As part of Stourbridge Town Hall’s mini-Halloween season, NeuNoir theatre company present an intimate reading of an Edwardian tale of terror: Carnacki, The Ghost Finder (Friday 29 October 2021).
Written in 1912, the story follows supernatural detective Thomas Carnacki as he delves into the troubling case of young woman terrorised by a spectral steed that’s reportedly haunted her family for generations.
Armed with his Electric Pentacle, Carnacki races to break the curse. But can he defeat the violent galloping entity before it takes another life? Or are there other sinister forces at play?
Created by author William Hope Hodgson, Carnacki specialised in investigating unexplained occult phenomena. His uncanny and ghostly adventures, first serialised in publication The Idler, have thrilled such writers as HP Lovecraft, Dennis Wheatley and Alan Moore (who included Carnacki in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and combine Sherlock Holmes-esque intrigue with darker, stranger forces.
Hodgson was born in Essex in 1877. His father was an Anglican priest (who spent a year at St. James’ Church in Wednesbury), and his mother was the daughter of a Birmingham factory owner. He lost his life in The Great War, leaving a series of stories and books which laid the foundations for contemporary fantasy, horror and detective fiction.
Carnacki, The Ghost Finder: The Horse Of The Invisible is read by actor Richard Usher (Sweet Cherry Publishing’s Sherlock Holmes audiobooks; BBC Radio; The Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot) and produced by NeuNoir, a new West Midlands-based company with an extensive background in arts festivals and the media.
The production premieres at Stourbridge Town Hall on Friday 29 October 2021, 7.15pm. Tickets £10. To book and for more information call 01384 812812 or visit: boroughhalls.co.uk
EVENT LISTINGS:
(Suggested Categories: Theatre).
Friday 29 October 2021
NeuNoir presents:
Carnacki, The Ghost Finder
Author WH Hodgson’s supernatural detective, Thomas Carnacki, delves into the troubling case of a young woman terrorised by a spectral steed. Can he defeat the violent galloping entity before it takes another life? Or are there other sinister forces at play?
Actor Richard Usher (Sweet Cherry Publishing’s Sherlock Holmes audiobooks; BBC Radio; The Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot) reads Carnacki, The Ghost Finder: The Horse Of The Invisible.
Stourbridge Town Hall, Wollaston Studio, Crown Centre, Crown Lane, Stourbridge DY8 1YE
Doors: 6.45pm. Start: 7.15pm. Tickets £10.
Box Office: 01384 812812
Tickets/ information: boroughhalls.co.uk
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
About NeuNoir
NeuNoir is a new West Midlands-based theatre company. With their roots in Birmingham Comedy Festival, where they produced the first ever touring stage productions based on BBC radio’s The Goon Show and premiered a previously lost Tony Hancock sitcom as The Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot, the company was formed out of a desire to create work outside of comedy. NeuNoir’s debut production is Carnacki: The Ghost Finder, a chilling Edwardian tale of Holmesian intrigue and the supernatural based on the work of early-20th century fantasy/ horror author WH Hodgson.
Twitter: @neunoirtheatre
About WH Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson was born in Essex in 1877. His father was an Anglican priest (who spent a year at St. James’ Church in Wednesbury), and his mother was the daughter of a Birmingham factory owner. The second of 12 children, a rebellious Hodgson spent his early career at sea, where he received a medal for heroism and embraced a fitness regime, which led to him opening a ‘keep fit’ school/ gym in Blackburn. When the school failed to earn him a living, he turned to writing, with his first fictional story, The Goddess Of Death, published in 1904. His Carnacki short stories first appeared in 1910 in The Idler, mixing detective fiction with horror/ fantasy. Other yarns saw the writer combine seafaring adventures with horror, and delve into science fiction and romance! At the outbreak of World War I, Hodgson joined the army before being badly injured and discharged, after being thrown from a horse. But swift to re-enlist, he was eventually killed in action, in Belgium, in 1918.
Halloween at Stourbridge Town Hall 2021
Stourbridge Town Hall’s Halloween weekend features NeuNoir’s Carnacki, The Ghost Finder (Fri 29 Oct, 7.15pm), followed by film screenings of The Exorcist (Fri 29 Oct, 9pm), Casper (Sat 30 Oct, 2pm) and Beetlejuice (Sat 30 Oct, 7.30pm). Full details and tickets from: boroughhalls.co.uk
MEDIA/ PRESS CONTACT:
For all press/media enquiries relating to NeuNoir’s Carnacki, including image and interview requests, please contact us:
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