World stage for tales of horror

Theo Seller has dived into the world of podcasting to dramatically extend the reach of his work.

The 20-minute comedy dramas use local Cromarty voices to play a range of eccentric characters.

The stories involve quirky characters who live and work in the fictitious seaside Highland village of Blackhaven.

Blackhaven contains “outlandish characters with variously weird or dangerous traits; locations you might do well to avoid on a dark night and ‘amenities’ that fail to meet the most modest of expectations.”

In one of his previous plays, best-selling crime-writer Ian Rankin – himself no stranger to Cromarty – joined the cast and was actually “murdered” on stage.

The podcast has allowed others who might otherwise be daunted by the prospect of performing to a live audience to get involved and strut their dramatic stuff.

Mr Seller hopes that as more of the stories are

written and recorded, more locals will be eager to take part, “thus creating a

curious world within a world for the townsfolk of Cromarty”.

He said: “To our knowledge this is the first time a concept of this kind has been attempted.”

The first episode of the comedy-horror podcast was released on Halloween.

Why has the unwelcome visitor to the strange and sinister Scottish Highland village of Blackhaven disappeared? What does Augustus Morte find in his rubbish bin on Sunday morning? And... will Inspector Macyard ever solve a case?

To find out more and listen in, visit https://blackhaven.scot