The American author published the novel in 1959. “And we’re setting it very specifically in the world that Jackson wrote it in, in America in the late 1950s,” Constantine elaborates. “There’s something fascinating about that particular time – the optimism of it contrasted with Cold War paranoia, which reflects some of the concerns that we have in the wider world today.

“But essentially it’s about this group of individuals navigating something really uncertain and unexpected, and there’s also a great deal of humour in the relationships between the main characters. They’re awkward and competitive, like a strange little group of adventurers who all fetch up at the same place.”

The place in question is the titular mansion, to which investigator of the supernatural Dr. John Montague invites a group of people who have experienced paranormal events in the past. Three of them – shy and nervous Eleanor, bohemian artist Theodora and sceptical heir to the estate Luke – accept his invitation and their curiosity quickly turns into fear as experiments are plunged into darkness, disturbances ripple through the house’s twisting corridors and the building itself tightens its grip on the terrified inhabitants.

Jackson’s chiller has been adapted for the big screen twice (in 1963 and 1999) and was turned into a Netflix miniseries in 2018. There was also a radio version in the late 90s and there have been a couple of stage adaptations in the States and Liverpool. But opening at Salisbury Playhouse, the new production marks the world premiere of a new adaptation by Olivier and BAFTA winning writer Stef Smith.

None other than Stephen King has hailed The Haunting of Hill House as one of the finest horror novels of the 20th century and The Guardian called it “the best haunted house story ever written”. Jackson’s narrative, Martin feels, is terrifying because: “The house slowly sucks the characters deeper into its clutches, and on stage it does that to the audience as well.”

Careful to avoid spoilers, he adds: “There’s also something about the journey that the characters go on as the house reveals things about themselves to each of them. It uncovers some scary things about human nature and the way that we relate to each other and the world around us. These people enter with a certain amount of trepidation and certain expectations, and the house comes alive and reveals itself. In the book it’s a character in itself and we’re bringing it to life on stage through light, sound, composition, video and movement.”

The creative team have mined the source material for the new production. “It’s all about going back to the book, seeing what is at the heart of it and then drawing out the story from that. We really sought to understood what Shirley Jackson was aiming at and how the book speaks to us.”

Will there be surprises for people who already know the story? “Absolutely. There are a few twists and turns that aren’t in the book, to keep the element of surprise. But the key themes are all in it – themes of fear and terror, of course, as well as loneliness, grief and how we navigate expectations.”

Constantine is an acclaimed theatre and opera director whose credits include Peter Pan, The Owl and the Pussycat, Don Giovanni and Dead Man Walking. Asked about the challenges of bringing The Haunting of Hill House to the stage, he says: “The advantage you have with a novel is that you can sit in ambiguity for quite a long time, whereas on stage you have to be a bit clearer. Fortunately, we’ve got an incredible writer in Stef Smith, who has been laser-focused on ensuring that from moment to moment we’re on the edge of our seats.”

Smith won an Olivier Award for Roadkill at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and a BAFTA for Float on TV. She was drawn to adapting Jackson’s novel because of the creative team, which also includes designer Ti Green and illusion designer Will Houstoun. “And it’s such an intoxicating prospect to try and figure out how to do it in the theatre,” Stef adds. “It’s such an internalised novel, so for me the challenge is trying to retain the essence of the novel while also taking a modern audience on a journey. At the heart of it are the characters and I was keen to give them a voice. The task of bringing these incredible characters to life on stage just felt like an offer that was too good to be true.”

The writer was also keen to bring the author’s work to a wider audience. “It’s important to remember that before Shirley Jackson, there was no Shirley Jackson. She has been imitated a lot but she started this whole new way of writing about horror, mixing the psychological with the physical. The fact that she was a woman in the 1950s writing this way while having a busy family household is remarkable, and it’s easy to forget that no one did it before her.”

Smith has avoided watching the film versions or the TV series, the latter of which was only loosely based on the book. “Actually, I’ve not seen the films,” she says, “and the TV series was a massive departure from the novel. I’ve used the book as the jumping-in point.”

Asked for what she sees as the key themes of the narrative, she feels: “It’s about self-realisation, trying to move closer towards yourself despite the obstacles in front of you. It’s also about grief, because all of the characters are in some way grieving someone. Then there’s adventure, because they are seeking to escape their daily lives for one reason or another, and they’re also looking for connection. There are so many themes to this story.”

Set as it is in the past, does it speak to the present day or is it pure, spine-tingling escapism? “If people are coming for an entertaining, exciting and moving evening then they’re definitely going to get that, so yes, it’s a form of escapism in those respects. But also the piece really speaks to today. One of the elements that I was really keen to explore is the duty of care that we feel towards each other and how that is both an important part of being alive but also how for some it can be a trap. I also wanted to look at the gendered nature of care, which very much speaks to now, and the idea of people trying to discover themselves is timeless. I think that’s a story as old as the human race – people trying to figure out who they are in the world and in relation to each other.”

As for why theatregoers love a good scare, Smith muses: “I’ve thought about that a lot. I think part of the excitement of being scared is the release – that moment when everyone suddenly screams and then they laugh because they’ve screamed. It’s a journey from the racing heart element of anticipation to the release of the scare, and it reminds us that we’re alive. Experiencing that with others is really unlike anything else. Of course you can experience it by yourself from reading a book or watching a film, but getting to do that in a theatre with other people is really special.”

Designer Ti Green has based the set on “the American archetype of the haunted house – the French Second Empire mansions of the late 19th century that crop up throughout mid 20th Century American popular culture”. As regards creating Hill House on stage, she adds: “I was interested in delivering layers of history and lifetimes overlapping one another. The wall surfaces are decayed. What seems solid reveals itself to be transparent. Light reveals glimpses of characters beyond the set and projection reveals layers within the walls.”

As for what challenges the show presents, Green says: “The show is full of technical challenges, including illusions which require stage management, flymen and crew involvement backstage during the performance to keep all elements moving. Finding space for these elements across a tour to hugely varied venues has been the most complex part of the planning process.”

The illusions come courtesy of Will Houstoun, who isn’t giving away any secrets when he teases: “I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the moments people will see when they visit the theatre; let’s just say that in Hill House everything is not what it seems.”

The illusion designer is drawing on the past for inspiration as well as utilising technological advances, explaining: “Things which magicians did on stage hundreds of years ago can still shock and amaze audiences today. Within the play there are some things that are essentially done the same way they were in the 17th century, and some that wouldn’t have been possible technologically even just a few years ago. It is always wonderful to bring that range of tools and techniques to life in a new play.”

Come and see The Haunting of Hill House This November…are you feeling brave?