SUBMITTING YOUR SHOW
** The London Horror Festival 2021 show submission window is now CLOSED **
We programme a broad range of horror theatre, comedy, magic, and performance art,
from psychological spine-chillers to all-out splatter, improvised ghost stories to grotesque stand-up
and séance magic to body horror, and almost anything else imaginable.
Our purpose is to foster new talent as well as nurturing the already burgeoning live horror scene within the UK.
Returning for its TENTH edition, the London Horror Festival will be taking place from the 19th-31st October 2021
at two accessible venues across London.
The first is the Downstairs space at The Pleasance in Islington (https://www.pleasance.co.uk)
and the second is The Space, a theatre based in a former gothic church in the Isle of Dogs (https://space.org.uk).
We accept submissions from performers or theatre companies regardless of
whether they have explored the horror genre before or not.
We want to present artists from a range of backgrounds, therefore we particularly encourage applicants who are currently under-represented. This includes, but is not limited to, theatre-makers who identify as being from Black, Asian and other under-represented ethnic backgrounds, and people who identify as being disabled.
We strongly suggest that all applicants consider accessibility and sustainability within their productions and we would be delighted to read in your application any ways in which you might incorporate such elements
within the publicity of your show and in the production itself.
If you need to review venue specs and technical information before submitting, you can view The Pleasance's here or view The Space's in the attachments below:
Info Pack 2021
The Space Ground Plan
The Space Ground Plan with Sockets
The Space Tech Specs
Need further encouragement? Read some testimonials from a few of the artists and theatre companies that brought shows to our last live festival in 2019...
TESTIMONIALS (2019):
Blackshaw Theatre Company (Scare Slam):
We are so pleased to have made a home for the 'Scare Slam' at the London Horror Festival. The festival team are fantastically organised, responsive and friendly, and seriously know their stuff in terms of horror, theatre, and promotion. It's been great working with other horror fans, and creating a network of like-minded artists by taking part in the festival.
Reece Connolly (Last Orders: The Haunting of the Old Red Lion):
"I love the sense of community the festival cultivates, and of course the consistently exciting and experimental and inspiring work it attracts.
For me, theatre is often dull and elitist and detached from what audiences really want + need. Something like the LHF is amazing and essential because it brings horror - one of the most [wrongly] underrated genres of art, yet so continuously popular - and smashes it onto the stage, breathing new life into what is [at its heart] one of the most dynamic and communal mediums.
The Off-Off-Off-Broadway Company (Mr Fox):
LHF remains one of our absolute favourite festivals. Not only is it the one-stop shop for lovers of dark tales, but Katy Danbury ensures it all runs as smoothly as possible, and there's always such a strong spirit of camaraderie. May it be undead forever!
Fantastic Garlands (Mother Must Die?!):
We had great fun being part of the London Horror Festival this year, and felt very supported by Katy and the Pleasance. From start to finish we had all the information and support we needed, and we would really love to be a part of the festival again. In fact, our only regret is that we didn't get to see more of the excellent and varied programme that was on!
PopHorror (He's Behind You! - The Slasher Panto):
PopHorror loves taking part in the London Horror Festival because it promotes such a diverse range of artists, performance styles and shows, all united by a gleeful love of horror. The LHF team are accessible and supportive, and really care about curating what is now a landmark festival of live arts.
Megan From HR (Children of the QuornTM):
we have only positive things to say - the whole team was a delight to work with, was super helpful when we needed you, and everything ran like a well-oiled machine from where we were standing! Thank you so much for letting us get involved and for all your hard work putting it on
The Electric Head (Go To Hell!):
We were thrilled to perform at the Pleasance theatre as part of LHF 2019. The organisers and staff could not have been more helpful and supported us every step of the way. Everything was incredibly easy and all our questions were answered.
We hope to come back to the Pleasance as soon as possible as we were made to feel very welcome there.
Grand Guignol de Milan (Italian Horror Stories):
London Horror Festival is more than a simple “horror fringe festival", is a real meeting point of all the expressions that this genre can find on the stage with young companies and international calibre actors playing together to celebrate this culture.
It’s a great possibly to experiment and to see new ways of working in a field (the horror theatre) that is more alive than ever, and London is the perfect city for it. After two editions of the festival we’re just waiting to apply to the next one.