Welcome to Horror

We’re back like a vertebrae and ready to tell you all about our day at the 2026 Horror-on-sea Film Festival.

Always a joy to attend this ever-brilliant event, this year we opted for the second Saturday (23rd of January), and we hit a brilliant seam of great new horror.

Features covered are “Borley Rectory: The Awakening”; “All You Need Is Blood” and “Horror-on-sea: 13 Bloody Years”.

Short films covered: “Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka”; “Medieval Maze”; “Knell”; “Kindness”; “Antebody”; “Fox and The Hen”; “Say Bye Bye To Blood Sausage” and “She-Bear”.

No prep needed for this episode, as these are all brand new we will try to stay spoiler free, so just tune in and join us.

Following our Muppet version of the film, and in the spirit of not doing too much work over Crimbo, we’re looking at “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”.

A film in which Ted goes on a less than excellent adventure; Withnail keeps Tom Waits on a remarkably protein-rich diet; and Hannibal Lecter clearly cannot be arsed having just won an Oscar.

Unleashed with much fanfare in 1992, director Francis Ford Coppola wanted to bring to the screen a definitive version of Stoker’s novel (except for all the extra bits he bunged in for good measure). This ambition weirdly highlights some of the pitfalls of a faithful adaptation, with a number of characters usually dispensed with or amalgamated in other versions left to clutter up the narrative. It features what is a genuinely stellar cast both for now and then, but with some actors not necessarily suited to their roles. However, it’s still Coppola, so it still remains a well-made, beautifully shot gothic romance; which certainly equals the novel for pace and drama, and even adds some iconic imagery to the old myth which is still appearing over 30 years after the film’s release.

Welcome To Horror Presents: “The Muppet’s Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula”.

It’s Christmas, and the Welcome To Horror team have decided to celebrate by honouring one of the finest Christmas movies of all time, The Muppet Christmas Carol, but with a horror twist.

Our premise is to take “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and recast it with the Muppets!

We’re keeping Gary Oldman as our token human, but the rest of the cast are up for grabs! Join Lee, Chris, Adam and Lady Jennifer for our jolly Christmas Party of Gothic Horror and Muppet Mania.

Well Ho Ho Ho (to quote Santa when he was counting your three mums), it’s Christmas!

Weirdly enough for a LoG-worshipping podcast, we’ve never actually got round to “The League of Gentlemen’s Christmas Special” (also known as “You’ll Never Leave”). Which is a tad strange as this was the time when the League truly revealed and revelled in their love of horror; with references galore in an anthology structure honouring the greats of Amicus; and three twisted tales that looked forward to where the Gents were heading in their subsequent careers, whilst also being worthy of inclusion in a “serious” horror anthology.

Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.

Welcome To Horror Presents: “The Power of We Have Been Watching”.

Yes! Get it here. If by “it” you mean a rundown of all the stuff the Welcome To Horror team have been sticking in their faces in between episodes.

We discuss Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” (2025); Korean horror “The Wailing” (2016); true crime/folk horror documentary “The Last Sacrifice” (2024); “From Dusk Til Dawn” (1996); “Heretic” (2024); 70s anthology series “Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries”; “The Substance” (2024); David Lean’s “Blithe Spirit” (1945); and Brontë Schiltz’s Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies lecture on “Televisual Gothic”.

There should be no need to prep for this ep, but listeners beware, as here be (possible) spoilers and (definite) swearing.

Join us!

It’s time to visit the misspent youth of the team, hurtling back to 1998 for Jake West’s “Razor Blade Smile”.

A film that shows that a coffin can make a lovely centrepiece gun rack in any bedroom; highlights that vampires are the only ones not showing off their fangs at a Goth club; and bravely needle drops “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” like “The Hunger” just didn’t happen.

