Grace Hatchell is currently checking under her bed before filing this report.
Award-winning theatre company ThickSkin brings back its chilling hit It Walks Around The House At Night for a UK Autumn tour from 24 September to 13 November 2026, opening at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch before visiting venues including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle. Expect eerie atmosphere, jump scares and dark humour in this 90-minute ghost story.
Now listen, I’ve just come pedalling back into the village with a bit of a shiver in me satchel — and not just because the mornings are getting colder. There’s something creeping its way across the UK this Autumn, and it answers to the name It Walks Around The House At Night. Yes… even writing that gives me the sort of feeling where you double-check the door’s locked (and maybe the window… and maybe the wardrobe for good measure).
This spine-tingling piece comes from ThickSkin — and if you’ve been keeping an eye on your theatre gossip like I have, you’ll know they don’t do things by halves. After a sell-out tour and a London run, they’re sending this eerie little number back out on the road, opening at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch on 24th September before drifting — rather ominously — around the country until 13th November.
At the heart of it all is Joe, played by George Naylor — an out-of-work actor who ends up taking what sounds like an easy job pretending to be a ghost in an old countryside manor. (Now I don’t know about you, but if someone offers me good money to haunt a house, I’m already suspicious.) What starts as a bit of harmless play-acting quickly turns into something far more unsettling when Joe realises he might not be the only “presence” wandering around after dark. Alongside him is Oliver Baines as The Dancer — a shadowy, lingering figure who sounds like the sort you don’t want to meet alone in a corridor.
The piece is written by Tim Foley — a Bruntwood Prize winner — and directed by Neil Bettles, with a creative team that leans heavily into atmosphere: immersive sound, bold visuals, and the kind of design that makes your skin prickle before anything’s even happened. It’s all backed up with a rather cheeky promise too — jump scares, creeping dread, and a dark sense of humour running through it like a thread you can’t quite see but definitely feel.
Now, if you’re already eyeing up tickets (and I know some of you love a good scare), here’s where you can catch it on its travels — and I’ve done you a favour and tucked the booking links neatly into the satchel:
24–26 September – Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whatson/it-walks-around-the-house-at-night/
2–3 October – Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
https://theatreroyal.org/
6–8 October – Hull Truck Theatre
https://www.hulltruck.co.uk/
10–11 October – Capital Theatres, Edinburgh
https://www.capitaltheatres.com/
15–17 October – Tron Theatre, Glasgow
https://www.tron.co.uk/
20–21 October – Norwich Theatre Playhouse
https://norwichtheatre.org/whats-on/it-walks-around-the-house-at-night/
23–24 October – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
https://www.belgrade.co.uk/
29–31 October – Northern Stage, Newcastle
https://northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/it-walks-around-the-house-at-night/#event-info
3–7 November – The Lowry, Salford
https://thelowry.com/whats-on/it-walks-around-the-house-at-night-7rp8
9–10 November – Worthing Theatres
https://wtm.uk/
13 November – Watford Palace Theatre
https://watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk/
A couple of practical bits before you go wandering into any haunted manors: it runs at around 90 minutes with no interval, it’s recommended for ages 14+, and there are content warnings including loud noises, flashing lights, haze, strong language, and horror imagery — so yes, it’s very much a “brace yourself” sort of evening.
And between you and me… there’s something quite delicious about a show that leans into fear at this time of year. Autumn, darker nights, that little crunch of leaves under your feet… it’s the perfect setting. Just don’t blame me if you get home afterwards and suddenly feel like something might be walking around the house at night.
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