Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival returns this Bank Holiday Weekend ready to thrill Dubliners and visitors alike with four days and nights of deadly adventures. From Friday 25th to Monday 28th October, the city will become a haven for the curious and the brave.
A Free Spectacle at Dublin Castle with Fiery Experiments and Monster Mayhem
A fiery spectacle awaits at Frank & McStein’s Monster Laboratory, where the historic Dublin Castle becomes the setting for science gone mad. Across three unforgettable nights, families are invited to witness the wild experiments of Professors Frank and McStein as they attempt to bring the most terrifying creature ever to life in their MONSTER Lab (Ministry Of Nonsensical Science and Terrifying Experimental Research).
Guided by diabolical professors Frank and McStein and their eminent colleagues and their team of Igors, kids will make their way through the fire-powered and interactive stations, earning power-up tokens to feed into the MONSTER-O-METER.
IFI Horrorthon Takeover
In collaboration with IFI Horrorthon, Slaughterhouse are invading the IFI, for one night only, and turning it into the Slaughterhouse of Horrors, featuring Seanchoíche, a storytelling night which has sold out events across the world, gathering people to tell their stories of ‘The Horror Within’; a 35th-anniversary screening of Pet Sematary;.and a masterclass in Irish horror in the final room, featuring Kate Dolan (You Are Not My Mother) and Lee Cronin (Evil Dead Rise), hosted by Billie Jean of the ever-popular Video Nasty Presents.
Tickets for all three events include access to an afterparty in the foyer where the crew from HONEYPOT will wake the dead with a brand new soundtrack for the legendary 1922 film Häxan.
Theatrical Terrors for all ages
MORB in association with Axis Ballymun presents The Haunting of Gusty Nook, a thrilling new show for the coolest 8-12 year olds written by Peter Dunne and directed by Ursula McGinn. In the super weird town of Gusty Nook, strange monsters suddenly appear, and it’s up to young Belinda, the 1501st most popular kid in town, to confront the chaos and battle fear itself. This blend of spooky thrills and comedy is the perfect deadly adventure for young audiences this October. A relaxed performance will take place on Friday 25 October at 4pm and there will be an ISL interpreted performance at 6.30pm on Friday 25 October
Music From Beyond
Step back in time with Voices of the Dead: Ancient Chant & Ritual Songs, an evening of ancient chant, reviving haunting melodies that weave tales of life and death, the miraculous and the supernatural, heaven and hell. Schola Hyberniae, an all female vocal ensemble, will draw from the rich tradition of Gregorian chant and ancient Irish manuscripts, this performance brings our vibrant Irish cultural heritage to vivid life.
At Light House Cinema, the classic film Nosferatu will be accompanied by a live score by Rita Perry & Robbie Perry. The duo’s music highlights how Stoker’s work takes shape and life over a hundred years after Dracula’s publication. In the work, the artists pay due respect to both Stoker, the original story-teller and to the cinematic vision of Murnau, celebrating the intersection of literature, cinema and music.
Uncover Dublin’s Dark Literary & Historical Secrets
Historian Donal Fallon will host The Women of Bram Stoker’s Life: Three Castles Burning Live and explore the lives of Charlotte Stoker, Bram’s mother, who raised him on folklore and stories of her own youth; Speranza (Lady Jane Wilde, the mother of Oscar) a key influence in expanding on his knowledge of Ireland’s folklore and mythology and Florence Balcombe, the woman he would marry and who Oscar Wilde had earlier pursued. Donal will be joined by Marion McGarry, author of the acclaimed book Irish Customs and Rituals and an authority on Jane Wilde and Charlotte Stoker to discuss some of the women central to Stoker’s life and work. Eva Jane Gaffney will bring their words to life. This event will have ISL interpretation.
History fans are in for a treat at Who Did What Now? Podcast: The Victorians Ruined Everything. Join Katie Charlwood as she explores the mystical and macabre obsessions of the Victorian era in The Victorians Ruined Everything. This entertaining and informative event promises to spill the tea on all things eerie in 19th-century Dublin and is set in the historic Graduate Memorial Building in Trinity College. This event will have ISL interpretation.
For more information, visit bramstokerfestival.com and follow the festival on social media using #BramStokerFestival. Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival is produced and presented by Schweppe Curtis Nunn Ltd.
