Edinburgh Horror Festival Archives

Stand Up Horror – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

1Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Stand Up Horror – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

As Part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival, at The Banshee Labyrinth, Stand Up Horror sees actor, writer and tour guide Alex Staniforth concocting a wild and hilarious story on the spot from audience suggestions. The small size of the audience in the tiny bar space ensures that everyone has a chance to contribute and to feel part of the action, and this is perhaps the unique selling point of this unusual, brave and inventive show. Part dungeon master, part stand-up comedian, Staniforth relies on just a few props a very quick brain and a bit of nudging in the right general direction to move the story on apace, although it is never far away from taking a very sharp turn! As the programme alludes to, every show here is bound to be very different! Staniforth’s charisma and general ent...

The Ha Ha Horror Show – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

1Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Ha Ha Horror Show – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

As Part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival, at The Banshee Labyrinth, The Ha Ha Horror Show draws a very small audience to a tiny bar, to a show that aims very low indeed and succeeds with aplomb! Advertised as ‘The return of the Great Mortar’, the mind-reading, fortune telling, death-defying magician. Unfortunately, the GM wasn’t feeling so great tonight, having been shot with a nail gun in a stunt that went wrong. In fact, he’s dead! This causes quite a bit of angst in the crowd, some of whom I’m convinced don’t realise that this is all part of the show, such is their show of concern. However, it all adds to the general confusion and hilarity. Anyway, stepping in at the last moment is the likeable Cooper-esque buffoon, Tom Short. Big Northern lad Short, I would have loved him...

The Séance Adventure – Lauriston Castle, Edinburgh

31Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Séance Adventure – Lauriston Castle, Edinburgh

As Part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival, at the historic Lauriston Castle whose high windows gaze down upon the Firth of Forth, The Séance Adventure draws a sell-out, audience who shuffle nervously, or perhaps to create heat, at the base of the imposing and grand stone staircase in the impressive double height entrance hall. It is only 3pm, but already the Winter sun is low, the clocks having just lost an hour of precious daylight. The dim is setting in. Ash Pryce’s entrance does little to lift the mood, as he beckons us, after a brief introduction, into the dark depths of the castle. Part, tour of the castle, and part interactive supernatural magic show, this is certainly a unique and original offering from the man who co-founded the Horror Festival. Pryce talks quietly and slowly...

Devil In The Belfry – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

30Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Devil In The Belfry – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival, at The Banshee Labyrinth just off Edinburgh’s ghostly Royal Mile, Edgar Allan Poe’s short tale is vividly reincarnated by the brilliant David Robb in partnership with the assured touch of director Flavia D’Avila. All seems well in the town of Vondervotteimittiss (wonder-what-time-it-is), somewhere in the mountains of Holland (?), where the clock is king and the cabbage is queen, until a fiddle playing stranger comes a calling. With rubber face and equally lithe body, Robb with just a handful of props shows just what can be achieved with very little indeed but with quite a bit of help from an entranced audience, who, with varying levels of enthusiasm, take on the role of central character Handel Fledermaus. Handel, whose parents were unfo...

Tarmac Lullaby – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

30Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Tarmac Lullaby – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Part of the five-day long Edinburgh Horror Festival, at The Banshee Labyrinth just off Edinburgh’s ghostly Royal Mile. A suitably dark and stormy night saw me head out for a Labyrinthine hat trick of horror. First up, written by Daniel Orejon for his theatre company Crested Fools, this one-woman show looses its way a little by being way too wordy for its own good. Often the simplest stories told well work out the best. A flow chart showing all of the characters featured in the stories and their relationships would have been handy. A chance meeting in a car park brings together two old schoolteacher friends, and soon they are recounting stories from the past, but these are not cosy school stories, these are tales of blood-weeping daughters, abusive relationships, a foul-mouthed m...