LPT HORROR SEASON 2026

Welcome to LPTM'S Horror Season

For October 2026, we’re trying something a little different. With three horror and gothic theatre festivals taking place across London, we’re bringing together reviews, interviews, behind-the-scenes features and audience recommendations to explore the capital’s darker stages.

We’ll be covering productions from GrimFest, Etcetera Theatre’s Horror Fest and Star & Circle’s Dark Matters Gothic Fest, as well as the people behind them.

Reviews

Weekly round-ups will bring together our latest Horror Season reviews.

Expect witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, serial killers, folklore, gothic tales and twisted literary retellings – perhaps even an improvised horror musical or two. We’ll be exploring the strange, the sinister, the macabre and the unexpected.

After Dark

Meet the people behind London’s horror festivals.

In our After Dark interview series, we’ll be talking to the organisers about how their festivals came about, what they look for when programming and the challenges of putting on horror theatre - as well as asking some more pressing questions, such as: what horror trope do you hope never to see again?

The Horror Season Audience Awards

We’re putting the decision in your hands. Throughout the festival season, audiences will be able to vote for their favourite productions and moments across all three festivals, including:

Best Death

Best Jump Scare

Best Twist

Most Inventive Use of a Prop

Keep an eye out for the voting link and have your say.

Behind the Scenes

What makes a theatre audience gasp? What sends a chill down their spine? How do you create a convincing murder on a tiny stage? And what can an atmospheric lighting cue or sound effect do to create that delicious sense of unease?

We’ll be looking behind the curtain at the craft that goes into creating horror on stage, from performers and directors to designers, technicians and special effects artists.

The World of Fringe Theatre



Horror festivals are part of a much bigger tradition of independent and fringe theatre.

If you’re curious about where that tradition came from and why fringe theatre has become such an important part of our cultural landscape, read our feature exploring the origins and history of the fringe festival, and why it continues to matter.

[link to article: To Fringe or Not to Fringe]

Follow the Horror Season

New reviews and features will be added throughout October, so check back regularly for the latest coverage.

LPTM’s Horror Season is an experimental editorial feature for October 2026, and we’ll see where it takes us…

For now, dim the lights.