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Mystery/Suspense/Horror

From murder mysteries to gothic horror, Stage Partners has an exciting collection of suspenseful plays by some of the most exciting playwrights working today. From high schools and middle schools to community and professional theatres, Stage Partners has chilling new plays for every stage.

Browse our selection below and READ EVERY PLAY SCRIPT FOR FREE!

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  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Stage Partners

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Adapted by Hans Bloedel & Peter Bloedel from the tale by Washington Irving
    Length: 90-100 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    America’s first great ghost story, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows the quirky and superstitious antics of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who is haunted by the dreaded Headless Horseman. This imaginative adaptation stays true to the world that Irving creates in this American gothic tale, but adds a lyrical quality that further enhances the humor, the magic, and the ter...
  • Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version) - Stage Partners

    Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version)

    Written By: Claire Wittman
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio...
  • Moriarty's Daughters - Stage Partners

    Moriarty's Daughters

    Written By: Claire Wittman
    Length: 65-70 minutes
    Cast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio...
  • Night of the Macabre by Tracy Wells

    Night of the Macabre

    Written By: Tracy Wells
    Length: 90-100 minutes (but can be shortened - see description)
    Cast Size: 11-36 actors (suggested casting: 9M, 11F, 14 any gender)
    Genre: Comedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    A hunt for horror finds four friends at the Museum of the Macabre…a wax museum displaying scenes from short stories by  great authors of Gothic Horror like Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving. But as unnerving as the exhibits - and the stories behind them - are…the real terror for the fearless four comes when the exhibits start to come to life! This easy-to-stage play celebrates great short stori...
  • Ten(ish): Comedies: 10 (or so) minute plays.  Short horror play collection.

    Ten(ish): Horror

    Length: Ten 10-Minute Plays
    Cast Size: Varies by Title
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    It's time for tales of terror to see their day onstage. From horrifying creatures, to long-buried secrets, to the dark visions in your own mirror, nightmares await in Ten(ish): Horror, an anthology of short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights working today.   Ten(ish): Horror is edited by Brendan Conheady and features the following short plays:   Trust...
  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act) adapted by Hans Bloedel and Peter Bloedel

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act)

    Adapted by Hans Bloedel & Peter Bloedel from the tale by Washington Irving
    Length: 40-50 minutes (the playwrights also allow additional cuts for time, competitions)
    Cast Size: 8-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    This play is coming soon. Contact Stage Partners to request a prepublication perusal script.  America’s first great ghost story, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows the quirky and superstitious antics of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who is haunted by the dreaded Headless Horseman. This imaginative adaptation stays true to the world that Irving creates in this...
  • I Am Frankenstein - Stage Partners

    I Am Frankenstein

    Adapted by John Haman from the novel by Mary Shelley
    Length: 90 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 4M, 6 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    I Am Frankenstein unearths two creatures who were tortured and abandoned by their makers: Victor’s famous monster, and the teenage writer Mary Shelley herself. A highly theatrical retelling of Shelley's classic, the play adds two principal characters: a haunting chorus known as The Blackbirds, and the troubled Mary Shelley, the story’s creative force. Victor, a promising student obsessed with...
  • Ten(ish): Horror - The Dead Queen Requests The Honor of Your Presence at Dinner by Leah Barker - 10-minute horror play

    The Dead Queen Requests the Honor of Your Presence at Dinner

    Written By: Leah Barker
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 3 actors (3F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
     In a clearing deep in a forest, the Dead Queen sits at a magnificent dining table. As her servant puts the final shine on the glassware, they await the evening’s guest.  This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.
  • Ten(ish): Horror - Transfer by Elinor T Vanderburg. 10-minute horror play

    Transfer

    Written By: Elinor T Vanderburg
    Length: 10 - 20 minutes
    Cast Size: 5 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 1M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Bow returns to her senior year of high school after a personal tragedy that no one wants to discuss head-on. But coming back isn't easy – especially not with the presence of a transfer student who is all smiles, light, and brilliance – and taking over every relationship Bow holds dear. A little Black Swan, a little more Hitchcock, Transfer is a sparse, noir-inspired drama t...
  • Ten(ish): Horror - A Place to Rest Your Head by Ruben Carbajal. 10-minute horror play.

    A Place to Rest Your Head

    Written By: Ruben Carbajal
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 4 actors (3M, 1F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    The residents of a run-down flophouse are transients, haunted in more ways than one. But a deeper mystery unfolds: who are the ghosts, and who are the haunted? This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.
Items 1 - 10 of 22