Viewer beware, you’re in for a scare… Preapre for a selection of the Festival’s spookiest, creepiest, and also funniest shows. From ghouls to Traitors, spirits to serial killers, our team shines a light on the Festivals forgotten genre with our Top Horror Picks.
From now until August, we’ll be releasing our recommendations of the top theatre, comedy, spoken word, film, music, childrens, dance, and visual arts available to audiences across all the city’s festivals. However, this time, rather than focusing solely on genre or performance method, we’ll be examining some of the emerging topics, including The Manosphere, Women Writers, Comedy Debuts, Queer Musicals, Climate Crisis, Sport, Food, and Contemporary Myths. Come along with us and Have a Gander.
If you have a show coming and would like to chat with us about a Q&A or a review, please do get in touch through the ‘contact’ page where one of the team will get back to you!
Produced by Cutty Sark Theatre, Turn the Cloth is an atmospheric folk horror play set in a small Scottish town during a fierce 1989 winter storm. When a sinister, bride-hungry spirit arrives, a group of sharp-tongued teenagers are forced to confront dark secrets and face a deadly ultimatum.
Driven by a unique soundtrack that fuses traditional music with ’80s synth, this darkly comedic production uses classic kelpie mythology to explore defiance, girlhood, and the rituals that shape us.
Photo credit – Sophie Gattis
Venue 14 – Turret at Gilded Balloon Teviot
August 5th – 31st (14:30)
Four strangers find themselves trapped in a cage and forced into a perverse ultimatum: they must choose one among them to be sacrificed so the others can survive. Produced by Fringe Management LLC, 44 Minutes is a gripping psychological thriller follows the captive men as they desperately debate whose life holds the most value while trying to unpack what their captors want.
Written by Iowa Playwriting alumnus Lev Steinberg in his debut production, this high-stakes examination of morality features an all-star cast including John Billingsley (Star Trek), Dorian Missick (Better Call Saul), Christopher Ryan (American Horror Story), and Matthew Petrick (The Florida Project).
Venue 20 – Front Room at Assembly Rooms
August 6th -30th (21:05)
Time has not been kind to Glenn & Flenn, a once-popular children’s programme that has tragically fallen into obscurity, leaving its aging puppets neglected and its puppeteers trapped in the studio for years. Brought to life by Martyr Theatre Company, this darkly comedic production invites audiences to watch a re-run episode from the show’s glory days in a desperate bid to prove to the network that it should never have been canceled.
Following a completely sold-out run at the 2025 Edinburgh Horror Festival, the performance utilizes live music, live foley, and original puppets to craft an experience that balances on the fine line between horrifying and hilarious.
Venue 29 – The Vault at Paradise in The Vault
August 24th – 30th (20:40)
Megan and Deborah live an isolated existence on their Yorkshire Dales farm, which has transformed from a peaceful home into a final refuge from a perilous outside world. Produced by Black Bright Theatre Company, this striking production blends kitchen-sink drama with post-apocalyptic horror as the two women rely entirely on their land, their food reserves, and each other to stay alive.
When an unexpected shift sends their fragile harmony into a dark, downward spiral, the chilling cost of survival is laid bare. At its core, The Hunger serves as a tense exploration of morality, maternal instincts, and human endurance at the very end of civilization.
Venue 61 – Lower Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry St & Upper Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry St
August 7th – 22nd (Various time)
Join Australian circus star Grace Lightning on a wild road trip through the Outback, where she must dodge deadly wildlife, bigoted cryptids, and a gang of chainsaw-wielding bushrangers on a murderous rampage. Created by Harrison Sweeney, this high-energy drag circus horror-comedy feels like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert crashed into The Texas Chain Saw Massacre right under the Big Top, keeping audiences guessing whether these monsters are truly what they seem.
The production unleashes a thrilling blend of haunted acrobatics, blood-soaked hula-hooping, and hair-raising hilarity. Packed with classic horror tropes engineered for the small stage, it delivers a uniquely chaotic and spectacular theatrical ride.
Venue 61 – Big Belly at Underbelly, Cowgate
August 5th – 30th (21:30)
The Unwilling Accomplice follows two sisters, Riley and Emily, whose dysfunctional dynamic takes a deadly turn given that Riley is a serial killer and Emily is her reluctant assistant. Produced by Pigeon Patter Productions in their debut show, this dark horror-comedy steps into a chaotic domestic world just as cracks begin to form in the sibling partnership, proving that sometimes family shouldn’t be forever.
The production tackles the profound difficulties that arise when you can no longer rely on the people you grew up with. Ultimately, it poses a chilling question: should a blood relation still be held sacred if the bond is actively poisoning your life?
Venue 53 – Stephenson Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall
August 7th – 15th (15.40)
Fringe legends, Box Tale Soup, are back.
Step into the uncanny world of Edgar Allan Poe, where reason spirals into madness and deep-seated guilt takes on a heartbeat of its own. Presented by the critically acclaimed Box Tale Soup – creators of Fringe hit-after-hit – this haunting production strings together five terrifying stories from the legendary master of the macabre.
