Will we too be the subjects of revenge from the Woman in Black because we have meddled in her affairs?

Ghostly fiction is really only successful if the ghost has a reason to appear. It is usually not a benign reason. It may seek revenge or retribution for what happened to it in life and the presumption is that once this is obtained the ghost can stop the haunting and settle down to a peaceful spiritual existence. Some ghosts want to alert the living to a secret – a confessional letter for an accused crime.

True stories of ghostly occurrences vary considerably. Take for instance, the former stage hand at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen who lost his head in an accident at the theatre and was often said to be seen on the catwalk. Or the sound of footsteps at the Bonington Theatre in Arnold, Nottinghamshire that may relate to the fact that the theatre was built on a Quaker burial site (they even advertise the fact on their web site.)

At the Theatre Royal in Bath an actress is often said to be seen walking around the theatre in a grey feather dress. She is thought to be an actress from the 1880s who killed herself when she discovered her husband had murdered her secret lover. Her final performance in the theatre was in this grey dress. A butterfly is also reported to haunt the theatre, manifesting once a year.

The second oldest theatre in London is the Drury Lane Theatre, built in 1663. It was a favourite of King Charles II, who gave the theatre a Royal Charter. An apparition of King Charles II has been said to be seen with his retinue backstage. This is also known as the home of the ghost of a man who wears eighteenthcentury clothing including a tricorn, powdered wig and long grey coat. He also carries a sword. This ghost will shush noisy patrons. He walks around and disappears into walls. It is considered a lucky omen for the production to spot the man in grey. A third ghost is said to be Joe Grimaldi, a comic and singer. This ghost will guide female actors around the theatre and pat them on the back for a good performance. During renovations, a corpse was found walled in with a knife in its ribcage.

Ghosts seem to be as interested in theatre as in other parts of life. So coming to a performance may involve not just experiencing the present show but the possibility of interacting with the past.