Horror film festival Grimmfest announces fear-filled return to Manchester next month
Emily Sergeant
Spooky season is just around the corner, and now a popular horror film has announced its return to Manchester next month.
Grimmfest, also known as Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Film, has confirmed its 2026 return dates, and has also announced its the full lineup – with four fear-filled days planned, showcasing the best in brand-new horror genre cinema.
You can expect some ferocious feature films, a savage selection of shorts, hair-raising horror classics back on the big screen, and more premieres than ever before.
Returning to Odeon Great Northern early next month, Grimmfest audiences will have an exclusive opportunity to see many of the films on the lineup long before their formal release – with both world, UK, and international premieres on the cards.
Some of the programme’s highlights this year include the UK premiere of Zachary Wigon’s darkly comedic period piece, Victorian Pyscho, shot in Ireland and starring big-name stars Maika Monroe, Jason Isaacs, Thomasin McKenzie, and Ruth Wilson.
Ángel Gómez Hernández’s Crawlers will also make its UK debut at the festival, and horror fans are also said to be eagerly awaiting Jason Lei Howden’s Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon – which is the highly anticipated follow-up to the beloved cult metal comedy-horror, Deathgasm.
There will also be an array of incredible short films screened throughout the festival, all in a huge range of styles, themes, and twisted sensibilities, proving that when it comes to Grimmfest, good things often come in small packages.


It’s not just new releases you can expect either, as some absolute horror classics are also set to return to the big screen for their anniversaries.
Respected guests from all around the world are set to descend on Manchester for the festival, and that include the film makers and actors from many of the selected films.
And of course there will be plenty of film introductions, Q&As, and signings for fans.
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Grimmfest 2026 returns to Oden Great Northern from from 8 – 11 October, and you can see the full lineup and get tickets here.
Featured Image – Grimmfest (Supplied)
Appeal launched to find the owner of live chickens found at Creamfields festival
Daisy Jackson
The hunt is on to find the owner of a pair of chickens who were discovered at Creamfields festival.
The two birds were spotted on the grounds of the huge electronic music festival by bewildered festival-goers.
The cockerel and hen were trapped in a hedge, after it appears they wandered onto the festival campsite before the security barriers were installed.
The birds then found themselves trapped inside as around 70,000 music fans poured into Cheshire for a line-up that included Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Disclosure, and Tiësto.
The chickens have been safely rescued from the Creamfields festival site and are recovering at a wildlife centre, and now the RSPCA is on a mission to find their owner.
Festival-goers first called the RSPCA on Saturday 29 August to alert them to the cockerel and hen trapped inside the festival, one of whom assisted in the rescue mission.
RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper: “I was surprised that they were inside the festival site and I needed to get through the road blocks and security before reaching them on foot through muddy fields. I met the caller who helped me as they were just running up and down the hedge line where there was a wire fence blocking access.


“We managed to guide them out and I caught both of them with my rescue net which was a bit of a sight for the festival campers.
“I don’t think they were abandoned and they’re more likely to be stray because it’s farmland all around the festival site. They don’t have any health issues, apart from being quite underweight.
“With the fences going up a week before the festival starts they’d probably been unable to get out for some time and had been left foraging in the hedge. Someone mentioned that a third bird was also trapped, although we couldn’t find any others.
“I am really grateful to the festival-goer who found them and alerted us to their plight.”
Leanne spoke with a local farmer and while none of his birds were missing, it is believed the pair were being kept on a smallholding in the area.
Both birds are recovering from their ordeal at RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre, but if no-one comes forward they will be rehomed.
The cockerel has a distinctive black and orange plumage, while the hen’s feathers are white.
Anyone with any information about the ownership of the birds should contact the RSPCA on 0300 1238018 and quote reference number 01892547.
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Featured image: RSPCA