←Recommendations of MISCHIEF AT THE BEST WESTERN; OR, THE INDISPOSED SEX SLAVE OF VALDEZ

This play slaps. Literally. Elliot should clearly run as far as he can from Mavis and Silas, but instead he stays and makes us complicit in his macabre fascination with them. They are sinister, alluring, and repulsive simultaneously. I dare anyone to read or watch this play from any other position but the edge of their seat.

The mix of cool and creepy is even better when you realize that MISCHIEF AT THE BEST WESTERN does to you the reader what Mavis and Silas do to Eliott, hold you transfixed with ominous suggestive storytelling. Without ever sounding preachy or pedantic, Craig Houk has written an exemplary playwright's play, a worthy offshoot of said conference. Writing long speeches that work so well with the fast dialogue is the craft lesson I can glean from this masterly horror story of implication. [7-19-26]

07.18.26 - There's a line on page 2 of this play that really resonated with me. It's not a line of dialogue but in the stage directions speaking of Elliot - "he's caught between exhaustion, intoxication, and the undeniable temptation to see where this is going." This perfectly encapsulates how you should go into a Craig Houk play. This one intrigues even as it makes you ready yourself for the inevitable dropkick you know is going to keep you up at night. Funny and creepy at the same time.

TMI! Cringe! WTF! LMAO! I loved this creeper of a play, unsettling in its revelations, funny when it's disturbing. If you're a male playwright who gets the chance to go to Valdez, watch out for Mavis & Silas!

This short play has the eerie feeling of familiarity: memories of chance encounters with very different people in a far-off place, the moment frozen in the fog of one too many shots of bourbon. The tale that Craig Houk tells is hauntingly seductive, told by characters that beg the imagination to believe, and lucid conversations that you think you heard. You don't have to have been a customer at this particular place (although I have been) to place it firmly in the realm of it-could-happen.

Craig Houk never disappoints with his signature style. Mischief at the Best Western manages to expertly walk the line of comedic intensity, which is not the easiest walk to tread. His bizarre, yet overly friendly antagonists, keep the compelling narrative rolling, keeping us just as hooked as Elliot is...all the way to the surprising finish. Well worth the read. Great roles for more mature performers.

Houk at his hilarious, creepiest best. Unhinged, weird, yet strangely alluring, as with his best work he draws you in, springs the trap when you least expect it, and you're absolutely fine with that. It should be the hit of next year's festival, if not cause a surge in submissions from those who've read and loved it. Well done.

A lamplit, Dutch-angle oddity that looks at you sidewise and sings to you in a slurry, sensuous undertone. Somehow, Houk's short play manages to be menacing and cozy at the same time. Alluring. Strange. Romantic. An excellent yarn.

In the liminal quiet of a hotel bar in far-flung Alaska, a drunk writer has to weigh an offer as unusual as the couple making it. Craig Houk's reliable gift for eccentrics' repartee is fully on display, along with his sniper's instinct for physical comedy; there's also an unexpected warmth to be found in these oddballs' reveries. It's all very strange and unmoored, yet oddly grounded and relatable. If there's more to this story, I'll jump to see or read it; as is, it's a short that's sure to linger.