There are nearly three thousand shows at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe but there is exactly one show this year that in its final moments will leave you terrified out of your wits, and that is ‘The Bone House’. It opens with a simple premise; Eugene Crowley is here to give a lecture to the audience on the Midnight Cowboy, a serial killer who has so far evaded being captured. In his lecture he looks deep into the mind set of what makes a killer tick, why we are so drawn to them that some can be as iconic as film stars and most importantly what he could be doing now….
As with any good horror the key is to slowly build with the sense of dread and the cast do their best to create tension battling against the late night band performing loudly next to their venue. They largely succeed breaking the long and over talky bits with three smart, clever little set pieces, a screening of some ‘found footage’, a hypnotic regression from a lucky survivor and finally an awesome finale that would be unfair to ruin the surprise, but it shatters the fourth wall to terrifying effect. The final moments are exhilarating, fascinating and even the most hardened horror fan would struggle to handle it, but the danger is to let the rush of the final moments cloud your opinion. This is a fairly standard production, the acting is, well nothing to write home about, the hour long show feels painfully drawn out at times… but that ending, that shocking, roller coaster of an ending drags up its rating and is one you should experience for yourself.
3/5 
Martin Miller
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