better than anyone, and not content with dragging them to Aberystwyth every year, we’re also taking them online, to demonstrate some true cinematic shit for you, complete with their own, very special, very silly live commentary. Abertoir regulars know what to expect by now – verbal abuse and a truly terrible film – and those of you who’ve never had the pleasure…well, brace yourselves! As if one film wasn't enough...this will be a completely different film to the monstrosity they chose for the physical part of the festival...still completely awful, of course!

Quivering and Chill: Gothic in Games

Games have long embraced fear as a core experience for players pulling on psychological levers to create suspense and tension. From the rust-encrusted halls of Midwitch Elementary School to the rasping doors of Racoon City PD, we designers love to build creeping dread. And often, we turn to the Gothic for inspiration. We lock you in labyrinthine castles. Corral you through fogbound graveyards. Deserted houses, quarries, villages, where the only sound is the caw of the ravens. We give you mysteries to solve. Relentless supernatural enemies to vanquish. Tell you it is an epic fight of good vs. evil as…

Who Are You Calling a Count? - Gavin Baddeley

Every self-respecting horror fan knows that Dracula takes his name from a real Transylvanian tyrant. But just how much does Bram Stoker's vampire count owe to his medieval namesake? Author and Abertoir regular Gavin Baddeley takes us back some 500 years to investigate the grisly life and crimes of Vlad the Impaler, probing the controversy over whether the world's most infamous bloodsucker was also history's most notorious despot. Recorded live during the physical part of Abertoir 2022.