Beware the witching hour as Halloween steals nearer and a host of witches, warlocks and ghosts appear, but real fear is the forte of the horror film and a Swindon theatre company is aiming to recreate that terror on stage.

Whole Hog Theatre Company are tackling Asylum, originally written by Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho, the classic Hitchcock horror.

The Halloween special will be presented at the Phoenix Theatre in New College on Thursday October 30 and Friday October 31 from 7.30pm.

The director of this terrifying tale, set in a secluded institution for the incurably insane, is Matthew Clift.

He said: “Asylum is intimately staged to give the audience a real horror experience, the audience will be drawn into the world of the asylum but be prepared to laugh as much as you scream as we throw black comedy in to the mix. Think Hammer House of Horror meets Airplane.’’

Winner of the Best Young Performer award at the Swindon One Act Play Festival, Maxwell Sly, is the leading character of Doctor Martin. He leads a cast of familiar faces on the Swindon theatre scene such as Dominic Bray, Jason Clear, Becky Cann and Fenella Harrop.

This play follows the success of last year’s Halloween special which was the mysterious The Call of Cthulhu.

It is in the style of the British horror movie of the 1970s and includes voodoo, magic, murder and paranoia in the mix.

Tickets to see Asylum are £7 from matthew.clift@newcollege.ac.uk or on the door. – Flicky Harrison