Listen to the Trailer here:

https://soundcloud.com/hughhickproductions/the-horror-writer-trailer

This April, Heather MacLeod and RTE are delighted to announce the broadcast of ‘The Horror Writer’, a thrilling new gothic audio drama written by playwright and novelist Emily Gillmor Murphy and directed by Hugh Hick, on RTE Radio 1 Extra on Thursday April 8th at 8pm.

Donnacha O’Dea plays the titular character Theo Burn, a retired horror writer telling his final story. A story spanning decades of love, betrayal and unimaginable cruelty. A story of wolves. Only this time it might be more than a story...

Sinead Keegan also features as Dani, a young carer gradually drawn into Theo’s dark tale. The cast is rounded out by Philip Arneill as Nick, Dani’s husband, who joins her in attempting to untangle Theo’s complex web of intrigue.

Writer, Emily Gillmor-Murphy says of the drama, “I first began coming up with the concept of The Horror Writer when I was walking my dog at Glendalough Lake in the summer of 2019. Just beyond me was a castle, small and understated, frozen in the past, almost abandoned looking, except for one candle, burning on the inside corner of an ice covered window. I allowed my mind to escape into this world, for a moment, studying the details around me. Like many good horror stories, the setting becomes a character itself, and I could think of no character as fascinating as Glendalough Lake.”

This drama is an adaptation of Emily’s stage play of the same name, which was first produced in The Pearse Centre to positive reviews in October 2019, directed by Ciaran Gallagher. Ciaran joins the team of the audio adaptation as sound designer, creating the atmospheric and gothic world of the play.

The broadcast marks the latest collaboration between RTE and the award-winning Producer/Director team of Heather MacLeod and Hugh Hick, whose previous drama ‘Crossing The Red Line’ picked up a Silver award in the ‘Best Digital Drama’ category at the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards in 2020 - one of Ireland’s highest placed entries for that year.

‘The Horror Writer’ will broadcast on RTE Radio 1 Extra on Thursday 8th April at 8pm. The programme was made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television License Fee and RTE.