ASYLUMFEST 2026 EVENTS
FEATURE FILM FRIDAY
WOLF CREEK 2
Kick off the festival with Wolf Creek 2, an intense and chilling horror film where the outback once again becomes a place of mind-bending horror, action and suspense as another unwitting backpacker becomes prey for crazed, serial killing pig-shooter, Mick Taylor.
SPECIAL GUEST AARON STERNS
Aaron Sterns is a writer known for the film Wolf Creek 2 (2014), and as author of the Wolf Creek prequel novel Wolf Creek: Origin (2014). Sterns also served as script-editor on Rogue (2007), and appeared in a cameo role in Wolf Creek (2005) as Bazza's Mate, as well as the Leather Man in ICQ (2001)
Date & Time: Friday, October 30, 2026, at 7:00 PM
Location: The haunted Bijou Theatre at Mayday Hills
Tickets: $25 pre-booked; $30 at the door
MEET THE JUDGES
Amanda J Spedding
Amanda J Spedding is a professional editor, proofreader, and award-winning author and graphic novelist.
Kaaron Warren
Kaaron Warren is a multi-award-winning writer based in Canberra, Australia. She’s sold over 200 short stories to publications big and small around the world, including Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best. She was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy, Stokercon and Genrecon.
Her latest novel, The Underhistory, from Viper Books, was described in the Guardian as ‘a beautifully constructed, suspenseful gothic tale’.
Her other novels are Slights, Mistification, Walking the Tree, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone. She has seven short story collections. Her writing podcast Let the Cat In showcases ideas, objects, and inspirations.
Brent McGregor
Brent McGregor is the author of Blood Tide and Strange Murmurings, and winner of the 2024 Asylumfest Mayday Hills Ghost Story Competition.
His short fiction has appeared in Midnight Echo (issues 18 and 20). Raised on Sydney’s North Shore near Ku-ring-Gai National Park, he grew up among stark bushland and sandstone cliffs that still inspire his imagination. He writes tales of terror and the supernatural, from cursed garden gnomes to cryptids.
A self-proclaimed book nerd, when not working or playing Dad, he can be found at a haunted typewriter, wrangling imaginary characters.
Mayday Hills Ghost Story Competition
Competition
Unleash your love of horror stories with live ghost story performances, held in the very-haunted Bijou Theatre, with comfortable chairs and couches for the audience.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 7:00 PM
Location: Main Stage at AsylumFest
Audience Tickets: $10 pre-booked; $15 on the night
TO ENTER AS A PERFORMER
Eligibility: Open to Australian and New Zealand citizens or residents
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2026 (if you plan to attend either way, we suggest booking accommodation early. Beechworth is a big tourism area, and places in town book out fast).
Performance: Live reading of your original story (up to 15 minutes). Story MUST involve a ghost/spirit.
Judging Criteria: Story quality and delivery
Prizes: 1st Place – Trophy and $100; 2nd Place – Certificate and $50; 3rd Place – Certificate and $25
