HOOKHITCH Theatre take over two unconventional performance spaces, the Fruit Van on Platform 6 in the Station Hall and the Gresley Buffet in the Warehouse, for their brace of 20-minute shows at the National Railway Museum in York from today until Saturday.

In the first, Phantasmagoria, the worlds of horror and fantasy collide in a sensory journey of the imagination as the once-extraordinary but now faded entertainer Charles Alderdice attempts to bring Lewis Carroll's darkest work to life but only desperation and delusion await him.

The second, The Gentleman For Nowhere, is a similarly immersive theatre piece for York Theatre Royal's 2015 TakeOver Festival at Leeman Road, based on Charles Dickens's mysterious Victorian work Mugby Junction, an anthology of railway-themed short stories.

HookHitch producer and actress Casey Jay Andrews looks forward to presenting these short shows to "low capacity" audiences at the NRM. "There's something exciting about how direct the relationship between the actor and the audience can be in this intimate setting," she says. "For the audience, it's almost as though they're a part of the story; you can't just sit back and relax, you're part of the action!"

Putting on a scary show in a unique and intimate setting such as a train carriage is "extremely exciting", says Casey, who adds: "The attraction of an old carriage was irresistible because of the nostalgic and somewhat intimidating memories we all shared of imposing steam trains: their size, their archaic design, their association with the Victorian era.

In HookHitch's Phantasmagoria, Lewis Carroll’s poem has become an obsession for central character Charles Alderdice, an untrustworthy storyteller.

"He desperately tries to re-create and perform the piece but gets lost between reality and fiction," says Casey. "He's unable to decipher what is part of the poem, and what is real life. Using puppetry, the actors create visual illusions to draw the audience into Alderdice's blurred reality."

Mugby Junction's progression from Dickens' short stories to an NRM buffet-car drama takes the HookHitch form of a story of escape. "We focus in on the question of whether you can out run sadness," says Casey. "Our central character is trying to escape his birthday, but can he achieve this by hopping from town to town aboard a train; avoiding and dodging his hang-ups? Or will he have to face his demons to finally banish them from his life?"

Finally, Casey, why do trains and railways so suit spooky yarns? "There's something universally understood about trains and railways being 'spooky'; perhaps it is the loneliness of the platform at night time, perhaps something to do with the Victorian obsession with the Gothic, or the unknown of a dark, winding train tunnel? But one thing is certain: once you have climbed aboard, until you reach the next station there are very few options for escape."

HookHitch Theatre's Phantasmagoria will be staged at 12.30pm, 1.15pm, 2.30pm and 3.15pm; The Gentleman For Nowhere, 4.30pm, today until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk