REVIEW: Crybabies: The Scaring ★★★★★ | Edfringe 2026

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 | Pleasance Courtyard

Comedy horror is a difficult thing to get right.

Make it too funny and there's nothing remotely scary about it. Make it too creepy and suddenly everyone has forgotten they're supposed to be watching a comedy.

Crybabies somehow manage both.

Michael Clarke, James Gault and Ed Jones return to the Fringe with The Scaring, an hour-long horror comedy following former priest Arthur Holland, whose previous career in exorcism ended rather badly.

Having swapped demons for immersive stag dos and smash burgers — naturally — Arthur finds himself checking into a remote hotel where things are very definitely not right.

Cue possessed children, ghosts, creepy hotel owners, ridiculous characters and enough horror-film references to keep genre fans entertained throughout.

And amongst all the silliness?

There are actually some bloody effective scares.

The trio make brilliant use of lighting, sound, projections and illusions to create jump scares and effects that feel surprisingly ambitious for a Fringe comedy show.

The Exorcist-inspired head twist is particularly brilliant, while a floating Alexa is probably not something I expected to be writing about in a Fringe review this year.

Then there's Slimothy.

You'll understand.

The real strength of The Scaring, though, is just how slick everything is. Clarke, Gault and Jones fly between characters, costumes and increasingly ridiculous situations without allowing the pace to drop.

It's silly, clever and wonderfully chaotic — but underneath the apparent chaos is an incredibly tightly constructed show.

There are even moments of genuine heart amongst all the demons and nonsense.

If you're a horror fan, you'll have great fun spotting the references.

If you're a comedy fan, there are laughs everywhere.

And if you're easily scared?

Well...

maybe don't sit too close to the front.

One of the funniest and most inventive shows I caught at this year's Fringe.

★★★★★ – 5/5