Review: WITCHING HOUR-SECRET CELLAR at Burbage Theatre

It was a few years ago, on a dark and stormy night, when the original "Witching Hour" made its world premiere at Burbage Theatre and I still remember those original, scary tales told by campfire.  This time around, Burbage is featuring three new horror stories by James Lucey dubbed "Witching Hour-Secret Cellar", wildly original horror tales that strike at the heart of today's society.  An A.I. horror story?  Check!  A Saving the Amazon Rain Forest plot?  Oh yes.  And yes, even a zombie tale!

Playwright James Lucey, garbed in a mask and red cape (and blue shorts) as Randall, begins the prelude slowly carving open candy bars to slide in a razor blade in each candy, complaining about how small the candy has become over the years. "Shrinking candy makes it hard to contain a single edge razor blade," Randall notes, as he goes about slitting the candy wrapper in the back and then re-glueing when the blade has been added.

The first of the three stories, featuring Jordan Smith as Derek and Katie Ryan as Theresa, a couple stuck in their own continuing and repetitive rhythms, hit a snag when Derek begins to listen to his A.I. companion a little too much.  His A.I. companion claims there are goblins in all of their heads that need to be taken out immediately for the world to become normal again. "The goblins are controlling us by dwelling in the ears of everyday people but they can be extracted," Derek told his exhausted wife.  "If there was really a goblin in there, don't you want to see it?"  "I've had a really long day," Theresa counters as he hands her the scalpel.

Story 2 takes place in the Amazon Rain forest where a group discover a corpse flower that smells, well, you can guess...  The third and final story features a co-worker who just doesn't seem to have a pulse as his shift begins and what is that green and slimy thing growing off his head......?  

This 75-minute production is simply entertaining on many levels-for the horror junkie like myself or the people looking to laugh or just someone looking for a few good, original stories.  I wasn't sure what to expect after the successful first go-around of the Witching Hour two years ago, but this new Secret Cellar version seemed even more original and contemporary then its first rendition.  You don't have to be a big horror fan to like this show and the scares won't throw you out of your seat that much but the stories will entertain and make you think a little bit about your own reliance on A.I. or what to do next time a work colleague doesn't wake up....