A WELL-KNOWN name in the world of screen horror is the latest guest announced for October's Ingrid Pitt Queen of Horror Festival.

Emily Booth presenter and actress, regularly presents for the Horror Channel, and has starred in cult films including Evil Aliens, Doghouse, Pervirella, and Cradle of Fear. She is also a regular on the horror festival circuit, though is delighted to be involved in the first horror festival in her home town. . . .

The festival is being held in memory of hammer horror legend Ingrid Pitt who died in 2010, and will take place in and around the Old Town from October 26 to 28. . . .

Of Ingrid Pitt herself she said: "She was a goddess, and she has got a huge fan base. The films that she was in are the films lovingly referenced in Lesbian Vampire Killers."

The very first Queen of Horror Memorial Festival honoring the memory of Ingrid Pitt is happening in October 2012 in Hastings, UK . . .

A blend of Hammer-inspired decor, activities such as make-up FX contests, and short story and film competitions will take place over the course of just a few days, all in the memory of the amazing actress and personality that was Ingrid Pitt.

The festival is run by Ingrid's niece, Isabella Podsiadlo, so it's a nice family affair. . . .

I'll most likely do a follow-up to this when guests are announced. Just very very excited!

A NEW film competition has been set up in memory of the late Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt. . . .

The panel of judges includes film and television director Robert Young, whose credits range from Hammer film Vampire Circus to The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

Robert said of his friendship with Ingrid: "Working with her in the peaceful environment of her home in Richmond, I had all the best of Ingrid. Her beauty without glitter was ethereal, and that glorious voice. She was a caring hostess and when one looks at all these attributes it is difficult to think of her as the 'star'.

"She never threw her weight around or threw a tantrum. She was a glorious lady and I feel privileged to have known her."

The competition falls into five categories: The Queen of Horror Award, for films on the horror theme; The Documentary Award, for non-fiction films on any theme; The Fiction Award, for fiction films on any theme; The Premier Screening Award, for any film receiving its first public screening, and The Short Film Award, for films of up to 15 minutes long.

Legendary 'scream queen' Ingrid Pitt's legacy lives on in a new multi-book deal between independent company Avalard Publishing and the Ingrid Pitt estate.

At the time of her death in November 2010, Ingrid Pitt was an internationally-famous actress and global sex symbol, perhaps best known for her roles in films like The Vampire Lovers and The Wicker Man, which earned her the title 'Queen of Horror'. She was also an acclaimed writer and novelist, producing a number of non-fiction books in the "Ingrid Pitt Guide To…" series, and a volume of autobiography.

Northern Ireland-based Avalard Publishing have secured the reprint rights to Ingrid's debut novel CUCKOO RUN (a thriller about a female James Bond-type, first released in 1980) and exclusive worldwide publishing rights to a number of previously unseen books. The deal has recently been extended to include additional Ingrid Pitt books.

THIS OCTOBER will see the launch of the Queen of Horror Festival, held in memory of one of the Hammer Horror genre of films' biggest stars Ingrid Pitt.

Organisers hope that the newest addition to Hastings' packed annual festival calendar will have horror enthusiasts flocking from near and far.

The all-day event, which is being backed by Hastings Borough Council, is set to take place on October 27, in the Old Town.

SAVAGE pagan fertility rites might not sound like a subject for comedy, but for the National Theatre of Scotland, a Wicker Man musical by Donald McLeary and Greg Hemphill is just the ticket for the winter blues . . .

Unlike many horror films of the 1970s, The Wicker Man still holds its own as an intriguing piece of cinema. While featuring Hammer Horror regulars such as Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt, it delivers almost no gore or violence and has been described as a thoughtful meditation on clashing ideologies. That is, until the closing scenes when it delivers a spectacular twist in the tale involving a burning wicker colossus.

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, The Wicker Man has become that rarest and most circular of things: a film about cultism that in itself became a cult. Within the past decade particularly, The Wicker Man has ascended into a select band of cinematic immortals, as the so-called Citizen Kane of horror movies. Shot around Dumfries and Galloway, and studded with weird, yielding ditties in praise of bosky naughtiness, it has been restored and remastered, referenced and reverenced. There are shelves of academic Wicker Man analysis and, at the last count, four Wicker Man television documentaries. It has even survived the most calamitous of Hollywood remakes starring a bewildered Nicolas Cage. The Wicker Tree, a sequel of sorts by the director of the original, is imminent. An Appointment With The Wicker Man, a theatrical interpretation of the film, written by Greg Hemphill and Donald McLeary for the National Theatre Of Scotland (NTS), goes on tour later this month.

. . . the film was rushed into production with a cast described best as motley. Bit players were hired from the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. Local Gallovidians got their chance. There was also a practising Australian white witch and former wife of Sean Connery (Diane Cilento); a fixture of the Scottish pantomime scene (Walter Carr); the man who taught David Bowie mime (Lindsay Kemp, playing the aforementioned camp landlord); a Pole (Ingrid Pitt) portraying, in her words, a "nymphomaniac librarian"; and a Swede, Britt Ekland, whose accent was so thick it required redubbing by Annie Ross.

Leading lady of horror, Ingrid Pitt, left behind a number of unpublished novels following her death in 2010 including a sequel to her well received spy novel Cuckoo Run. Those novels are now being released by Northern Ireland press Avalard Publishing, as part of a five book deal.

The first book to be released will be Annul Domini a controversial science fiction novel that is set to cause some ripples in the literary world, with it's speculation about Christianity and what would happen if Jesus had never been able to fulfill his destiny.

Vampires = Sex. We know it, you know it. The illicit thrill of gripping someone in the night and burrowing your head in their flesh, the oh-so-subtle pangs of desire, and yes... the chicks, man. Long before the Goth look became a thing, the fair-skinned, buxom beauties of the horror genre have tantalized audiences with their vampiric charms. There are so many vampire hotties in the world of cinema that narrowing down a top ten was obscenely difficult. Sorry Bloodrayne, sorry Leslie Tapin from Lemora, we had to make some tough decisions and this is what we came up with: The Top Ten Hottest Vampire Babes!

3. INGRID PITT in THE VAMPIRE LOVERS

Oh, Ingrid Pitt. How we love you. Wait, not "love." Lust after, that's right. The sexy horror siren of the 1960s and 1970s had her most famous role in The Vampire Lovers, a sultry lesbian erotica in the grand Hammer tradition. And by "grand Hammer tradition" we mean there's a lot heaving breasts. Pitt plays Carmilla, a seductive vampire who seduces all the women in 19th century Styria, but her thirst for blood gets in the way of her erotic endeavors. Pitt's Carmilla is a predatory creature, and you can never tell if she's undressing you with her eyes or ready to pounce... or both. Fun Fact: Ingrid Pitt is also totally awesome. She wrote a Doctor Who script, for crying out loud. It was made into a 2010 radio drama called Doctor Who: The Lost Macros. Check it out.