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2:22 – A Ghost Story
'I'd get freaked out here, alone in the dark. Wondering what's lurking at the bottom of the bed, ready to grab your feet.'Jenny and Sam – and their baby Phoebe – have recently moved into their new home. But something feels frightening and wrong. Very wrong. Over the baby monitor, at 2:22 every night, Jenny hears footsteps around her daughter's cot. Could the house be haunted?When their friends Lauren and Ben come round for a housewarming dinner, they drink wine, relive their pasts, and argue about the existence of ghosts. They decide to stay up until 2:22, to discover the truth. Over one adrenaline-filled night – as the foxes scream outside – secrets will emerge and ghosts may appear…Spine-chilling, funny and scary, Danny Robins' play 2:22 was premiered at the Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End in August 2021, directed by Matthew Dunster, and starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood. It provides rich opportunities for any drama group wanting to make things go bump in the night – and their audiences scream.
119 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2021
34 people are currently reading
384 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 26, 2023
“understanding how gravity works doesn’t stop you from falling.”
February 15, 2023
One of the first new plays to grace the London stage post-pandemic closings, it's not Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or Long Day's Journey into Night - but then it doesn't pretend to be. What is IS, is a decent little shocker/thriller more along the lines of Sleuth or Deathtrap - and that's fine. The character development is much better than it even needs to be, and I am sure it works like gangbusters on stage.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
Reread 2/23, due to current West End revival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zx8...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
Reread 2/23, due to current West End revival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zx8...
March 25, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
I enjoyed this more than expected as a theatre nerd.
I’m in a theatre group and a potential director came to me and asked me to read this to do a Halloween play reading.
I could feel the chills progressing sneak up during this play with cuts of humor which I really enjoyed. I was not prepared for the ending at all!! It was super enthralling and easy to get through!
I hope to play Lauren in this 🤩
I enjoyed this more than expected as a theatre nerd.
I’m in a theatre group and a potential director came to me and asked me to read this to do a Halloween play reading.
I could feel the chills progressing sneak up during this play with cuts of humor which I really enjoyed. I was not prepared for the ending at all!! It was super enthralling and easy to get through!
I hope to play Lauren in this 🤩
January 4, 2024
Danny Robins is a man of average height with black hair, a red coat and wolfish expression, he is exactly the type of person who would tell a story like this.
I don't think it's fair for me to really review it as I've not seen the play only read it but I found it enjoyable and did not predict what would happen at 2:22!
I don't think it's fair for me to really review it as I've not seen the play only read it but I found it enjoyable and did not predict what would happen at 2:22!
March 23, 2023
I fell in love with this play as a theatre maker and horror fan when I saw its Los Angeles closing night with my father. This print version, complete with a wonderful introduction similar and yet distinct to the one in my Playbill, introduced me to the British original and even more emphasized how much I would fantasize about directing it. There are few works that are as well-written, perfectly thought-out, or are as filled with great dialogue as this one. Any fan of theatre, ghost stories, or good art should read this play, but it's even better on-stage. And, to keep to the rule of the playwright, I will not tell any more.
April 20, 2023
Jenny and Sam have just moved into their new house with baby Phoebe and have invited Lauren and Ben round for housewarming dinner. Once they start talking and the booze starts flowing Jenny reveals that she thinks her house is haunted...
TW: strong language, supernatural activity, death
I really enjoyed how pacey this was and imagined the characters and the 'beat' etc. to build the tension.
This reminds me of Abigail's party in it's conversical structure but with pace and drama to boot.
The ending for me came out of nowhere. I certainly didn't see it coming -
TW: strong language, supernatural activity, death
I really enjoyed how pacey this was and imagined the characters and the 'beat' etc. to build the tension.
This reminds me of Abigail's party in it's conversical structure but with pace and drama to boot.
The ending for me came out of nowhere. I certainly didn't see it coming -
September 24, 2022
Interesting play. I’d be curious to see it live in that it includes mounting tension about the supposed ghosts with sound cue jump scares but it also includes an interesting debate among the characters about belief versus science.
November 30, 2022
This is one of the best things I’ve ever read and I immediately need to go and see the live show!
March 6, 2025
I finished reading the book ten minutes ago and my pulse is still going ten to the dozen!
I'm hoping to catch 2:22 A Ghost Story when it hits Southampton later on this year, but for now I was happy to settle down with a copy of the screenplay.
Robins ideas on whether ghosts are actually in existence or whether they're naturally explainable fascinate me and I was delighted to see that these ideas continue into 2:22, with the couples too questioning their existence.
It's an addictive read that I simply had to devour in one sitting. Full of intrigue and an impending sense of fear, with the chill of the unexpected pervading under your skin.
Brilliant book! Loved every minute!
I'm hoping to catch 2:22 A Ghost Story when it hits Southampton later on this year, but for now I was happy to settle down with a copy of the screenplay.
Robins ideas on whether ghosts are actually in existence or whether they're naturally explainable fascinate me and I was delighted to see that these ideas continue into 2:22, with the couples too questioning their existence.
It's an addictive read that I simply had to devour in one sitting. Full of intrigue and an impending sense of fear, with the chill of the unexpected pervading under your skin.
Brilliant book! Loved every minute!
August 27, 2025
Simple and fast paced and yet very effective in what it sets out to achieve. Somehow balances interesting philosophical and spiritual debates amongst conflicting character dynamics and a spooky atmosphere. Interesting and engaging throughout, I really enjoyed. The kind of play I think I’ll think of for days to come. Just overall brilliant example of a play done well.
September 23, 2023
I’ve seen 2:22 five times in the theatre, and the text was just as much of a joy to read. I’m glad that it has been changed and adapted, though, as some bits have come out much better live than on page!
January 14, 2025
Oh my day's!!! I started this book this evening & I've finished it. I absolutely loved it. In fact ,I'm going to make a brew , grab some custard creams and re read it again tonight. Danny Robins is an absolute genius! This book hooked me 100% . I cannot recommend it highly enough. 👻👻👻👻👻
March 21, 2025
Spooky, atmospheric, and fun. A really enjoyable read.
January 31, 2024
OH MY GOD????
February 17, 2025
Shit. This play does everything a great play should. I couldn’t put it down because I just NEEDED to know what happens, propelling me towards one of the best endings I’ve read in a good long while. Haunting in all the right ways, this was a play that kept me up the entire night after finishing.
April 1, 2025
Having seen the show twice with strong accented Jenny’s, i’d missed a lot of the conversations from this dialogue heavy play so getting to read it and have the visuals in my head alongside was just bliss. Fantastic show, really refreshing kind of story/thriller. Highly recommend people watch it first before reading for the sake of the impact of the plot
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October 10, 2025Slow day at work...
February 2, 2023
so good, i read it after i saw it but i defintly recomend going to see it before it closes !
March 30, 2023
It's no secret I love this play. I saw the production starring Constance Wu and Anna Camp in Los Angeles, and the West End production starting Cheryl. Reading the play, even after seeing it twice, still gave me goosebumps.
This is seriously a brilliantly written thriller/comedy. The comedic bits are exceptional, and the scary parts are legitimately spooky. And the big question that radiates throughout the whole play hits wonderfully: do you believe in ghosts?
Brilliant play.
This is seriously a brilliantly written thriller/comedy. The comedic bits are exceptional, and the scary parts are legitimately spooky. And the big question that radiates throughout the whole play hits wonderfully: do you believe in ghosts?
Brilliant play.
January 2, 2023
Saw this live and wanted to read the play and it’s just as good. Love the twist. Love the reason to write it in the beginning too.
October 25, 2024
A fantastic haunting mystery, Danny Robins is fast becoming one of my favourite personalities. Writer, podcaster, television presenter, Robins has carved out a captivating niche for himself as a man fascinated by the supernatural with a humanising perspective, understanding why people believe and why others may be sceptical. He approaches criticisms with a rational kindness, and he approaches paranormal belief with humanisation and respect. If you've ever listened to his Uncanny podcast, or seen his BBC documentary series of the same name, Danny Robins may also be the person who's encountered the most convincing "evidence" of the supernatural.
With 2:22 A Ghost Story, Robins demonstrates his strength as a playwright, telling an often amusing story about a group of friends during a dinner party, where the host Jenny plans to reveal what happens in the house at 2:22am - Jenny claims she can hear footsteps surrounding her daughter's cot. Others don't seem as easily convinced. A clever balance of humour, relatability, urban legend, and truly chilling tension, Danny Robins expresses a brilliant understanding of human psychology in how we process that which we cannot explain, while contrasting this with the erased layers of life that disintegrates in the process of gentrification.
