Details of the programme for the Abertoir horror festival have just been announced, with the event itself kicking off in under a month, and this year – the centenary of the birth of Hammer horror legend Peter Cushing – there is something of a Gothic flavour to affairs. Running between the 5th and 10th of November, the Welsh festival offers a peerless selection of vintage horror films and premieres of the latest celluloid chillers from around the world, alongside the best in horror theatre, music, and live presentations. (I conducted an interview with festival founder, the inimitable Master Gaz Bailey, last year, which you can check out here.) With passes for all six days priced at under sixty quid, it’s not only among the best horror fests in the UK, Abertoir’s also surely among the best value.

I’m both flattered and delighted that my favourite festival has invited me once more to deliver one of my infamous talks. This year’s address is entitled ‘Tell Me Strange Things’, and will be on Friday at 3pm. But I’ll be there for the duration, so anyone wishing to buy me a drink, chase me with a stick or whatever, please feel free to introduce yourselves. Meanwhile, for further information on the schedule, location, programme and anything else Abertoir related, click here to view the official site. Hope to see some of you there – it really is the most fun you can possibly have in a darkened room with a few dozen consenting adults!