Uncanny: Fear of the Dark
Since its launch in 2020, the paranormal investigation show Uncanny, has become one of the most popular podcasts in the UK. It also has a substantial international audience. As a result, Uncanny has transitioned to television with two seasons being broadcast on BBC Two. Presenter Danny Robins has also written a tie-in book and there have been two previous Uncanny conventions, with a third scheduled for November this year at the ICC Birmingham. The fact that it is being held in an arena gives some indication as to the continuing interest in this show and its subject matter.
Tonight, I had the great pleasure of seeing Uncanny: Fear of the Dark; a live stage show version of the podcast that at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley. This tour that has been travelling around the UK since November 2025. I was fortunate to buy the last two tickets to this event. Again, the full house reflects the popularity of the podcast. The audience was quite diverse with a broad range of ages. They were also quite lively and more than willing to enter into the spirit of the proceedings, screaming at the right parts and ironically going “ooh” whenever Danny eluded to something sinister or potentially scary.
Uncanny: Fear of the Dark follows the format of the podcast, with six cases being recounted and subsequently being analysed by Paranormal Psychologist Evelyn Hollow and Psychologist Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe. Video segments are shown and there are props and sets to recreate some of the aspects of the experiences being recounted. The show also includes a Q&A session with the team, as well as stories of a paranormal nature from audience members. All of which is efficiently covered in a two hour running time.
A major contributory factor to the popularity of Uncanny is writer and presenter Danny Robins. He is a likeable individual who excels at listening and giving his guest a sympathetic ear. He strives to be objective but regularly acknowledges the emotional power of the stories being told and recognises the difficulty and trauma that his guests have undergone. Whether the tales are truly paranormal is at times irrelevant, as it is abundantly clear that the experience has had a long and negative impact upon those who endured it. That facet of Danny’s personality was front and centre in tonight’s show but as this was a live event in front of an audience of fans there was a lot more levity and banter. However, this was not to the detriment of the show, in fact it helped defuse some of the tension that arose from some of the cases discussed.
As to the new cases under scrutiny, there were six. These varied from poltergeists activity, a UFO sighting and an encounter with a cryptid. Perhaps the most dramatic of these was a rather tragic tale of a husband whose wife was terminally ill in hospital and how he was awoken one night while at home, by her talking to him. This allegedly took place at the exact time that she died according to the doctors and nurses that attended to her. I’ll say no more as these cases will no doubt feature in the next season of the podcast but they were an interesting and varied selection.
Naturally, it was the elements that arise from this being a live show that made it entertaining and a slightly different beast to the TV and podcast versions of Uncanny. During the first case, as Danny was narrating an increasingly creepy tale, a fly landed on the digital projector and so the audience was treated to the silhouette of a fly crawling over the various images on the screen, much to the amusement of the audience. I immediately thought of The Amityville Horror from 1979. The stories from the audience were somewhat eclectic with one tale proving to be quite lengthy and possibly overblown in scope. I personally prefer more understated anecdotes as these seem more plausible. The show also featured more relaxed input from Evelyn and Ciarán. Both shared humorous stories and were more jovial than usual.
There were a few minor issues with the evening’s entertainment that weren’t quite to my liking. Prior to the show beginning, a compilation of songs with a supernatural theme were played. These tended to be rock and soft metal. Sadly, this idea didn’t really work instead of invoking a suitable atmosphere, it was simply low level noise on the periphery of your hearing. May be it was due to the acoustics of the venue. I also could have done without the audio based jump scare that punctuated the climax of some of the cases. These loud screams were a cheap trick and not quite in tune with the respectful tone of the show. There was also a sound glitch during the show which resulted in the proceeding being stopped for ten minutes. I’m sure I wasn’t the only audience member who thought this was some planned contrivance from Danny but it wasn’t.
Uncanny: Fear of the Dark was certainly an entertaining tangential version of the show and much of that was due to the enthusiastic audience and fans that attended. It is nice to be part of a community that can encompass a broad spectrum of opinions without it becoming acrimonious and partisan. Despite working within a clearly established formula, the diversity of cases keeps the show fresh and engaging. I certainly would go again to such a production and would even consider attending the convention later in the year. Fans of the show can also look forwards to a new official YouTube channel launching on April 9th. It will be hosting a new iteration of the show, called Uncanny Cold Case, in which classic paranormal cases such as Borley Rectory are explored. In the meantime, be you team sceptic or team believer, don’t have nightmares.
