The words of Edgar Allan Poe are set to haunt local audiences this weekend, as Yellow Springs Middle and High School thespians will stage “Shuddersome: Tales of Poe,” a one-hour adaptation of some of Poe’s most chilling works, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25, at First Presbyterian Church.

The show will be performed in four sittings — 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. both nights — with a fun fair fundraiser beginning at 5:30 p.m. across the street at Mills Lawn.

Adapted by Lindsay Price, “Shuddersome” weaves together some of Poe’s greatest hits including “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death” alongside lesser-known works.

At a rehearsal this week, performing arts teacher and director Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp said the play was chosen last year by the seventh graders — “because it is so dark.” But beneath the shadows, she said, are moments of tenderness and humanity, and even comedy.

“We want to find those moments of love that turn dark, and they do,” Sparrow-Knapp said. “We want to find those moments of tenderness, because if we just keep hitting the audience with this really macabre hammer, they will not be affected.”

The production’s title, “Shuddersome,” refers to the ghostly ensemble that haunts the show — the Shudders — who move through the space, as cast member Booker Lee put it, like living “ink from Poe’s pen.”

This fall’s production is stripped down in terms of set design. Sparrow-Knapp said the decision was partly practical — the department has been in transition as it awaits the completion of its new theater at the under-construction East Enon Road campus — and partly artistic.

“My focus as a director was to keep the show focused on the actors and keep our sets and everything down to minimum,” she said. “This is a year to use what we have.”

She added that the pared-down staging also puts the play’s language front and center.

“The ‘tintinnabulation of the ringing of the bells’ — that word alone! There’s a ton of $10 words in this,” she said.

For young performer Malorie Lininger, that rich language is both a thrill and a challenge. As a budding poet herself, Lininger said she’s studied Poe and his connection to literary romanticism, and has always liked “creepy things,” but playing the lead in “The Raven” has pushed her both emotionally and linguistically.

“This is my first time having such emotionally charged roles,” she said. “It gets really difficult; I can get caught because a lot of my lines rhyme.”

The show will be staged in three-quarter thrust, with the minimal set both on the stage in the church’s Westminster Hall and jutting out onto the floor, with the audience seated on three sides around the actors. The setup puts the actors within arm’s reach of the audience --- and always in view.

“You cannot be slouching, because [the audience] will see you,” Lininger said. “You can’t hide.”

Wren Schubel, who serves as the show’s narrator, said the format keeps performers constantly aware of the audience.

“I do a lot of talking to the audience in my role,” Schubel said. “I have to remember, oh, I’ve got to go to this side and this side, and not just the front.”

That intimacy extends to the play’s soundscape, which will feature a live original score written and performed by senior Ryan Taylor. Sparrow-Knapp called Taylor “a really gifted composer,” adding: “It’s been a real delight to be able to have live and new music for our show.”

In composing for “Shuddersome” — as he has done for the middle and high school band and orchestra programs over the last two years — Taylor read and analyzed the script to get a feel for what musical vibes would best suit the on-stage action.

“At least for me, you can kind of hear what it should sound like,” Taylor said, noting that the bulk of his score for the production runs on “minor and dark” tones.

But the score also helps add moments of irony and levity, cast members said, particularly in “Lionizing,” which is among Poe’s sometimes overlooked humorous works, a satire that involves big noses and the public who loves them. Shae Peirson, who stars in the comedic vignette with Kaitlyn MacDuff, said the piece “wasn’t really funny” until MacDuff’s outsized performance combined with Taylor’s score.

“Ryan started playing this really upbeat thing, and then suddenly Kaitlin was being really funny, and now it’s funny,” Peirson said.

For the show’s young cast and crew, the demands of “Shuddersome” — from its language to its atmosphere — have made for an intense but rewarding rehearsal process.

“I wanted to do it because I’ve never been in such an intense play before,” Jayla Brown said.

“Yeah,” Rowan Byrnes added, “‘Lionizing’ is my favorite, but as it went on, I liked the practice, and I liked all the [scenes].”

Backstage, the tech crew have been learning to operate the show’s lighting from a small space in the church’s off-stage closet, and are aiming to have a light tree installed by opening night.

“I’ve wanted to do lights since about third grade,” said freshman Raven Caldwell, who has been in the district for just a few months. “And given the opportunity, I am very excited, and I’m looking forward to it.”

But a minimal set means minimal work for the tech crew during the show. For that reason, many of the crew — composed largely, but not entirely, of Sparrow-Knapp’s stagecraft students — will run the Fun Fair fundraiser, complete with a pumpkin contest, games and face painting.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a hodgepodge to celebrate fall and Halloween for our community,” Sparrow-Knapp said.

And while the show may be set in Poe’s world of flickering candles and shadows, it’s also a glimpse of what’s ahead for the school’s theater program.

“All of these guys, except the seniors, are going to be here to open the new theater next year,” Sparrow-Knapp said. “It’s very exciting.”

For now, though, the ghosts of Poe will have the stage.

“Shuddersome: Tales of Poe” is set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each night, at First Presbyterian Church.

Tickets are $5  for students, $10 for seniors and $15 for general admission, and may be purchased online at http://www.cur8.com/15352/project/134413. Tickets are also available at the door; the box office opens at 5:30 p.m. each performance night.