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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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Items 1 - 10 of 17
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  • In the Forests of the Night - Stage Partners

    In the Forests of the Night

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 13 actors (suggested casting: 13 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Thirteen students are compelled by their dreams to play a game in the woods to keep a mysterious monster at bay. Not everyone gets to play it again. (If you like The Giver consider In the Forests of the Night.)
  • Beware The House on Haunted Hill! - Stage Partners

    Beware the House on Haunted Hill!

    Adapted by Matthew Byrd & Kathryn Funkhouser from the 1959 film House on Haunted Hill, written by Robb White, directed by William Castle, starring Vincent Price
    Length: 85-90 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 3M, 3 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Come to the party…stay if you dare. An eccentric millionaire promises six guests a mysterious prize if they can survive the night at the only truly haunted house in the world. Everyone invited has a few skeletons in their closets though, and screwball scares lurk around every corner. The classic 50s horror movie House on Haunted Hill becomes a campy whodunnit in this low-tech stage adaptation. J...
  • 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...
  • Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion (full-length)

    Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion (full-length)

    Length: 90-100 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 9M, 3 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Sure, you think you've seen this type of murder mystery before. A cast of eccentric characters meet at a mansion, only to become suspects of a murder that a singular genius detective will eventually solve. But what happens when all the suspects are the detectives? Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, and Batman are just a few of the guests. Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion is a...
  • Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion one-act murder mystery comedy play script by Ian McWethy - Stage Partners

    Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion

    Length: 30-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 14-24 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 7M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Sure, you think you've seen this type of murder mystery before. A cast of eccentric characters meet at a mansion, only to become suspects of a murder that a singular genius detective will eventually solve. But what happens when all the suspects are the detectives? Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, and Batman are just a few of the guests. Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion is a...
  • Pick Your Poison - Laura Barbieri

    Pick Your Poison

    Written By: Laura Barbieri
    Length: 100-120 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting 3F, 5M, 1 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Pick Your Poison is a murder mystery farce in the style of the “country house murder.” Sir Nicholas Blackburn invites his old friends, acquaintances, and one stranger to visit him at his country estate, but some of them may not live through the weekend. In this audience-interactive play, the audience votes at intermission on which of the eight main characters is the murder, and the winning vot...
  • Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? - a historical mystery play script by Katherine Vondy - Stage Partners

    Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?

    Written By: Katherine Vondy
    Length: 80-90 minutes
    Cast Size: 9-25 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    While wandering Worcester, England in 1943, a teenage boy happened upon the skeleton of an unidentified woman inside the trunk of a large tree. An investigation commenced to determine who the woman was and how she died, but it raised more questions than it answered. Was she a spy? Was she a prostitute? Had she been part of an occult ritual? Theories abounded, but no definitive answers emerged. The...
  • The Visitors - Stage Partners

    The Visitors

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-14 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 4M, 3 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    KB is in a coma. How she got there, no one knows. As she lies unconscious on a hospital bed, family, friends, and other well-wishers reflect on KB and how she has affected their lives. But as KB's physical condition worsens and her visitors struggle with their grief, KB embarks on a mysterious journey that will change her forever. (If you like The Lottery consider The Visitors.)
Items 1 - 10 of 17