It’s always interesting when something a little different lands in my inbox. Writer A.G. Smith and Robert Whitehouse got in touch recently to talk about Weeping Bank, a touring horror project that brings original ghost and folk horror stories to theatres, libraries and anywhere else with a few chairs and a willing audience. There’s no gimmick here. Just good storytelling, a love of the genre, and an audience who still want to be spooked in the dark.
I had a chat with A.G (Alan) and Robert to find out where the idea came from, how it’s been received, and what’s coming next for the team behind it.
1. For people who haven’t come across Weeping Bank before, what exactly is it? How would you pitch it to someone who's never seen this kind of show before.
AG: Weeping Bank bridges the gap between Audible and Theatre creating a new hinterland for horror aficionados to explore. Building on the tradition of ghost stories for Christmas told around a dying fire, Weeping Bank draws the listener into a picture postcard village with a dark history of folklore and witchcraft. At the centre of the village is the library and it is here that The Librarian waits, surrounded by ancient grimoires and forbidden books. He is your orator for the evening – not a sinister presence or a comforting one, he is merely the custodian of all the tales of the village. Told by candlelight and the glow of a solitary reading lamp, the Weeping Bank tales become a dangerously close experience as there is nothing else to distract you from the power of the story. No smoke and mirrors, this is pure storytelling and it can elicit screams, jumps from seats and sleepless nights.
2. You perform in all kinds of spaces across the UK, from theatres to community halls. Was that variety always part of the plan, or did it just happen that way?
RW: To begin with, the plan was very much to tour libraries and help raise awareness of, and bring more people into, these vital community hubs. That is still part of the plan, but in some counties, we have done the occasional old village hall or other atmospheric venues, for example Quaker Meeting Houses. That's pretty much what we've been doing for the last few years, but the big change comes this year with our run of larger venues from October - Wolverhampton Arts Centre, Liverpool Unity Theatre, Leeds Left Bank (a former church) Leicester Guildhall and The Old Red Lion Theatre in London.
3. You described it as sitting somewhere between Audible and theatre, which I like. Can you explain how that format works in practice?
RW: It does seem to be rather a unique niche in live performance. I think there is an assumption that a live audience won't have the attention span to just listen to a story being told, so it needs to be spiced up with visual elements, editing out author's descriptive writing and a focus on theatrical acting. However, the rising popularity of digital audiobooks and, more recently, podcasts, has shown that people do enjoy just hearing a good story well told.
Another element to this is the vast number of people who are unable to experience visual theatre due to sight loss. We've been lucky enough to have representatives from the RNIB come along to a reading, which they already found to be very accessible for people with a visual impairment. We're really excited, and hugely grateful, that they are now working with us to improve the experience further.
4. Ghost stories feel timeless, but hard to get right. Why do you think the live setting works so well for horror?
A.G: It’s the immediacy that excites and terrifies the audience in equal measure. You can’t press pause. You feel less inclined to leave your seat and seek solace at the refreshment stand in a theatre – because unlike a film – it is happening in real time right in front of you. If you read a horror story that begins to unsettle you, you can put it down. If you’re listening to a horror story on the radio read by a famous actor, you already have an inbuilt barrier between what is real and what is not – and of course, you can always switch the radio off if it becomes too frightening. A live performance doesn’t stop until the last word.
5. You’ve had attention from podcasts, horror writers, reviewers. Was there a point where you felt Weeping Bank had really started to take off?
RW: There have been so many wonderful happenings and turning points over the past few years of working together and all have felt like things were 'taking off' in different ways.
The first time I stood in front of the audience as the Library Manager to introduce The Librarian's evening of storytelling. Our first BBC Radio interview. Our two performances (online and in person) for the UK Ghost Story Festival. Our exclusive online readings of The Richmond Portmanteau where we had some surprising figures of the modern horror industry present which led to our first magazine review by Emma Dark in We Belong Dead and a friendship with Film Historian and Hammer Horror collaborator Jon Dear, which then led to a wonderful day visiting the filming location of the 1976 BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas adaptation of 'The Signalman' with Jon and The League of Gentleman’s Mark Gatiss. And, finally, right up to our theatre bookings this autumn/winter.
So it's hard to point to one thing in the way a singer might point to that video that went viral, it's something we've just kept growing and building and we're so delighted that people are starting to join us on that journey.
