Halloween Horror Show: 10 of the Theatre's Most Spine-Tingling Plays

Halloween is here! This afternoon, we gave you a fabulously freaky playlist to jam along to for the haunted holiday, but why should musicals have all the fun?

From mysterious intruders to supernatural happenings to merry murders, the history and present of the theatrical canon has given us many song-free reasons to flee the theater in terror.

Below see some of our picks for the greatest stage scares of all-time. If you dare...

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Wait Until Dark

Set amidst the social turbulence of 1960s London, the play follows the story of Susy, a blind woman who, left alone in her apartment, who becomes the victim of an elaborate scam hatched by a group of conmen. Susy is left to fend for herself, and eventually finds a way to turn the tables on the conmen and give them a taste of life in the dark. It may not seem like your traditional horror fare, but Susy's innate helplessness combined with one of history's great jump scares has been keeping audiences on the edge of their seats for decades.

Arsenic and Old Lace

The plot of Arsenic and Old Lace centers around Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic, and his aunts, Abby and Martha. Abby and Martha are as sweet as can be, but they have a habit of poisoning single, older gentlemen who are alone in the world. What ensues is a night full of murder, mayhem and mystery.

The Crucible

Arthur Miller's masterpiece The Crucible is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Despite the fact that Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, the mystery surrounding the ritual of a group of teenage girls and the consequences of high-stakes hysteria has kept theatre audiences in suspense for decades.

The Exorcist

Forty-five years after William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel terrified an entire generation, The Exorcist has been unleashed onto the West End stage for the very first time in a uniquely theatrical experience directed by Sean Mathias and adapted for the stage by John Pielmeier. When the medical profession fails to provide answers to young Regan's strange symptoms her desperate mother Chris turns to a local priest for help. But before Father Damien can tackle what's before him, he must overcome his own shaken beliefs, as this fight is for more than just one girl's soul.

Misery

Successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued from a car crash by his "Number One Fan," Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads the manuscript to his newest novel and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new "Misery" novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it, and if he does not make her deadline, it will.

Dracula

In his hunt for immortality, Renfield stumbles upon the Amulet of the Vampir, a lost jewel buried in the legend of Dracula, The Master. Caged in a cell and under the watchful eye of The Doctor, Renfield uncovers the secrets of eternal life as a mysterious Maiden arrives at the asylum. As the ties that bind the living and the dead begin to unravel, the lines between heroes and the devil begin to blur.

Let The Right One In

Supernatural thriller Let the Right One In is a brutal and tender vampire myth told through the turbulence of a coming-of-age romance. Oskar, a lonely boy from a broken home, is bullied at school and longing for friendship. Eli, the young girl who moves in next door, doesn't attend school and rarely leaves home. When a series of mysterious killings plagues the neighborhood, these two young misfits, sensing in each other a kindred spirit, forge a deep connection. But the shocking truth about one of them tests their young friendship-and love-beyond all imaginable limits.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange lures audiences into a glass-edged, testosterone-filled underworld of a dystopian future. The explosive story of little Alex and his rebellious gang of Droogs is a ground-breaking classic of orgiastic ultra-violence and sexuality. As hauntingly relevant today as when Burgess' book first published in 1962, and when Stanley Kubrick's ground-breaking film caused a stir in 1971, A Clockwork Orange is an nerve-shredding celebration of the human condition.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Like all of Martin McDonagh's scripts, The Lieutenant of Inishmore employs explosive dialogue and a perfectly oiled plot that is brutal, bloody, yet irresistibly funny. As part of an I.R.A. splinter group, Padraic thinks nothing of murdering and mutilating his enemies - but the sudden death of his beloved cat leaves him heartbroken and homicidal. Amidst the comedy and carnage, McDonagh delivers cutting commentary on the endless cycle of violence that engulfs our world.

1984

One of the most widely referenced and best known fiction titles of all time. George Orwell's classic book '1984,' about a dystopian future where critical thought is suppressed under a totalitarian regime brought the scares to Broadway this season with a bloody climax that had audiences fleeing the theater in terror.