This is a new Victorian horror story complete with creepy old house situated amid fog-bound moorland where things go bump in the night.

Adapted from stories by Charles Dickens, the two-hander tells how a young book buyer arrives at a dilapidated mansion to value the extensive book collection of the deceased aristocratic owner whose middle-aged son is selling up.

But pretty soon books start flying off the shelves, a woman’s voice is heard pleading for help and other ghostly goings-on finally reveal a sinister family secret.

An excellent atmospheric set and some effective sound and lighting effects provide a suitable background for this tale which gives ample opportunity for the two actors to show off their dramatic skills.

The trouble is that the events all happened in the past and the audience just gets to hear about them from the two men as they endlessly discuss the family’s history.

A few ghostly appearances and some scary bangs are about the sum total of horror in a storyline that is wordy and laboured, amounting mostly to a predictable upstairs-downstairs scenario that is typical of the Victorian era.