Paranormal Activity Ready to Spook Broadway

The West End Scorecard has it at 70 (Worth Seeing) mostly praising the technical aspects but not as kind about the story.

https://broadwayscorecard.com/show/paranormal-activity-west-end

It sounds like another Stranger Things kind of situation. When I went to London in January, it was apparently a sold out hit (I didn’t see it), so it definitely seems more pitched to audiences than critics 

Iknow a handful of people who have seen this and they all loved it. Very excited for this news!

TheGingerBreadMan said: "I saw it in DC and agree with the above assessment. It has some cool moments and is worth it if you appreciate some tech wizardry and stagecraft (though nowhere near as impressive as Stranger Things). Beyond that, there isn't much there. The script is very meh. Unengaging and unexciting. And I say that as someone who is a bit of a horror nut and is a big fan of the film franchise that the show is inspired by."

As a horror fanatic, I'm incredibly excited that Broadway will have an actual horror offering. Lets see if it can maintain a stable box office and recoup. And I saw Stranger Things as well. Both have their merits. 

And the script? Unengaging and unexciting? Disagree. I found it an interesting take on people dealing with mental health issues. 

ColorTheHours048 said: "I’ve heard nothing but raves about this going back to its run at Southwark Playhouse, so I can’t wait. They took a similar marketing strategy as the first film, rolling it out in incrementally larger markets to build interest for the mainstream market, and I think it’ll pay off.

Also, let’s keep expectations reasonable. It’s primarily meant to be an effect-reliant spook show, with maybe a better-than-average story for a Paranormal Activity property since it’s written by a working playwright (still expect unearthed trauma, relationship woes, and a medium nobody listens to)."

Agreed. Better than average. And definitely better than some of the entries into the film series. 

Ensemble17701165943 said: "TheGingerBreadMan said: "I saw it in DC and agree with the above assessment. It has some cool moments and is worth it if you appreciate some tech wizardry and stagecraft (though nowhere near as impressive as Stranger Things). Beyond that, there isn't much there. The script is very meh. Unengaging and unexciting. And I say that as someone who is a bit of a horror nut and is a big fan of the film franchise that the show is inspired by."

As a horror fanatic, I'm incredibly excited that Broadway will have an actual horror offering. Lets see if it can maintain a stable box office and recoup.And I saw Stranger Things as well. Both have their merits.

And the script? Unengaging and unexciting? Disagree. I found it an interesting take on people dealing with mental health issues."

Agree to disagree. I found it middling and predictable. I agree with you that I'd love more horror offerings in theatre - but similar to what Blaxx said, I don't see why we can't have something that has great and scary effects and a compelling script.

Ensemble17701165943 said: "blaxx said: "I particularly thought it failed in all aspects, considering how it has been proven that we can get excellent creepy/scary theater productions with solid texts.

To me it was nothing short of a tourist trap.

The set has awful sight lines, the script was clunky, the effects (except for one) out of community theater and the plot twist comes too late.

And what are those other creepy/scary productions?

"

Countless, from The Woman in Black to The Brothers Paranormal,  from Let The Right One In to Misery - dozens of terrifying texts have proven that horror in theater does not equal cheap thrills and can be backed up with solid texts and narratives. 

I'm sorry but Paranormal Activity is nothing but uninspired, lazy and underdeveloped.

Who are the commercial producers for this? ATG? Probably gives an indication for which house it’ll go to, but I hope they wait for a smaller house like the Golden to open.

Call_me_jorge said: "Who are the commercial producers for this? ATG? Probably gives an indication for which house it’ll go to, but I hope they wait for a smaller house like the Golden to open."

If this replaces my beloved Mincemeat, I will riot.

Ensemble17701165943 said: "n2nbaby said: "I am pretty sure I heard it was going into the August Wilson."

That theatre is the worst."

No! the Lyceum is 100% the worst!

At the August Wilson in August. I hope it does well and Broadway can finally get some more horror plays. 

Updated On: 5/12/26 at 10:05 AM

I feel fairly confident that Patrick Heusinger will come to New York with this, so it’ll be really nice to have him back Broadway after 16 years.

Jordan Catalano said: "I feel fairly confident thatPatrick Heusinger will come to New York with this, so it’ll be really nice to have him back Broadway after 16 years."

He was excellent in Chicago and loved seeing him as a big fan of Next Fall (I think that’s the play?).

regardless, I think this is a good theater for it. A lot of the gags are to do with sight lines and this theater doesn’t have the boxes and stuff.