ASK Scottish scream queen Shian Denovan about the scariest part of acting in horror films and she’ll tell you it’s when she’s asked to wear contact lenses.

“I just can’t bring myself to put them in so it takes three people –one to pin me down, one to hold my eyes open and one to get them in,” says Denovan, who is coming to the Edinburgh Horror Festival this weekend to speak about her experiences.

Being made up for certain parts can also be something of an ordeal. For one particular sequence in Aussie film Cat Sick Blues, she had to endure three to four hours of make up every day before filming.

“It was a funny experience as I would arrive very early to get started and then just lie there half asleep while three make-up artists stuck bits of latex all over my body. It felt a bit like being in a beauty parlour until I stood up and looked in the mirror and found I was covered in boils.”

That experience was positively pleasant compared to making Scottish horror film Sawney: Flesh Of Man in Aberdeenshire in autumn when Denovan had to stand under a freezing cold waterfall.

“I did have a warm trailer between takes but in a bigger budget movie they would probably have had pumps above the waterfall pumping out warm water.”

IS IT ALL CHILLING?

BEING covered in sticky fake blood is also a common experience for Denovan but she says it’s part of the experience.

“I enjoy it. I quite like being pushed out of my comfort zone. In my spare time I like to do all sorts of things like bungee jumping and free falling from aeroplanes and I have solo hiked through the Andes.”

Fortunately, too, her sleep is not disturbed by some of the parts she has to play.

“When we are filming, it’s not scary most of the time as the room is full of people on set and there is a lot of waiting around,” says Denovan.

“The atmosphere is not there when you are filming which can actually make it harder to act.

“One thing I have found hard is stopping and starting. You might have to wait around for two hours then suddenly have to go into a scene that is at the peak of the film and you have to seem terrified. That can be quite tough and it is different to theatre where you are in the in story all the time.”

The performance aspect remains the same, however.

“I think what is needed for all performances is just truthfulness,” Denovan says. “Even when I am acting a role that is quite extreme I need to find the truth in it, so on that point there is not much difference between horror films and other projects.”

DOES SHE LIKE HORROR?

IT helps that Denovan has always been a fan of the genre, although some of her family have never seen her horror films as they are too squeamish to watch.

They do have opportunities to see her other performances as she works in theatre as well as the film industry and is currently touring Scotland with Rah Rah Theatre, playing a trafficked domestic servant in My Mind Is Free.

“I play eight other characters as well so I have to do eight different accents in it,” said Denovan, who has just been cast in Hidden In This Room which will tour next year.

“I don’t just want to focus on horror films but I do love them and there are quite a lot of independent films being made in that genre at the moment,” she said.

An exclusive clip of her new horror film Bite will be shown at the Edinburgh Horror Festival, which runs from Friday until Halloween.

The six-day programme includes a paranormal illusions show with festival co-founder Ash Pryce, Des O’Gorman’s popular Ghostbusters show Still Ready To Believe You, and two new horror plays from Big Puppet Theatre. To mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein, Posturous Productions bring its adult-only version of its hit Fringe pantomime Frankomime’s Monster.

WHAT ELSE IS ON?

MEANWHILE, boarding The Lochrin Belle on the Union Canal, brave-hearted audience members will be transported along the zombie-infested waters at Fountainbridge during site-specific theatre piece The Boat.

Created by Kristofer Bate and Jonathan Whiteside, it follows the journey of a weathered crew (featuring Black Watch’s Gavin Jon Wright and Edinburgh stage veterans Danielle Farrow and Madeleine McGirk) as they sail into the heart of zombie-ravaged Edinburgh on a perilous supply run.

The Edinburgh Horror Festival will also be returning to Lauriston Castle on the outskirts of the city to stage a special series of sessions. These include another Frankenstein-themed event – The Haunted Hunt – where teams will act together to solve riddles and clues and track down the escaped monster.

There will also be ghost stories in the castle told by Alex Staniforth, comedy from Oliver Giggins with Out Of Leftfield, and The Twilight Séance, performed by Ash Pryce and featuring a unique take on the Victorian Spirit Cabinet.

Denovan will appear at the Horror Film and Literature Conference along with Dacre Stoker, the great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the only person officially recognised by the Stoker estate as able to continue the Dracula legacy, using Bram Stoker’s original notes.

More details, and ticket information are at www.edhorrorfest.co.uk