It is 1970. The sixties are dead, the seventies are waiting in the wings, and four actors and a director have retreated to a remote English manor house to rehearse a new Hammer-style horror film: The Horrors of Hell House. Cloaks, candles and the occult are the order of the day.

The location is Hellenic House – known locally as Hell House – a vast, decaying stately home with a presence all of its own. As rehearsals begin, familiar tensions surface. Egos clash, insecurities fester, ambitions run wild, with the Beatles broken up and decimalisation looming, everything feels unsteady.

Then Hell House begins to push back.

Strange occurrences interrupt rehearsals, rituals seem a little too authentic, and the line between performance and reality starts to blur. As unease spreads through the company it becomes clear that the house is not the only thing keeping secrets, and that some games being played are far more dangerous than they appear.

Packed with eccentric characters, period film and television in-jokes, genuine occult trappings and supernatural mischief, The Haunting of Hell House is a darkly comic, unsettling and affectionate homage to 1970s British horror where satire, suspense and the absurd collide.

The Horrors of Hell House comes from the pen of Bridge House Theatre regular Tim Connery (Penge West, Masterclass, What A Gay Day!) and is directed by British Touring Shakespeare’s Andrew Hobbs whose gothic productions (Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde, Dracula) have been chilling Bridge House audiences over Halloween for years.

Please note: This production contains sudden loud noises, flashing lights, frightening scenes, Black Mass rituals and incantations that some audience members may find disturbing.