The reviewer information for Ghost Stories contains an unusual request – a plea to keep the secrets of the play. The creators ask that no plot details are shared in any reviews, even though that makes writing about it ‘tricky’. It does indeed, but this is a request they make of every audience member and it has been remarkably successful. Despite the age we’re now living in of compulsive oversharing via social media, the audience of Ghost Stories appears to be loyal to the creators. The show has been running for fifteen years, with several incarnations worldwide, and yet this record-breaking West-End hit ‘remains a rare thing – a modern experience you have to see ‘spoiler-free’.’
The reviewer info continues, ‘thank you so much for playing along.’ I’m game, I thought, trying to lean into the excitement and away from the terror. I wanted to stay true to the spirit of this request, so I didn’t go trying to find elusive spoilers or read other reviews beforehand. All I had seen was the blurb about the play containing ‘moments of shock and extreme tension’ and a quote from the Metro that simply said ‘I had to sleep with the light on.’ I warned my friend that I’m exactly the kind of highly suggestible type who would startle surrounding patrons by screaming at something that others wouldn’t blink an eye at, so asked her to bear with me. Luckily, the production was so terrifying that there were tons of us jumping and shrieking at regular intervals, including my friend.
Without giving anything away, it is phenomenally done. I want to see it again, right now. Again, please. Knowing nothing about the plot, and knowing that nobody else knew anything either, was a great device. We were told there would be no interval, and that anyone exiting during the performance would not be allowed back in. We were asked to keep the secrets of Ghost Stories. It felt as though we had all volunteered to be part of a social experiment – there was a lot of nervous laughter and I’m sure a few second thoughts that nobody would want to admit to. We had bought a ticket to the ghost train, we were locked in, there was no looking back.
I’m a big fan of Jeremy Dyson, one of the creators of Ghost Stories. This really ages me, but I had a copy of The League of Gentlemen on VHS. Not only that, I used it (on the big wheeled-in TV) for my GCSE English oral presentation. Other kids had cool hobbies like poi spinning or playing guitar in a band. Me? Royston Vasey. Maybe this is why I didn’t have the best time at school. Going to see this though, I knew I was most-likely in a room full of fellow outcasts and that made it all the more enjoyable. Humour is a key part of this show – there’s a lot of nervous laughter, of course, but there are also many genuinely funny moments that cut through the tension perfectly.
The casting is perfect. Dan Testsell as Professor Goodman and Clive Mantle as Mike Priddle are both brilliant – again, no spoilers, but the interaction between those two characters was so compelling. I have seen some spectacular stagecraft over the last few years, but the team who achieved this are in a league of their own. No pun intended. After fifteen years, West End success, productions in eight different countries including China, Russia and Peru – the team have something new in store. In the back of tonight’s programme, there’s an advert for a new play from the creators of Ghost Stories coming to the stage in 2026, The Psychic. Sign me up.
For more information about the show can be found here.
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