If that sounds too heavy, 2:22 is a gripping play that kept me hooked from page to page - I honestly wish I had the opportunity to see this live, as I wonder how some of these stage directions would've looked in person! I laughed, considered my own inexplicable experiences, and felt the great sadness that hides within this play.
I won't spoil anything here, but at only 100 pages, I think most readers will smash through this completely hooked!
With 2:22 A Ghost Story, Robins demonstrates his strength as a playwright, telling an often amusing story about a group of friends during a dinner party, where the host Jenny plans to reveal what happens in the house at 2:22am - Jenny claims she can hear footsteps surrounding her daughter's cot. Others don't seem as easily convinced. A clever balance of humour, relatability, urban legend, and truly chilling tension, Danny Robins expresses a brilliant understanding of human psychology in how we process that which we cannot explain, while contrasting this with the erased layers of life that disintegrates in the process of gentrification.
If that sounds too heavy, 2:22 is a gripping play that kept me hooked from page to page - I honestly wish I had the opportunity to see this live, as I wonder how some of these stage directions would've looked in person! I laughed, considered my own inexplicable experiences, and felt the great sadness that hides within this play.
I won't spoil anything here, but at only 100 pages, I think most readers will smash through this completely hooked!
January 21, 2022
An absolutely incredibly written show. Danny Robins used a life of research to create a body of work that cannot be put down and deserved nothing less than being brought to life in a production.
The ending is a gut punch, a twist that I was not expecting and couldn’t help but audibly responding to.
Robins managed to combine suspicion, religion, belief, grief, arguments on both sides of gentrification, thriving and failing relationships, personality clashes... all into exactly 100 pages. The conversations feel like real debates- clear when the characters care for the others opinions and when they don’t. It is full of regret and love that take so many forms.
It is clear that this paranormal activity, supernatural occurrences, ghosts, however you refer to these ideas is a field that Robins is devoted to and passionate about, and this knowledge bleeds into the play effortlessly.
I loved it and hope to work on a production of it one day.
The ending is a gut punch, a twist that I was not expecting and couldn’t help but audibly responding to.
Robins managed to combine suspicion, religion, belief, grief, arguments on both sides of gentrification, thriving and failing relationships, personality clashes... all into exactly 100 pages. The conversations feel like real debates- clear when the characters care for the others opinions and when they don’t. It is full of regret and love that take so many forms.
It is clear that this paranormal activity, supernatural occurrences, ghosts, however you refer to these ideas is a field that Robins is devoted to and passionate about, and this knowledge bleeds into the play effortlessly.
I loved it and hope to work on a production of it one day.
October 4, 2025
2:22 A Ghost Story by Danny Robins was a scary read for me (I shouldn't have finished reading the second act late at night!) as the play radiates the suspense of whether the ghost exists or not through the wit, arguments, beliefs, and disbeliefs of just four characters: Jenny, Sam, Lauren, and Ben. We, the readers, are compelled to ponder the existence of the supernatural as each of these characters presents their perspectives in an uncompromising way, only to discover something so shocking that it blinds both the characters and us readers throughout the play. When Jenny speaks about ghosts, "Perhaps there are thousands of them... All around us, everywhere, and we just ignore them. People sell it as this great comfort—life after death—but what if it's just a horrible realisation you're irrelevant? That would make me want to throw things. Or scare the people living in my house," one cannot ignore not only the mystery of the afterlife but also the human desire to cling to life, to remain visible forever. And when Lauren philosophises, "Physics, ghosts, love, kitchen extensions. Writing books. It's all a distraction. To make us forget that life is pointless and death is final," one must admit that sometimes the concept of the supernatural is one of the beliefs that makes life so terrifyingly fascinating. For those who enjoy reading plays and can tolerate the spookiness that escalates as it progresses from one scene to the next, this is definitely a page-turner.
July 6, 2023
I have a lot of little pros and one big con.
Pro:
1) The characters are so interesting and fun. Even as unlikeable as they can be at times, they still have great moments of humanity that an actor could definitely mine from.
2) The plot twist, of course, is amazing.
3) The dialogue is so good.
4) The "ghost story" element isn't just a metaphor... this would actually be pretty freaky to watch live, I am sure. Nerve shredding for sure.
5) The play feels accessible (except for my one con) for so many other theatre companies, professional or otherwise, to put on for themselves. This play doesn't feel like you need to have a runaway budget to make this production happen and still have fun with it.
