There’s something different about Paranormal Activity Live from the moment you take your seat. The lights fade, a voice fills the darkness, and you’re instructed to breathe in and out, to focus on what you can hear. For a brief moment it feels calming — then unease begins to creep in. Before you realise it, you’re no longer just watching the show; you’re part of it.

Based on the hit film series, the production follows James and Lou, a couple who move from Chicago to London in an attempt to escape their past. What they discover is a chilling idea: places aren’t haunted — people are. It’s a simple concept, but on stage it feels uncomfortably close to home.

The Ambassadors Theatre, just off Leicester Square, is intimate enough to make everything feel personal. When the lights go out, they really go out. You’re plunged into pitch blackness, surrounded by a low hum of sound and the unsettling noises of a horror film. Every creak and whisper sets your nerves on edge. When the first scare lands, it feels as if the entire audience jumps in unison.

Director Felix Barrett, founder of Punchdrunk, puts his immersive theatre background to thrilling use. You don’t simply watch this show — it happens to you. Gareth Fry’s sound design is so precise it feels as though the room itself is alive, while Chris Fisher’s illusions are genuinely jaw-dropping. One moment the stage looks ordinary; the next, it shifts before your eyes. At other times the lights snap to black and something occurs in the darkness that defies explanation.

Patrick Heusinger and Melissa James are compelling as James and Lou, grounding the fear in something recognisably human. Pippa Winslow and Jackie Morrison add a quiet, unsettling strength, and together the cast make you care deeply enough that the horror hits harder.

The pacing is razor-sharp, each blackout landing like a heartbeat. What makes the show so effective isn’t just the jump scares, but the silence that precedes them — those long seconds when the entire room holds its breath. When the lights finally come up, there’s a pause. The audience exchanges nervous laughter, glances around, and exhales.

Paranormal Activity Live is smart, gripping, and genuinely terrifying. It’s a rare piece of theatre that creates a physical response. I left the Ambassadors shaken, impressed, and more than a little afraid to walk home in the dark.

thing different about Paranormal Activity Live from the moment you take your seat. The lights fade, a voice fills the darkness, and you’re instructed to breathe in and out, to focus on what you can hear. For a brief moment it feels calming — then unease begins to creep in. Before you realise it, you’re no longer just watching the show; you’re part of it.

Based on the hit film series, the production follows James and Lou, a couple who move from Chicago to London in an attempt to escape their past. What they discover is a chilling idea: places aren’t haunted — people are. It’s a simple concept, but on stage it feels uncomfortably close to home.

The Ambassadors Theatre, just off Leicester Square, is intimate enough to make everything feel personal. When the lights go out, they really go out. You’re plunged into pitch blackness, surrounded by a low hum of sound and the unsettling noises of a horror film. Every creak and whisper sets your nerves on edge. When the first scare lands, it feels as if the entire audience jumps in unison.

Director Felix Barrett, founder of Punchdrunk, puts his immersive theatre background to thrilling use. You don’t simply watch this show — it happens to you. Gareth Fry’s sound design is so precise it feels as though the room itself is alive, while Chris Fisher’s illusions are genuinely jaw-dropping. One moment the stage looks ordinary; the next, it shifts before your eyes. At other times the lights snap to black and something occurs in the darkness that defies explanation.

Patrick Heusinger and Melissa James are compelling as James and Lou, grounding the fear in something recognisably human. Pippa Winslow and Jackie Morrison add a quiet, unsettling strength, and together the cast make you care deeply enough that the horror hits harder.

The pacing is razor-sharp, each blackout landing like a heartbeat. What makes the show so effective isn’t just the jump scares, but the silence that precedes them — those long seconds when the entire room holds its breath. When the lights finally come up, there’s a pause. The audience exchanges nervous laughter, glances around, and exhales.

Paranormal Activity Live is smart, gripping, and genuinely terrifying. It’s a rare piece of theatre that creates a physical response. I left the Ambassadors shaken, impressed, and more than a little afraid to walk home in the dark.