Bog Body
01 November 2025
Etcetera Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Production photo by Kelly Powers
Bog Body, the first solo show by Horror influencer, writer and performer Olivia Cordell, had a short run at the Camden Horror Festival last week, after seeing its UK premiere at the Camden Fringe in August. The show is an immersive horror theatre piece that places the audience at a lecture on ancient preserved remains, held by forensic anthropologist Dr. Alyssa Kim.
The piece opens with Dr. Kim, newly qualified forensic scientist, introducing her lecture to her colleagues, the audience. Slightly flustered due to her missing research partner, she presents her passion project, the research of bog bodies. She is especially fascinated by the stunning ability of living bodies to heal wounds and fractures, and the information we can gain from healed and unhealed tissue in the long dead. Audience members are invited to share stories of their own scars and healing journeys while Dr. Kim enthusiastically explains healing processes and whirls through slides of well-known bog bodies and their histories. But when she begins speaking about a recent find in Ireland, a woman’s body preserved in peat for over two and a half thousand years, a body said to be haunted, strange fates befalling those who study her, things become increasingly unsettled. Lights flicker and Dr. Kim loses her composure as supernatural tension builds.
Bog Body is a brilliantly fresh addition to the recent surge in horror theatre, blending science lecture with haunting scare effects. There is a beautiful underlying thread of empowerment in the face of adversity, painting the terrifying plot in a liberating undertone despite its dark subject matter.
Olivia Cordell expertly portrays Dr. Kim as a nervous, nerdy, highly enthusiastic forensic scientist, leading through the show effortlessly, going from spiritedly exuberant to desperately frightened in a heartbeat, trying to cling to science fact in the face of supernatural happenings.
While there are some slight hitches with the main props during the performance, the biggest issue with the play is that it is merely 45 minutes long. With a chilling narrative and terrific presentation the audience is left wanting more of the story, more of Dr. Kim, more of it all.
