Review of Billy Morton's one-man show

Central Casting could not have done much better in providing a guide to all things spooky. Billy Bones boasts a plummy RP voice and sinister throaty laugh, with his gothic, golden-age-of-horror-flicks vibe enhanced by his velvet smoking jacket and cravat. 

He gives each sentence great import as he sets out the show’s not-literal promise to cover every piece of ghostly literature – a seriousness of tone that belies silly wordplay such as ‘I feel like I’m commissioning a bust of my own likeness here… I’m getting ahead of myself.’

But what he chooses to do with this presence is relatively unambitious, and once the delightful introduction is dispensed with we get a fact-forward lecture that covers such topics as the rules of horror writing as laid down by MR James, a discussion of Arthur Conan Doyle’s well-documented belief in fairies and other easily debunkable supernatural phenomena, and various ghost stories from around the UK.

Somewhere along the way the character appears to be largely abandoned, save a few bolted-on gags about his estranged wife, and a conclusion that’s disappointingly obvious, given that a horror-themed show should be built on the unexpected. 

Instead, creator Billy Morton shares spooky tales he’s genuinely interested in, such as the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall. And while he successfully shares his passion, its conversion into something more theatrical or comedic beyond an interesting, lighthearted talk is more faltering. 

A brisk mash-up of urban myth tropes is fun – and the closest to fulfilling the titular promise – while the audience provide a couple of first- or second-hand ghost stories to put a Halloween-week chill in the air, from an apparition at a Brighton skate park to the  Bisham Abbey ghost.

Morton – a veteran of the Edinburgh Fringe as a cast member of The Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes and The Oxford Imps – is certainly a strong performer and never less than engaging.  But given that he could have taken us almost anywhere with such compelling stage chops, it’s disappointing we end up with a fairly straightforward talk on a pet topic, albeit one peppered with puns (some strong, some that have surely featured in Christmas crackers).

• Every Ghost Story Ever ends its run at Barons Court Theatre tonight and is at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, on January 16 and 17.

Review date: 28 Oct 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Barons Court Theatre