The narrative unfolds as an unknown scholar takes the stage to honour Poe’s darkest masterpieces, but the lines between fiction and reality quickly blur as the tales twist into a dangerous, real-time confession. It offers a chilling, highly atmospheric theatrical experience that dares the audience to step just a little bit closer.
Venue 23 – Queen Dome at Pleasance Dome
August 5th – 31st (12:25)
Mime, clown, and slapstick performer David Hoskin presents A Haunted House, a physical comedy masterclass that takes audiences on a chaotic tour of a spooky old mansion. Winner of the Best International Comedy Show at the 2026 Mumbai Fringe, this production utilizes silly vignettes and strange time loops to unearth a surreal narrative of murder, memory loss, and dancing zombies.
Described as a theatrical blend of The League of Gentlemen and Jacques Tati trapped inside a classic Hammer Horror film, the show relies on brilliant physical theater to bring a house of horrors to life. It delivers a uniquely hilarious, spooky, and award-winning experience that dares the audience to enter its dark world.
Venue 20 – Front Room at Assembly Rooms
August 6th – 16th (19:45)
Winner of the first season of BBC’s The Traitors and co-host of the hit podcast Ghost Huns, Hannah Byczkowski digs straight into death in her highly anticipated debut hour. The National Television Award winner brings her signature hilarious, no-nonsense style to the stage, exploring everything from bizarre craft projects for a loved one’s ashes to cringeworthy funeral faux pas and exactly why she refuses to run from serial killers.
As a viral sensation with millions of TikTok followers, Byczkowski masterfully transforms grim topics into comedy gold. The production delivers a brilliant, unapologetic, and laugh-out-loud hour of stand-up that proves exactly why she is celebrated as a powerhouse of modern comedy.
Venue 14 – Turret at Gilded Balloon Teviot
August 5th – 31st (17:10)
Presented by Yuerge Dance Theatre in collaboration with Shanghai International Dance Center Theater, this contemporary dance-theatre adaptation reimagines Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio, Pu Songling’s celebrated 17th-century ghost-story collection. Through haunting choreography, visual storytelling, and surreal theatrical imagery, the production transforms this classic literary universe into a sensuous, dreamlike nocturnal world where humans, foxes, and spirits intertwine.
As desire swells and reality dissolves into fantasy, the performance delves deep into a psychologically layered exploration of greed, violence, and obsession. Ultimately, it delivers a striking and evocative examination of the shifting boundaries between the human condition and the supernatural world.
Venue 82 – Main House at ZOO Southside
August 7th – 16th (19:45)
Deep in a remote northeastern village, something unsettling lurks inside a bathroom—something Dylan struggles to remember and that even his father’s chaotic DIY attempts can’t fix. Co-produced by Despite the Monkey and Worklight Theatre, this twisted tale stars designer-performer Dylan Howells, who masterfully weaves psychological illusions and fragmented memories into a chilling story about a home that refuses to stay still.
Part ghost story and part magic show, the production moves far beyond a typical conjuring act by utilizing mind-bending mentalism and spine-tingling effects to blur the line between reality and fiction. It delivers a deeply atmospheric and psychological experience engineered to get under your skin and linger long after the final blackout.
Venue 33 – Below at Pleasance Courtyard
August 5th – 31st (13:40)
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated sketch group Crybabies returns with The Scaring, a terrifyingly funny tale about fear, faith, phantoms, and finally moving on. Produced by Francesca Moody Productions in association with Plosive Live—the Olivier Award-winning team behind smash hits like Fleabag and Baby Reindeer—the dark comedy follows a former priest who checks into a remote hotel only to discover that all is definitely not as it seems.
Directed by Jon Brittain, this highly anticipated production seamlessly blends horror and high-energy sketch comedy as the narrative unpacks the hilariously warped hauntings of the hotel. It delivers an unforgettable, critically acclaimed hour of comedy that will leave audiences howling with laughter.
Venue 33 – Pleasance Two at Pleasance Courtyard
August 5th – 30th (20:00)
The Fox, the Slipper and the Severed Head
When a mediocre scholar named Wang drunkenly accepts a dare to invite the Underworld’s Red Judge to dinner, he is shocked to find his fortune magically turning for the better – but he quickly learns to be careful what he wishes for. From Grist to the Mill Productions and Red Dragonfly Productions, this atmospheric show acts as a chilling cautionary tale for anyone who refuses to believe in the supernatural.
Based on the 18th-century ghost and fox lore of Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, this dark production plays out like a Chinese Grimm fairy tale fueled by greed, lust, and vengeance. Crafted by the creative forces behind previous Fringe sell-outs The Unknown Soldier and The Ballad of Mulan, it delivers a hauntingly rich and magical theatrical experience.
Venue 65 – Bubble at Rotunda Theatre
August 7th – 23rd (15:00)
Interested in being featured? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’