6. Tell me about your partnership with Rob Whitehouse. How did the two of you come to work together, and what does he bring to the project?
A.G: Rob and I met at college when we were 16 – on the very first day we bonded over a shared love of comedy and we spent most of our further education writing and performing sketches. Then life caught up with both of us and we fell into work and commitments and our dreams slowly faded away. We both missed the creative process and working together. Rob is a very talented comedy writer and we invented a wide range of characters and voices. Many years later we reteamed, now both married and with families, we began writing and recording comedy together again. Just for the sheer fun of it. There was no real plan. At the same time I was performing the occasional reading of one of my Weeping Bank tales and Rob came to see me performing at the beautiful and atmospheric Reading Room at Dudley Library at the end of 2022. As soon as it was over Rob was talking about how the audience had responded and offering to help grow the name of Weeping Bank. Rob is a genius with social media and recognised at once that what was needed was a presence online. From that weepingbank.com was born and Rob began project managing a more extensive tour. It didn’t take long under Rob’s assured hand for this to become an all year-round tour in gradually larger venues. We are very much a partnership – both of us are skilled in different aspects that meld together to make Weeping Bank what it is today.
7. What's your own relationship with horror? Were you raised on the old classics, or did your interest come later?
A.G: I always credit my Dad with starting my journey into horror movies. He grew up watching all the fabulous Hammer and Amicus movies at the cinema and he had sought out all the Universal monsters via the Friday night horror double bills – so I was treated to the very best movies and actors as I hurtled towards my teens. I grew up in the 80’s and I remember being enthralled by the fantastic artwork of Graham Humphrey’s adorning VHS covers on films I was too young to see – but Dad guided me through the best year after year – he was also a very good judge of what makes a horror film worth watching – but alongside all this he also introduced me to the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas and televisual gothic like Children of the Stones, Beasts, Quatermass and Tom Baker era Dr Who – in many ways it is these TV terrors that resonated the most and would later inform my writing of the Weeping Bank tales. They seemed better able to capture the indescribable ‘other’ that makes ghost stories so powerful. A less is more approach which I strive to achieve in every story I write.
8. You recently visited the locations from The Signalman, which is a personal favourite of mine. What was that like, and did the place still carry the weight of the original story?
A.G: It was an extraordinary day as we were joined on that pilgrimage by film and TV historian Jon Dear who is currently writing the definitive history of the BBC Ghost Stories, and Mark Gatiss who has adapted and directed most of the modern revival. The Signalman is, in my view, the masterwork of the series and we were very privileged to be allowed to go to the locations – the walk to the tunnel was a surreal experience, starting with us all laughing and talking together but as we drew closer the atmosphere changed. It really was, as Bernard Lloyd describes in the film, an ‘unnatural valley’ – silent and still. We all felt it. There are some wonderful pictures of the visit on our Weeping Bank Library Facebook page.
9. Some of your stories are also available as online screenings. How does the experience compare, and what’s the feedback been like from those who watch from home?
RW: Remarkably well. We've had people tell us they enjoyed them as just an audio experience and others have complimented the filming style for its simple recreation of a storyteller reading by candlelight. At the moment, we've made sure not to make stories available online that we perform live, so they should be seen more as bonus extra content rather than a different way of seeing the same readings.
10. Finally, what’s next for Weeping Bank? You mentioned the Romford Horriffic Festival. Is that the next big step for you?
RW: Mainly, more of the same. As we tour all year round, we're booking well into 2026 at some new venues and locations, as well as taking new stories to some of our current favourites.
And, yes, we're hoping to be part of the Romford Horriffic Festival next year. The ethos of Independent Horror Cinema really chimes with us. People finding their own audiences and bringing new stories to their attention. The British Horror Studio is a leading light in this.
As for new developments, we're always adding little things to make the live experience more authentic and immersive. On top of that, we're working on a podcast series that will be more in the vein of additional content rather than just audio versions of the stories.
To be honest, we're always working on something new, which is what has made the journey so rewarding.
Weeping Bank might be a small, quiet village, but it never fully rests.
Thanks to A.G. Smith and Robert Whitehouse for taking the time. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys hearing a horror story told properly, in person, with all the atmosphere that goes with it, this might be one to keep an eye on.
Keep an eye on future tour dates and online content through the official Weeping Bank channels. Something tells me we’ll be hearing more from them before long.
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