Great Plays for Halloween
If you’re looking for an eerie, creepy, dark comedy or thriller play in the spirit of Halloween, check out these plays that just might give you a chill or two! From the witch in that gingerbread house, to a mysterious heart, a domineering bingo chip, a lust for human hair—and more—enjoy these unique, darkly comedic or thriller plays by Tara Meddaugh.
Great Plays for Halloween
Sammy and his mom are enjoying roasting marshmallows by the fire, under the full moon, when something very strange starts to happen. Sammy’s arms look a little furry. His teeth look a lot like fangs. And he has a sudden urge to kill squirrels—and eat them raw. What (or who) else will he have an urge to kill? Is there anything his mother can do to stop him, or can she ultimately accept and love him? This is a dark comedy about a boy becoming a werewolf, but it’s also a story about needing acceptance and love, in the face of evolving identity.
DETAILS: dark comedy, thriller, 10-minute, 2 person play, 1 female, 1 male or female (casting gender neutral)
CLICK for a free excerpt for When Marshmallows Burn by Tara Meddaugh.
CLICK below for the complete digital copy of the 10-minute play, When Marshmallows Burn.
Abigail, a ghost in Stephanie’s closet, is sorry she must use her limited powers to freeze Stephanie in place, but what she must share with Stephanie is so dire that sometimes these things must be done. While at first, it appears Abigail’s ominous presence is a threat to Stephanie, as Abigail relays the tragedies which have left her paralyzed in Stephanie’s closet, we realize it is Abigail who desperately needs Stephanie’s help to end her heartbreaking torture.
DETAILS:
Genre: Thriller/drama/monologue
Age range: 20s-40s
Cast: (1) Female (*optional 1 non-speaking female)
Time period: Contemporary
Setting: A bedroom closet in an old house/apartment building
Running time: Approximately 10 minutes
Note: This play refers to suicide.
To read a free excerpt of Don’t Close the Doors, click here.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Don’t Close the Doors by Tara Meddaugh
THE WITCH IN THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE
After giving up her dreary home at The Witches' Estate in search of warmth and sweetness, Delphine creates a new life for herself on the outskirts of a busy village. She builds a beautiful and welcoming gingerbread house to live in, and opens her home and treats to the children of the village. Despite her openness, the children return her kindness with mischief and terrorism. Delphine’s giving spirit retreats, and she draws upon her witch’s disposition to survive. But when she finds two strange and other-worldly children, named Hansel and Gretel, gnawing at the icing on her house, her true nature is put to the test--and her life changes once again.
DETAILS: A one-act dark comedy/thriller/drama for 2 male, 2 female, 2 children (or adults playing children)
Click for an excerpt to The Witch in the Gingerbread House
Click below for a complete digital copy of The Witch in the Gingerbread House
Two teenagers meet in a vortex-like space between opposing lines of people. While Rachel is simply passing the time before she returns to her place in line, Peter has stepped out of his line in protest. As the lines begin to close in on them, he must make a life-altering decision by choosing to continue forging his path in his father’s line, or join the haunting allure of Rachel’s line, the “line of diamonds.”
DETAILS: A one-act dark comedy/drama/thriller for 1 male and 1 female.
Click for an excerpt of the one-act play, Seventeen Stitches.
Click below for the entire one-act play, Seventeen Stitches.
BLACK AND WHITE AND READ ALL OVER
A frivolous couple passes the time by hiring and firing servants, and reading old newspapers they deem to be the current. But when the Wife wants more out of her life, she charges her Husband with a perilous task... Meanwhile, four eclectic strangers wind up secretly waiting together in this couple's bathroom. When they discover the reasons they have all been put together, the absurdities and danger of their situation become alarmingly clear.
DETAILS: A full-length dark comedy/thriller/absurd play for 6 female, 6 male (flexible cast)
Click to read a free excerpt of the play, Black and White and Red All Over.
Click below for a complete digital copy of Black and White and Red All Over
Amelia spends her days under the watchful eye of her mother, doing the same nothing she has done for years. Yet when Bingo arrives at her local community center, a talking Bingo chip convinces Amelia that forming her own game is the way out of this life and away from her controlling mother. However, as her mother begins acting like her newly arrived sister, and the chip becomes increasingly dominating, Amelia discovers her new life is nothing as she imagined.
DETAILS: A dark comedy/absurd/thriller full-length play for 3 females, 1 male
Click for the free excerpt to FREE SPACE.
Click for the entire downloadable full-length play, FREE SPACE.
Click below for a hard copy version on Amazon of the full-length play, Free Space.
When David gives his ill wife, Leah, a wig for her bald scalp, he is thrilled to find this pleases her, so he complies with her request for more of them. However, as Leah’s demands become increasingly troublesome, and loose human hair with mysterious “red dots” now engulfs their entire apartment, David must decide how far he is willing to go to satisfy his wife.
DETAILS: A full-length absurd/dark comedy/thriller play for 2 females and 2 males.
Click below for a complete digital copy of Pinhole of Joy
Carol adores, but neglects, the newborn baby placed in her custody. When her sister, Lilah, insists the baby be returned to his mother, Carol takes extreme measures to ensure she keep the infant.
DETAILS: An absurd/dark comedy 10-minute play for 3 females. Cast: 3 female (all female cast)
Click for a free excerpt of the ten-minute play, Knocking Louder
Click below for a complete digital copy of Knocking Louder:
ALFRED AND LILY AND THEIR MARVELOUS TANK IN THE FOREST
When Alfred and Lily are transplanted to a mysterious tank in the forest, they must decide if they will trust their new benefactors or find a way to escape.
DETAILS: A dark comedy/absurdist thriller 10-minute play for 1 male and 1 female, set in a tank in a a forest (may be impressionistic)
CLICK for a free excerpt of Alfred and Lily and Their Marvelous Tank in the Forest.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Alfred and Lily and Their Marvelous Tank in the Forest.