Bog Body – The Glitch, London

A horror influencer turns playwright in Bog Body, Olivia Cordell’s solo show that mixes lecture theatre with supernatural scares.

Bog Body

Are bog bodies having a moment? It would seem so, with two different shows currently on the fringe circuit with that title. I saw Olivia Cordell’s version last night at The Glitch, a one-off performance with other London dates upcoming. Cordell is best known as a horror YouTuber and influencer. She’s also an actor and writer with TV and web credits, including the series Dead Best Friend, which has had over a million views. Bog Body is her first solo stage show, and she’s chosen a clever conceit: framing it as a lecture, with us as the audience at a talk about preserved bodies found in peat bogs.

It’s a conceit that works. Cordell is confident on stage, engaging enough to keep us with her, while the lecture format allows her to fold in exposition naturally. We learn the science, the history, and the theories, while the performance slowly tips from informative into unsettling. The set-up is smart, and it allows her to play both the academic and the horror fan, giving the audience some grounding before things get stranger.

Beyond the Supernatural

The show is ambitious, but sometimes horror benefits from subtlety. Here the effects (audio and mechanical) are impressive in their way but also a little predictable. For me, they didn’t add much in terms of real scares. My test for a Halloween-season or horror-themed show is whether it sends a chill down my spine, and this one didn’t, enjoyable as it was.

What I did like was the attempt to weave in ideas beyond the supernatural: violence, loneliness, and how society treats ambitious women. These threads give the piece some weight, though with only 45 minutes to play with they can’t be developed in much depth. After a gentle start, there’s suddenly a sense of a lot being packed in at once.

Still, Bog Body has potential, and Cordell’s enthusiasm for horror comes through clearly. It may not deliver the shivers I was hoping for, but it’s worth a look. And you’ll have another chance when it returns for the spooky season at the Bread & Roses Theatre (20 October) and Etcetera Theatre, Camden (31 October, 1-2 November).

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Bog Body was on at The Glitch on 25 September 2025. See above for upcoming dates and venues.