GHOST STORIES

IN 2010, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s ruthlessly efficient horror anthology Ghost Stories scared audiences out of their seats at Liverpool Playhouse before transferring to London.

The production deservedly became a word-of-mouth sensation.

The big screen adaptation of Ghost Stories, written and directed by Dyson and Nyman, doesn’t come close to replicating the trickles of sweat of the stage version but is, nevertheless, a well-crafted exercise in smoke and mirrors.

A framing device loosely connects three spooky tales of things that go bump in the night.

Philip Goodman (Nyman) is a psychologist who dedicates his life to debunking supposedly supernatural phenomena on his TV show. He answers a cryptic call to arms from his ageing idol Charles Cameron (Leonard Byrne), who implores Goodman to revisit three old cases. “I look back at my work now with shame,” confesses Cameron. “I need you to tell me I’m wrong.” As requested, Goodman meets night security guard Tony Matthews (Paul Whitehouse), emotionally volatile student Simon Rifkind (Alex Lawther) and oily businessman Mike Priddle (Martin Freeman) to discuss and dissect their experiences.

Goodman listens intently to each of his subjects’ testimonies, but his belief in science and logic is undimmed. But has Goodman overlooked one tantalising piece of evidence...

Ghost Stories doesn’t stray too far from its stage origins, but the pervading air of doom, which hung inside the theatre auditorium is absent.