Look up 'wuss' in a dictionary (or Google it, if you're under 40) and you will probably see my name appear next it. 

Clearly, I was the obvious choice to experience Frankenstein: The Creation of a Monster, currently showing at Department, Ryde, on Cross Street.

I took the 13-year-old in my house for some moral support.

The Isle of Wight's Horse Box Theatre Company has created something special at the former Elizabeth Pack clothing store-turned creative arts space.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Here, clever lighting, dry ice and a huge old shop, combined with Wednesday night's gale force winds and torrential rain (Did they order that too? They're good!), are the perfect scene-setters for a pacy, raw, stripped-down show.

We arrived behind a group of six people.

In the foyer, they were picked off in threes to enter the immersive experience - through the doors of an old wardrobe.

Yes, picked off - as if I wasn't worried enough already.

I can tell you little about what happens next, for fear of spoiling it.

Scroll down for a link to buy tickets...

Suffice to say the shop's former wedding dresses and mannequins are put to excellent (and limbless) use and I'm not sure they'll be able to recycle those jars for any autumn jam-making, when the show ends.

This is a stand-up-and-watch-the-action sort of show - a modern, fast-paced, music-filled take on a classic gothic horror.

Show creator, Joe Plumb, takes on the lead role and as Frankenstein, he is breathlessly manic.

The character's descent into madness is cleverly explored and the audience is left in no doubt about how he is coping with the pressure around him.

Callum Davies's portrayal of The Creature is both quite brilliant and twitchingly disturbing - for me, a stand-out scene.  

As Elizabeth, Katy Rawlinson is caring and angry in equal measure - a convincing woman scorned.

Meanwhile, the company's small ensemble maintains the show's fast-moving action, at times documenting Frankenstein's madness and at times, embodying it.

There must also be a mention here for a segment which powerfully deals with the everyday fears of women and also for the music - an integral part of the show.

The score is the domain of Julie Jones and it is delivered both as a live performance and DJ-style, on decks.

You have two more chances to experience Frankenstein: The Creation of a Monster.

It plays tonight (Thursday) and on Friday (November 4), at 8pm, at Department, Ryde, on Cross Street.

Arrive 30 minutes before though, because this isn't a show where you rock up and flop down in your seat until the end.