Razor Blade Smile made something of a splash when it came out - a flashy/trashy horror with camp laughs, nudity, gore and an icon in the form of Eileen Daly’s rubber cat-suited vampire assassin, it felt utterly different to anything else emerging from the doldrums of the British film industry. Made on a shoestring budget, but never aiming for anything less than spectacle; time hasn’t necessarily been too kind to it visually, although ironically it’s the (then) state of the art computer generated imagery that has dated the worst. More importantly; it’s shoot-outs and fetish wear aesthetic predates both The Matrix and Underworld franchises. Whilst some minor roles may feature less than stellar acting, the main cast are giving their all, with Daly cementing her place as a British scream queen, and a genuinely brilliant turn from Christopher Adamson as the villain.

Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.

Adam returns to the Welcome To Horror Fact Library for a bonus episode of extra material left over from our recent episode on “The Blood On Satan’s Claw”.

As always, we recommend you listen to our main episode (number 234) first, before plowing into this fiendish field of facts.

We hope you enjoy this little transmission from the Welcome To Horror Fact Library.

The team have unearthed something terrible under the cabbages in the Welcome To Horror allotment, so it’s time for “Blood On Satan’s Claw”.

A film in which Mr Kipling leads exceedingly angry mobs; The Master gets in trouble for playing with his snake in the woods; and Simon Williams receives the worst kind of handjob.

Part of the Unholy Trinity of Folk Horror, “Blood on Satan’s Claw” is the only one that features the genuinely supernatural. Originally conceived as a kind of anthology, those roots still show, but the decision to make it one tale was the correct one. Combining some of the most picturesque and beautiful imagery with some of the cruelest and horrific events to befall a seemingly innocent community; this is no mere Hammer knock-off. A marvellous script and a cast all bringing their best make for a disturbing glimpse of festering corruption, with our only hope being the intervention of harsh authoritarian powers seemingly as nasty and uncaring as the evil they confront.

Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.

It’s weird sequel time, and there’s few that come weirder than “House II: The Second Story”.

A film in which we learn that portals are a common problem in old houses (a bit like dry rot, but with more murder); that old cowboys don’t die (they just get rat-arsed in the basement); and that Bill Maher is an oily heap of shit.

Whilst an anthology film franchise should endeavour to make each entry as different to what has gone before as possible; it is still is a hell of a whiplash to view this after the first “House” film. Certain things remain - the humour, marvellous practical effects, and a guest star role for someone from “Cheers”, but the differences are far greater. Whilst the first film is definitely a horror, this falls much more into the category of family adventure; and could be an entry level horror film for kids, with nothing too scary, a set of goofy, likeable characters and amusing puppets. This family-friendly spookiness was possibly influenced by the huge success a few years earlier of the likes of “Ghostbusters”, “Gremlins” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

After this, the franchise went into more obvious horror territory, but, unfortunately, never quite achieved the inventive potential displayed in the first two entries.

Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.

We’re sticking with the work of Don Coscarelli, and going back to the classic that made his name; “Phantasm”.

A film in which Angus Scrimm shows that, despite being older, he can still shoot his balls round corners; we learn how to make some of the most dangerous improvised explosives outside of the Anarchist’s Cookbook; and we meet a Jawa with a porn-moustache.

Coscarelli’s third feature film, made independently over 2 years with a cast and crew of mostly friends and family, would go on to be a staple of the horror section in video shops for the next decade, with its striking poster image (entirely unrelated to anything in the actual film) burned into the minds of a generation.

Unlike a lot of its VHS counterparts; “Phantasm” is an utterly unique beast; a horror/sci fi hybrid with surreal set pieces and a mythology that obfuscates the more it reveals; coupled to a domestic coming-of-age story of two orphaned brothers (and their singing Ice Cream Man buddy). It would follow the route of successful 80s horrors in spawning a franchise, but this too would be unlike any others, with (mostly) the same cast returning each time, the story being picked up pretty much from where the last film left off, and lore explorations that again only deepen the mystery.

Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.