Scary nights

SHETLAND’s first horror festival hits the screen this winter with four classic horror movies and a special ghost story reading in the run up to Christmas.

The man behind the Perpetual Darkness festival said Shetland’s long and dark winter nights created the perfect backdrop for horror.

Alex Wright said: “There’s a rich tradition of spending the long, cold nights by the fireside telling tales of ghosts and trows, and we want to honour that.

“Horror films are an important part of cinema and popular culture, so we’re trying to show the very best the genre has to offer.

“Scary films are always best in pitch black theatre, and the ones we have lined up are some of the best out there.”

The first film to be screened is the 1981 classic An American Werewolf in London on 1 December, to be followed by a reading of ghost stories two weeks later in Lerwick’s Islesburgh Community Centre.

The festival will also show The Wicker Man on 5 January, and Alien, on 2 February.

All films are being shown in the Shetland Museum and Archives, doors open at 6.30 at start at 7pm. Tickets are £5 on the door.