Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sink your teeth into the first Festival of Darkness celebrating the north-east’s links to Dracula

Blairs College will host film screenings during the festival.
Blairs College will host film screenings during the festival.

North-east residents might want to have their garlic at the ready as the first Festival of Darkness heads for the region.

Festival of Darkness is a new film festival celebrating Dracula and his creator Bram Stoker’s links to the north-east.

Between October 23 and 30, new and classic vampire movies will be screened in a number of gothic locations, some of which have never been used as film houses before.

Visitors to the festival will also be encouraged to visit the iconic Slains Castle – which influenced Dracula’s fictional castle.

Festival of Darkness is curated by North East Arts Touring (Neat), which promotes professional theatre performances and film screenings in community venues across the north-east.

Dracula and the north-east

Two film screenings will be held in the old library and study hall of Blairs College in Cults. Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula will be shown Cruden Bay Village Hall where Bram Stoker himself once gave a talk.

Slains Castle. Picture by Mike Shepherd.

Marie Archer, community cinema coordinator at Neat, said: “Bram Stoker, the creator of the world’s most famous vampire, spent a few months each summer as a resident of the north-east Scottish village of Port Erroll at Cruden Bay, walking the cliffs and dreaming up his vampiric creation.

“The Kilmarnock Arms Hotel still has the visitors’ book containing the Stokers’ signatures, which helped trace their visits from 1892-1910.”

Making the festival affordable

It was important to organisers to make the festival affordable given the current cost of living crisis.

“As an arts charity, we are fully committed to providing affordable and accessible cultural experiences in rural communities,” said Emyr Bell, executive director of Neat.

“I’m delighted that Neat, through this festival, has the opportunity to celebrate one of the world’s most famous fictional characters. Doing so in such a way that makes it both accessible and affordable for audiences, especially during these difficult times.”

View the full Festival of Darkness programme here.

Conversation