Despite the conventional-sounding title, just about everything about the film Ghost stories seems unusual. For starters, it’s the adaptation not of a book or older movie, but a horror stage play by the same name, by playwright Jeremy Dyson. Premiering in 2010, the shockingly successful production runs only 80 minutes, and is notable for its air of fright and secrecy—no promotional materials are displayed outside of theaters that perform Ghost Stories, and audiences are recommended to experience it with no outside information. It proves to be something of a popular sensation in the London theater scene, before heading out on the the road, and now Ghost Stories is headed to multiplexes.
The film adaptation seems to be structured like an anthology of sorts, with a paranormal investigator/skeptic narrator whose beliefs are tested by three unique individuals, each of whom is able to tell their own terrifying tales. These include stars Martin Freeman, Andy Nyman, Alex Lawther, Paul Whitehouse and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, all of whom can be seen in the creepy, unnerving trailer above. The flashes of disorienting images on display don’t really suggest the nature of any of the stories, keeping the mystery of each intact. Rather, they seem to suggest a slow descent into madness for our narrator.
Ghost Stories premieres in U.K. theaters on April 13—which is a Friday the 13th, actually. Hopefully we’ll see it in a limited release in the U.S. sometime afterward, but if not, look for this one on VOD and physical media later in the year, hopefully by Halloween.