Ghost Stories

The theatrical horror production Ghost Stories, written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, has returned to London for a limited season following a national tour. Premiering in 2010 at the Liverpool Playhouse, the play quickly gained notoriety for its effective use of stagecraft to deliver jump scares, becoming a long-running West End hit before a 2017 film adaptation further broadened its audience. Now, over a decade later, the production has established itself as a staple of the stage horror genre, frequently reviving for the Halloween season and touring internationally. This production at the Peacock Theatre represents the latest incarnation of a show that has been incrementally updated over its 15-year life.

The play is structured around a framing device featuring Professor Philip Goodman (Jonathan Guy Lewis), a self-proclaimed "parapsychologist" and arch-skeptic dedicated to debunking claims of the supernatural. Goodman opens the show with an engaging lecture, establishing his cynical worldview before presenting three case studies of supposed genuine hauntings that have genuinely confounded his rational explanations. These case studies form the core of the drama, unfolding as distinct but interconnected vignettes recounted by the individuals involved.

The first tale involves a lonely night-watchman, Tony Matthews (David Cardy), whose routine shift is disrupted by unnerving occurrences at a desolate warehouse. This is followed by a sequence where a neurotic young man, Simon Rifkind (Preston Nyman), encounters terror on a late-night drive after his borrowed car breaks down in the woods. The final story centers on the successful but agitated businessman, Mike Priddle (Clive Mantle), a prospective father whose modern home becomes the source of terrifying nocturnal phenomena.

The production, co-directed by Sean Holmes, Dyson, and Nyman, is highly reliant on its technical design to deliver its intended effect. Jon Bausor's set pieces deftly morph to accommodate the varying locations, assisted by James Farncombe’s lighting design and Nick Manning’s detailed, tension-building soundscape. Illusionist Scott Penrose is credited with the special effects, a crucial component for the play's signature shocks.

While the framework of three spooky stories investigated by a skeptic offers a compelling premise there is a distinct imbalance between build-up and payoff. The core critique levied against the production is that it contains too much dialogue and anticipation and not enough fear. The opening lecture and the conversational introductions to the three case studies occupy a considerable portion of the 85-minute runtime, setting the stage for frights that do not always land with the expected impact.

The extended periods of atmospheric tension created by the sound and lighting cues often resulted in an audience keenly waiting for a shock that, when it arrived, felt either predictable or technically underwhelming.

For a production that trades on its ability to viscerally scare its audience, the current revival appears to be showing its age, with a structure and some effects that no longer carry the guaranteed shock of their initial run. It remains an impressively crafted evening of theatrical tension, but the ratio of talking to genuine terror will disappoint those seeking a barrage of unpredictable horror.


Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning