Cher Álvarez knows not all theatrical hauntings are created equal. In the August Wilson, "it feels like a very welcoming energy," she said, "but the theatre in San Francisco, that was charged. I don't know if it wanted us there."

Who she plays: This couple just moved from Chicago to London. Lou has been grappling with mental health issues. This is a new start for them, and she's really trying to do her best to get out of a a difficult mental state. But she's got to grapple with some things [in] her past first before actually healing.

What to expect from the play: There's a lot of little Easter eggs here and there that have been planted by these incredible creatives who have studied horror to make this an all-inclusive experience.

Our scenic and costume designer, Fly Davis, has a lot of that with her set pieces and even costume pieces — like [incorporating] the mustard yellow from The Shining.

Dream horror stage adaptation: The Conjuring. The scene where she's possessed in that basement, that would be fun.

I would love — only because I would want to see Toni Collette do it live on Broadway — Hereditary.

Horror movie role: I want to be the killer.

Favorite scream queen: Inde Navarrette, Mia Goth

Paranormal experience: I grew up in a pretty charged house in Palmdale, California. [There] was a little boy ghost, and it broke my heart.

And, my mom took out the batteries of this toy that my brother had, a Winnie-the-Pooh on a ball. That shit went off without the batteries all the time.

Travis A. Knight doesn't watch many horror movies, but in his early 20s, he wanted to be a ghost hunter. "I wanted to go to every state and visit the most haunted spaces and write a book about it," he recalled. "I've not done that, but who knows? There's still time."

Who he plays: James is a nonbeliever. He is a skeptic and he wants the best for his wife and his life, and he gets a new opportunity with his job to move across the pond to London and start a new chapter.

What to expect from the play: It is scary. There's a lot of tension. There's a lot of anticipation. I got a really sweet email last night from somebody who saw the show, who talks about how even in the moments of silence, there was this horrific electricity underneath it the whole time.

And there's a scene in the second act where we give a little bit of an homage to the original Paranormal Activity film. [Lou does] something to me that's a little nod to the original.

Horror movie role: I would defy all the odds and expectations and survive till the end.

Favorite scream queen: Shannon Cochran, who plays my mom in Paranormal Activity!

Dream horror stage adaptation: The Exorcist

Paranormal experience: We were visiting some family friends. They had a daughter; she was four or five at the time. She had this doll [...] and it just started crying. I took the battery out, and it just kept going. I was like, "I think we need to leave." And we did. We exited the room.

Shannon Cochran is no stranger to horror — her most recognizable role is Anna Morgan in 2002's The Ring. Now, in her Broadway debut, she plays a role possibly scarier than a ghost or demon: a nagging mother.

Who she plays: I play the mother of James, the main character. I live in Boca Raton, Florida, and I desperately want a grandchild, and I will continue to bother my son and daughter-in-law until I get what I want. That's all I can tell you because I have a big secret.

What to expect from the play: There's some interesting technological things that happen. The entire set of this show becomes a character in the play. It'll be fun for people to be able to look at this gigantic set and look for the places where horror might be happening that they weren't expecting.

Dream horror stage adaptation: I like an M. Night Shyamalan film, so The Sixth Sense might be awesome. In a shameless self-promotion, I would also say, why don't you put The Ring on stage? That might be cool, to see Samara coming out of the TV set.

Horror movie role: I'm absolutely the killer. I want to scare people. It's one of the great joys of my life.

Favorite scream queen: Jamie Lee Curtis

Paranormal experience: I've only had one thing that I'm pretty sure was fake because I don't believe in this stuff. I went to my mother's college, where she went to school, and I went to the library because she was an English major.

I went up in the stacks; the library was closed, and I swore that down the long row of books I saw a woman in a Victorian dress reaching up to get a book. I was like, "Hi!" And she was gone.

"Before I go on, I go, 'Thank you,' just to the ghosts," Eva Kaminsky said of her pre-show routine. Spirits may not like to be disturbed, but we're sure they appreciate the gratitude.

Who she plays: My character [Etheline Cotgrave], you hear her early on, and then she arrives when the main couple are in crisis mode and tries to guide them through dealing with whatever has shown up in their house.

What to expect from the play: The music is very filmic. It's a really fun, sweeping, extra add-on. I hear people afterward saying, "That felt like watching a movie," but it has an extra magical something because it's live.

It's a real ride. You don't know what's coming. When it comes, you will be scared, but you will also laugh a lot. There's a lot of humor in the show, too.

Horror movie role: I'd like to say I'd be the last person standing, but I'd probably be the first person killed.

Favorite scream queen: Drew Barrymore

Dream horror stage adaptation: The one I saw that has already been adapted was Let the Right One In, which was very effective that way.

Paranormal experience: I had an experience in an old house, where the first night I went to sleep — you know that half-sleep thing? I felt what I thought was somebody sit on the bed, and then I said, "I don't want you to do that." And then that thing got up. Could have been a dream, but could have maybe not.

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Interview excerpts have been condensed and edited for length and clarity.