A festival of dark, uncanny & horror storytelling
Set within a city world-renowned for its medieval atmosphere and haunted heritage, Darkest Chapter celebrates the breadth, ambition and innovation of one of publishing’s fastest growing genres.
In recent decades, cinema has finally caught up with just how groundbreaking, astute and profoundly human the horror genre can be. Its fans remain among the most dedicated and welcoming of any genre. Now it’s literature’s turn!
From classic archetypes like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula to the very British tradition of ghost stories at Christmas, dark and uncanny storytelling is woven into the bones of our culture.
Yet despite the frighteningly fast rise in demand for horror literature, only a handful of dedicated events take place across the UK.
Darkest Chapter will help fill a significant gap in the literary landscape — creating space to explore not only why horror endures, but how it evolves and where it may go next.
With the National Centre for Writing, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, leading a festival devoted to the craft of horror writing for readers and writers alike, it feels like a genuine stamp of quality for the genre.
Steph McKenna, founder of Darkest Chapter and Head of Marketing & Communications at NCW
