Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

A Haunted House

 
Ross Anthony Review by Ross Anthony 4 Published: 14 Aug 2025 Assembly Roxy Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

Before I knew it, I was charmed and delighted by the host of characters depicted solely by the talented David Hoskin. Fringe feels best when you don’t really know what you’ve walked into. A Haunted House has exactly that feel as you enter the space, with a remarkably detailed model of a haunted house on display in a dank basement. With simple eyebrow waggles and shoulder shoogles, he had me hooked, and the joyfully spooky world within the house is somewhere I would happily revisit again and again… if I ever leave.

This is a masterclass in physical theatre and a near-perfect one-man show

A Haunted House is a silly, camp performance where The Rocky Horror Show meets The Addams Family in one mime’s body. Mime doesn’t feel quite appropriate, as it evokes painted Parisian performers, but it is the only description that captures the full-body performance Hoskin gives. From spasming tremors and terrifying tongue motions – which play as funny rather than horrific – he sets the stage expertly. It’s deeper than that, though. A subtle change in eyebrows or the set of his mouth gives an entirely different character or cosmic horror moment from one beat to the next: vampires, ghouls, eye-eating monstrosities and, of course, our host Uncle Lester.

Hoskin feels like he’s capering with himself and, though he works the audience perfectly, we’re very much in his world. This is a masterclass in physical theatre and a near-perfect one-man show.

The show uses the structure of a tour of the house – and some memory jars – to segue from vignette to vignette. A standout moment was a very simple: “BOOO…ks… we’re in the library.” This is the vein for most of the show: hilarious and spooky, but rarely scary. It feels rather a lot like a midnight-black kitten trying to convince you it is quite ferocious.

You can feel the distinct Britishness in A Haunted House – the true evil at work is the local council. Cue thunder and dramatic lighting. Or worse yet, support workers for Age UK with dubiously spelt names. The work doesn’t take itself seriously at all, even including jabs at the Fringe with perfectly timed entries of characters asking if the show has started yet.

If your favourite scary movies make you laugh, if you lean towards the bizarre, and if you’re ready to be impressed by a queer icon in the making, please visit David Hoskin in A Haunted House… for you shall leave not quite the same as you entered.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

'In a dark, dark house on a dark, dark, street, a house of horrors wakes from sleep'. Mime and slapstick performer David Hoskin – 'Phenomenal' **** (BroadwayWorld.com) – presents A Haunted House: a hysterical, terrifying and surreal tale, about one hair-raising night in a haunted house. A show about memory, murder and dancing zombies, A Haunted House is like spending the night with the League of Gentlemen and Jacques Tati but in the Saw franchise. This ghost train of a tale is for those who like their laughs big and their scares spine-chilling!