Our Editor, Rich Sutherland, shares his thoughts on It Walks Around the House at Night at Hull Truck Theatre.
There were moments during It Walks Around the House at Night when I laughed, then immediately regretted letting my guard down. ThickSkin’s production combines some good jump scares with a surprisingly strong vein of humour, making for a thoroughly entertaining evening at Hull Truck Theatre.
Written by Tim Foley and directed by Neil Bettles, the story follows Joe, a struggling actor who takes a job playing a ghost at a countryside manor. What initially sounds like an unusual way to earn a living soon becomes something considerably more unsettling.
George Naylor is fantastic as Joe, giving a performance that holds your attention through both the comedy and the mounting unease. Having someone so engaging at the centre of the story makes it easy to follow him into its stranger territory.
Oliver Baines, credited as the Dancer, adds a distinctive physical presence. His movement gives the production an unusual quality and becomes an integral part of its unsettling atmosphere.
The design is another highlight. The projections are particularly effective, creating mood and a sense of motion that draw you further into the world of the historic estate. There’s also a pleasing cohesion to the staging, with the visual elements supporting the storytelling throughout.
For all its ability to make you jump, the humour was one of the evening’s most enjoyable surprises. It gives the production personality and makes the shifts into horror all the more effective.
Then there’s the ending, which caught me by surprise. I’ll leave it there, because this is a story that benefits from knowing as little as possible about where it’s heading.
It Walks Around the House at Night runs at Hull Truck Theatre until Thursday 8th October 2026.
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