Horror film festival returning to Tullamore in October

The Eagla Fest horror film festival is set to return to the Esker Arts Centre with its 2025 season, 'Night of the Vampire', in October.

This will be the third instalment of the festival at the Tullamore venue, following two successful runs.

Taking place from October 22 to 25, Eagla Fest 2025 includes a lineup of film that spans from the early days of cinema through to some very fresh takes on vampire lore, with documentaries and movies for the little ones along the way.

Over the course of four days and nights, Eagla Fest at Esker Arts will feature Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Daughters of Darkness, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, In Search of Dracula with Mark Gatiss, Hotel Transylvania, and Nosferatu (1922), with a live score from Rita and Robbie Perry.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Ireland.

Lee Hamill, the Marketing and Box Office Manager at Esker Arts and Curator of the Eagla Fest film festival believes this is the strongest season yet.

"We are very much in any era of vampire resurgence in horror film, with recent hits like Robert Eggers’ take on Nosferatu and the genre-mixing Sinners, so I was keen to ensure this year’s Eagla Fest was part of the zeitgeist," said Lee.

"It's a very strong lineup with more obscure but visually stunning films and heavy hitters including the original Nosferatu, which is one of the foundational films of early cinema and a seminal piece of German Expressionism.

"I’m so excited to be presenting it alongside Rita and Robbie Perry’s glorious score which has previously been a part of programmes such as the Bram Stoker Festival.

“I’m delighted to be able to continue featuring children’s film in the lineup with Hotel Transylvania delivering Adam Sandler’s hilarious take on the Count. It’s also been great to feature other high profile vampire performances such as Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee through the free documentary In Search of Dracula with Mark Gatiss and of course Gary Oldman's breathtaking turn in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

"Lovers of the more arthouse films will be blown away with Daughters of Darkness and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, it’s a real treat to be able to show those on the big screen."

You can watch the trailer for Eagla Fest here: