Who likes not being terrified? No-one. Exactly. Thank goodness then that from this Thursday (29th March)- Sunday (1st April) Edinburgh’s Dead By Dawn festival is promising to scare the living death out of cinema-goers, showcasing the best, worst and weirdest the horror genre has to offer.

Since it first began back in 1993, Dead By Dawn has been committed to introducing thrill-mongers to independent horror flicks, pumping up their programming by chucking in a few much-loved classics. This year the main event will be a screening of the hotly anticipated The Cabin In The Woods – high on the list of priorities for any self-respecting Whedon fan.

So what else is on offer? We’re glad you asked.

It all kicks off on the Thursday with a showing of the much-talked about (but as yet not released) The Fields; a suspense thriller apparently based on the ‘true story’ of a Pennsylvania-based family suffering from mysterious attacks in the fields that surround their house. All you really need to know is that it stars Tara Reid – whose performances are genuinely always terrifying. You’ve seen Van Wilder: Party Liason, right?

Friday sees showing of films including The Omen, Japanese spatter-fest Red Tears and the autobiographical Below Zero – about a screen-writer who gets so frustrated with writer’s block that he locks himself in a meat freezer until he completes his script. Which is what actual writer Signe Olynyk did to herself. Totally normal, obviously. Sprinkled throughout the feature film showings are celebrations of short and animated horror films: the 2D AND DERANGED short animation programme, the Cutting Edge short film competition and a variety of cheerful sounding shorts including Murderabilia, The Unliving, An Evening with my Comatose Mother. The festival finishes in style, with a midnight screening of Joss Whedon’s The Cabin In The Woods, and presumably no-one involved will ever sleep again. Full schedule here, you maniacs.

In order to get info on their ticket prices and how to get an all inclusive-pass (if you’re going hard like a champion) simply sign up to the Dead By Dawn mailing list here. And then buy us all flights to Scotland to celebrate? Cool? Cool.