Con:
1) There is so much foul language. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but it feels very excessive with how many f-bombs and other such choices are littered through a single sentence, let alone the whole play. As a theatre artist, too, I know that I could never direct this play for a theatre company because most American audiences, especially in the many pockets that are more conservative, would be turned off to the amount of language is in this play. It's frustrating because this play is amazing... and it feels undoable because of the foul language.
Pro:
1) The characters are so interesting and fun. Even as unlikeable as they can be at times, they still have great moments of humanity that an actor could definitely mine from.
2) The plot twist, of course, is amazing.
3) The dialogue is so good.
4) The "ghost story" element isn't just a metaphor... this would actually be pretty freaky to watch live, I am sure. Nerve shredding for sure.
5) The play feels accessible (except for my one con) for so many other theatre companies, professional or otherwise, to put on for themselves. This play doesn't feel like you need to have a runaway budget to make this production happen and still have fun with it.
Con:
1) There is so much foul language. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but it feels very excessive with how many f-bombs and other such choices are littered through a single sentence, let alone the whole play. As a theatre artist, too, I know that I could never direct this play for a theatre company because most American audiences, especially in the many pockets that are more conservative, would be turned off to the amount of language is in this play. It's frustrating because this play is amazing... and it feels undoable because of the foul language.
February 7, 2022
I bought this after buying tickets to see this in the West End and was very restrained in not reading it until after.
It's a great play, the combination of a creepy ghost-story and somewhat of a social commentary, all of which made a little more sense having read the introduction and paid attention to the stage directions which made me realise there were things I'd missed during the performance.
I loved the building tension as the time crept towards 2:22 and how all of the characters reacted under stress, the uncomfortable truths that were revieled etc.
I can't really say too much without giving it away!
I'm also now listening to Robins' podcast series, The Battersea Poltergeist which is part documentary part radio-play about a real case (I say case instead of haunting here as I'm too early in to form an opinion!) and you can really see how this influenced 2:22 (set in a once poor now gentrified area of London, bringing together sceptics and believers...).
It's all really interesting, challenging our ideas on reality.
It's a great play, the combination of a creepy ghost-story and somewhat of a social commentary, all of which made a little more sense having read the introduction and paid attention to the stage directions which made me realise there were things I'd missed during the performance.
I loved the building tension as the time crept towards 2:22 and how all of the characters reacted under stress, the uncomfortable truths that were revieled etc.
I can't really say too much without giving it away!
I'm also now listening to Robins' podcast series, The Battersea Poltergeist which is part documentary part radio-play about a real case (I say case instead of haunting here as I'm too early in to form an opinion!) and you can really see how this influenced 2:22 (set in a once poor now gentrified area of London, bringing together sceptics and believers...).
It's all really interesting, challenging our ideas on reality.
August 25, 2025
Essentially a play about a dinner party where the relationships are all extremely tense. In the grand tradition of The Amityville Horror, it continues the tradition of implying that over-extending yourself on real estate opens a home up to demonic possession. In this case, it's more about haunting, and the differences of opinion around the exact nature of a ghost. It's an interesting discussion as the different sides refuse to give any ground, so there is no real conversation but more of a war of words. I also think there are a lot of technically clever aspects that would make this worth watching live.
October 13, 2022
I don’t like horror media, but I absolutely recommend this! I read this after seeing the London play twice, and it is still as electrifying and beautiful to read as it was to watch. The play goes so quickly so this was great to reread the larger chunks of dialogue. The book has a note which says it went to press before rehearsals were finished so it may differ slightly, but I remember it to be the same except possibly in two small scenes.
June 24, 2024
I loved the battersea poltergeist so I knew I would enjoy this. I’ve been preferring reading plays as of late because the whole objective of the piece is to aid the reader in visualizing the story. It’s obvious this has been written by a man which is not my favorite, but I love a good paranormal thriller. I wish theatre would explore this genre more frequently. There are so many powerful messages that the setting of a haunted house can deliver and I think it’s underutilized.
November 18, 2025
I’ve seen the play countless times (yes, even the run with Cheryl Cole as Jenny - iconic) and I still think it’s such a fun, creepy ride. For me, it perfectly blends pathos, horror and comedy.
Spookiness aside, it has plenty to say about the chaos of modern life, and Danny does a brilliant job shaping the four characters to reflect that.
No matter how many times I revisit it, I always uncover something new.
Spookiness aside, it has plenty to say about the chaos of modern life, and Danny does a brilliant job shaping the four characters to reflect that.
No matter how many times I revisit it, I always uncover something new.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews