Things I Took from the Dark as told by Reece Shearsmith

Reece Shearsmith brings Things I Took from the Dark to the Cambridge Corn Exchange on Saturday 31 October, a Halloween night that fits the bill. If you know his work, you know where he likes to hang out: the morbid, the macabre, and the slightly off-kilter. This is a live companion to his illustrated memoir, Things I Took from the Dark: The Museum of Me, and the whole thing is built around the strange artefacts and obsessions he's collected over the years.

It's not a straight reading. The show moves between storytelling and performance, and the things he talks about are exactly the sort of curiosities he's always been drawn to: the screaming skull of Glamis Castle, the Highgate vampire, sea devils, witch hunters, and a talking mongoose called Gef. He weaves in stories from his own childhood, moments from behind the scenes, and the odd discoveries that have stuck with him. It's a look at the things that have shaped his work, and if you've followed his career, you'll recognise the thread running through them.

For context, Shearsmith is one half of the team behind The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville, and Inside No. 9, so this is a chance to hear the voice behind some of the most unsettling and funny things to come out of British comedy in the last couple of decades. The night doesn't end with the storytelling, either: a special guest host joins him for a conversation before the audience gets to put their own questions directly to him.

The evening runs about an hour and 50 minutes, and it's recommended for ages 14 and over. Tickets are £32.45 to £63.25, including the booking fee, and the show starts at 19:30 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, 2 Wheeler Street, CB2 3QB. Latecomers may not be admitted, so it's worth getting there a bit early.