GET ready to get your spook on with a series of ghostly readings which will materialise across Tynedale.

Rural touring theatre group Demi-Paradise Productions will be touring the region with a selection of intimate readings called Haunted which aim to leave audiences chilled to the bone with their tales of the supernatural.

Professional actors will be performing the works of three atmospheric writers, whose work has been specifically picked to fit in with the Halloween spirit.

These terrifying tales include the 1864 short story The Phantom Coach by novelist, journalist and Egyptologist Amelia B. Edwards, who was also a friend and literary associate of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins.

Set on the snow-bound Pennine moors, the plot follows a young traveller lost in the dead of night, and features all the essential ingredients of a rattling good yarn in the great Victorian tradition.

Also making an appearance will be the work of Elizabeth Jane Howard, who wrote 14 best-selling novels, many television plays, as well as books on food and gardening and was co-founder of the Cheltenham Literature Festival before she died in 2014.

Less well known are Howard’s distinctive and original ghost stories written in conjunction with writer and conservationist Robert Aickman in the late 1940’s. The couple helped found and run the Inland Waterways Association. Three Miles Up is one of six stories from that collaboration, published in 1951.

The most contemporary work being performed is that of crime writer Christine Poulson, a jack of all trades who has worked as a art historian and a lecturer before turning her hand to fiction.

Pieces from Poulson’s modern anthology of horror stories Phobic, in which she explores where fear lurks in the 21st century? From ancient curses kept alive in internet chat-rooms to malevolent children’s TV characters acquiring lives of their own, Phobic shines a torch into the unlit areas of the modern subconscious.

Demi-Paradise Productions was the brain child of actor, narrator and director Stephen Tomlin, who first set up the group back in 2000, and it was based at Lancaster Castle until 2016. The company have previously specialised in full scale Shakespeare productions, and have been runner up for the Equity Ensemble Prize, which recognises UK theatre companies unsupported by public funds.

Stephen boasts a long list of dramatic accreditations since qualifying as a teacher from the Central School of Speech & Drama. He has worked extensively as an actor in numerous television, theatre and radio productions as well as being a director, writer, researcher and role player across the UK. His audio work includes many commercial voice overs, educational narratives and roles in BBC R4’s The Archers, Writing the Century and Home Front.

Another actor taking part include Grace Kirby, who only just returned home from her nation wide tour of Quentin Blake’s classic story of The Green Ship where she played Mrs Tredegar.

Grace has over 30 years experience in the industry, including starring in Communicado Production’s award-winning play at Edinburgh Fringe Carmen: The Play.

There’s also Northumberland native Janine Birkett, who spent her early career touring with Northumberland Theatre Company before joining the Northern Stage Ensemble and taking to the stage. In the 1990’s she played Byker Grove parent, Maggie Watson for three series, before she went on to play Billy’s Mam, Jenny, in the film Billy Elliot.

Musician and actor Alice Blundell will also make a appearance. Alice is known for co-founding The Letter Room, an arts council national touring company, and has plenty of experience touring the UK in plenty of productions including Wizard of Oz, Far from the Madding Crowd and Treasure Island.

Haunted will take place at The Vault in Hexham on October 25, The Hearth at Horsley on October 26, The Sill at Bardon Mill on October 27 and Cherryburn at Mickley on November 2. There will also be an exclusive combined supper and performance event at the Lord Crewe in Blanchland.