Enjoy a Ghostly Advent Calendar from a leading West Sussex theatre company

Producer Suse Crosby said: “Last year Wick Theatre dived into something new: classic short scary stories on film. The country had just gone into another lockdown, there were no vaccines yet, numbers were rising and Covid 19 had hit all our lives.

“As a theatre company dedicated to live entertainment and still wanting to find ways to lift people’s spirits at such a special time of year, Wick Theatre thought well and truly outside the box to come up with chilling stories intended as wonderful winter warmers.

“Guy Steddon came up with the idea and curated the whole project. As a fan of the genre he was well placed to come up with all the stories and match them with the perfect story-teller.”

Suse worked with Guy and with film maker Phil Nair-Brown to produce the films: every day from December 1 to Christmas Eve at 5pm. And this year, they are sharing them again.

“The wave of positive audience response for the Ghostly Christmas Advent Calendar amazed everyone at the community theatre company.

“What we hadn’t realised at the time was the potential reach of the online stories, which have now been viewed around the world, from France and Italy to New Zealand. The short stories are all free to view and were shared on social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and on YouTube. They have continued to gain momentum throughout the year, being watched by people all over the globe.

“Included in the tales are famous stories such as The Monkey’s Paw: the dangers of getting what you wish for; and The Signalman: is it an omen, or a warning, or foresight on the train tracks for those who see?

“Guy was also keen to share lesser known stories such as Smee: an innocent party game perhaps; and The Shadow in which the author E Nesbitt puts some of her own life through the disturbing and haunting tale.

“These are all fascinating, classic and dark tales of supernatural or psychological disturbances, and on a cold winter’s night in your warm home, some great entertainment.”

Suse added: “Wick Theatre boasts some fine actors in their company, many of them professional actors, and 21 of those gave their story-telling talents towards this.

“Although we find ourselves in slightly different times now and we are venturing out again, there are still many people who prefer to stay at home perhaps because of feeling vulnerable due to health or accessibility issues.

“The online world really opened up for people last year and more entertainment is being streamed now and while hundreds of people saw the films last year, Wick Theatre will be sharing them again this year.

“The response was so amazing last year, and we hope to reach an even wider audience this year. If you watched some last year, it might be nice for people to see them again. Christmas time gets so busy for people, it’s nice to have a moment to sit and watch a short and entertaining film. An armchair thriller.”

The short films will be shared on Facebook with links on Instagram and Twitter, starting on December 1 at 5pm and daily up until Christmas Eve. They are completely free to watch. Links to the social media pages and YouTube can be found on the Wick Theatre Company website: www.wicktheatre.co.uk.

“We really hope as many people see them and like them this year. Reading people’s comments and reactions makes it all worthwhile.”