THIS is the new "stage chiller" from the creator of The Woman In Black, Scarborough writer Susan Hill.

Stephen Mallatratt's 1983 stage adaptation for the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Hill's home town has gone on to international acclaim and regular touring over 31 years, but will Clive Francis's version of The Small Hand match it or is The Woman In Black destined to be the Tubular Bells of the stage, its success never to be equalled?

Well, let's not beat about the bush, The Small Hand is not on a par with its esteemed predecessor, but impresario Bill Kenwright can sniff out a potential hit, and his backing of Roy Marsden's high-quality production with a cast of familiar TV names could lead to a West End run, given the British public's love of a thriller.

In this particular ghost story, bookseller and art dealer Adam Snow (Andrew Lancel) stumbles across a derelict Edwardian house after taking a wrong turn. As he reaches the front door, he feels the chilling sensation of a small cold hand clasping his own. In the grip of recurring nightmares, he seeks to learn more of the house and its dark past, and all the while, the hand keeps its grip on him.

Francis's stage adaptation will do likewise with you, giving plenty of work to its two narrators, voiced by Diane Keen and Robert Duncan, who play myriad roles between them in quick-changing scenes that have you trying to work out what exactly may or may not be happening, what is real and what may not be real.

The setting is modern-day and yet the screams and chills, the shadows of bats, the screeches and the sudden appearances of a silent child from earlier days are timeless devices of a stage thriller. That said, you can see the money being thrown at Elroy Ashmore's design and in particular at Nina Dunn's brilliant, creepy projections.

Add the impressive performances and The Small Hand deserves a big hand.

Susan Hill's The Small Hand, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york