While horror fans’ craving for spooky tales is more a 365 days a year deal, when the leaves turn brown and cold nights draw in, spooky tales do become even more appealing.
The Haunting of Blaine Manor is an award-winning play written and directed by Joe O’Byrne, which feels like a good old-fashioned tale of terror.
The most refreshing part of the play was its lack of ‘jump scares’, instead opting for its performances and dialogue to do the work.
Many horror fans will tell you that a jump scare will often chill for seconds, but when a moment is enacted or revealed by a character and you audibly hear the gasps in the audience; well you know you’re on to a winner.
We follow Doctor Roy Earle, who has ventured over from the States to investigate the supposedly haunted manor, but gets much more than he bargained for.
The first half of the play runs fairly standard, laying the groundwork and letting us get to know the characters whilst also creating a sense of unease for the viewers that maybe everything isn’t what it seems. It is the second half of the play where things really shift gears and we get some shocking reveals and really fantastic character work from the cast.
The Haunting of Blaine Manor feels plucked out of the old BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas series and is highly recommended.
The Haunting of Blaine Manor was reviewed at Crewe Lyceum on Friday 16 September 2022.
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