30th July- 24th August
Assembly Roxy - The Snug
Hello! Thank you for scanning the QR code and coming to read a little more about my show – you're the best!
"A Haunted House" is my second solo show and my first at the Edinburgh Fringe. Bringing it here has been a ten-year-long process, a big old dream of mine. So I'm howling at the moon with joy that it's finally happening!
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PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW - IT HELPS SO MUCH :)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/a-haunted-house
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First, a brief background on the show:
"A Haunted House" has been developed over two years, had three distinct incarnations (the first featured a confusing reversed murder mystery as the central plot), and has had hundreds of hours poured into developing, researching, writing, performing, building the house, designing the lighting, crying, screaming, learning how to walk like a crow, etc.
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It is a labour of love and a show I am deeply proud of, so thank you for being part of it. Out of thousands of shows you could be watching, you've chosen to spend 55 minutes with me... miming a striptease as a werewolf.
We're clearly in good company.​
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I wanted to make a show that combined my love of comedy and horror, two bedfellows that I have huge reverence for, with my skill as a physical performer. I wanted to make something fun, beautiful, scary and hopefully, memorable for you.
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It's only with support from you that people like me can continue making work. So if you are able to follow me on instagram, post or re-post about the show (tag me! @davidhoskinperformer) or if you're feeling flush, chuck us a couple of quid on my Ko-Fi, it would mean the world!
Please donate by clicking the image below!​​​​​​​
Did you notice the following references in "A Haunted House"?
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The Birds
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The Fly
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The Evil Dead
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Dracula
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An American Werewolf in London
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The Haunting
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
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Young Frankenstein
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Re-Animator
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Time Crimes
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Funny Games
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Thriller
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Don't Look Now
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The Thing
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Braindead
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Dark Water
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In the Company of Wolves
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Arachnophobia
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Night of the Living Dead
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Alien
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Bram Stokers Dracula
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Poltergeist
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House
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The Shining
FAQ's
What's the inspiration for the show? - Primarily my love of horror. The natural partnership it has with mime marries in a really fun way. Add in the dance that horror and comedy do, and I had the perfect ingredients for a super fun show! Plus, I also really wanted to be a werewolf on stage.
Did you make the house? - Yes it's handmade - took me over 60 hours. It's hinged so the front opens up! Originally the show was going to start with me opening the house to reveal my head inside and mime laughing along to Vincent Price's infamous cackle from Thriller. I even built a fake table to sit under for the reveal… though, I’m dreadful at building actual furniture. The table collapsed mid-show. Very poor form.
Why does memory have such prescience in A Haunted House? - It's something I find incredibly compelling, which sounds super wanky, but is true. Haunted houses are fun, vivid avatars for memory. Spaces where past and present collide, sometimes violently. I don't quite know why, but I find memory, ghosts, and non-linear time utterly fascinating. So I put them in a show!
Is there a personal angle to this? - Yes. Over time I have seen numerous family members suffer from dementia, memory loss and the lingering effects of trauma. Seeing people slowly fade, becoming outlines of who they were, is heartbreaking. They turn into ghosts while still being alive, caught in a loop of their former selves. It’s one of the most quietly terrifying things for the people who love them.
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I also think memory is tied to identity, maybe more than we realise. It sculpts who we become, echoing forward from the past while still pulsing in the present. It’s almost like a living organism. Diving into this can be dizzying. There's real horror there.
​On a personal level I feel trapped by potent past memories and some strange existential guilt for memories that will never be made? Like I'm frozen in time due to choices I've made. I find this really hard to talk about with words. So a comedy mime show is how I've tried to find a way to express and connect with people.​
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Sounds a bit... heavy? - Nah, relax! I mean life and death can be heavy, but ultimately this is all just... absurdly funny. It's a blackened comic grin. I wanted to bring shades to the show: make you laugh, give you a scare, but also leave you feeling something. Curious, moved, sprightly, up for watching a horror movie, whatever. And there’s something really powerful about experiencing that live. It’s like a shared catharsis. The impossible suddenly feels real. Death becomes life. And there’s also a possessed wig. Which is just well funny.
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