13 Horror Plays That Will Spook You Silly

2. Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott

Wait Until Dark tells the story of a blind Greenwich Village housewife. She is the target of three con men who are searching for heroin, which has been hidden inside of a doll. The show first opened in 1966, but it has been frequently revived since.

3. Night of the Living Dead by Carroll, Romero, and Russo

This three-act play follows the story of a group of strangers who are all trapped together in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse. And of course, that can’t end well. In Night of the Living Dead, they all have to work together in order to fight for their survival.

4. Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

Although technically classified as a “tragedy” not a “horror”, Titus Andronicus can get pretty gruesome. Some productions of this play even require extra staff to take care of fainting theatre goers! It’s Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent work.

5. Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Macbeth tells the story of the potential psychological effects that can come along with having too much power and ambition, especially when it comes to politics. Also, this play is so bad-ass that it’s typically forbidden to say the name of it aloud when in most theaters.

6. Deathtrap by Ira Levin

Deathtrap is a comedy-thriller that’s a super entertaining “play within a play”. It’s the story of an ambitious playwright who plays with the idea of killing off a mentee of his in order to steal his script and publish it as his own.

7. The Haunting of the Hill House by F. Andrew Leslie & Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of the Hill House is a suspense play that’s based on Shirley Jackson’s novel. It tells the story of an anthropologist who conducts an unusual research project in a house that’s said to be haunted.

8. The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher and Henry James

In this chilling play, a governess finds herself in charge of a young boy and girl at a lonely estate. And the tension steadily increases as the governess suspects that there’s a haunting taking place!

9. The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

In Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, we follow the story of a writer who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his stories. We then find out that there is something strangely similar between his plots and the murders that have been taking place around town.

10. Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring

Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic play that tells the story of a drama critic who finds out that his aunts have been poisoning gentlemen callers and hiding them in the cellar.

11. Frankenstein by Nick Dear / Mary Shelley

The play version of Frankenstein is based off of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel of the same name. The play follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living creature out of the remains of human corpses.

12. Misery by Stephen King / Simon Moore

This version of Stephen King’s Misery was adapted for the stage by Simon Moore. It’s the story of a famous romance writer and his crazed number one fan, who makes his life a living hell.

13. The Weir by Conor McPherson

In Conor McPherson’s The Weir, local Irish men swap scary stories in an attempt to impress the sole lady in the bar. But things take a turn when she begins to “spin a yarn of her own”.

Want a weekly list of stagey surprises?!

Do you have any great horror plays to add to the list?

Make sure to let us know in the comments below! And stay tuned for some more spooky and fun Halloween-themed blog posts! But until then, you can also check out our list of great ways to watch theatre online to see if any of the above are available to watch right away!

Author: Stacy Karyn

Stacy Karyn is the founder of Theatre Trip, author of The Thespian’s Bucket List, and creator of The Cast Album List. She has a TESOL drama certificate, a BA in theatre, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.