Two innovative Off Broadway productions currently exploring paranormal themes employ distinct approaches to immerse audiences in their stories. “A Ghost in Your Ear,” running through December 12 at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theater in Manhattan, and “The 4th Witch,” recently concluded at NYU’s Skirball Center, both blend narrative with technical craft to evoke atmospheric, ghostly experiences.

“A Ghost in Your Ear,” written and directed by Jamie Armitage, unfolds within a recording studio where Lucas (portrayed by Lucas Iverson) arrives to record an audio ghost story. His friend Sid (Owen Campbell) manages the sound engineering, demonstrating a specialized binaural microphone designed to capture surround sound through headphones worn by audience members. This device, shaped like an Easter Island–style head, enables immersive spatial audio, with sounds appearing to move distinctly between the listener’s ears. The technology, created by sound designers Ben and Max Ringham—known for their work on productions like “A Doll’s House” and “Prima Facie”—enhances subtle effects such as whispered voices and footsteps, intensifying the eerie ambiance.

The narrative centers on a man visiting an isolated house to sort through his deceased father’s belongings, employing familiar ghost story motifs. However, despite the innovative use of binaural sound, some critics note the production does not fully exploit the microphone’s capabilities. Additionally, visual jump scares punctuate the performance, which may limit the impact on future audio-only listeners. The play touches on themes of storytelling’s power but stops short of deeply exploring the concept of narrative manifesting its own reality.

In contrast, “The 4th Witch,” a wordless piece conceived and directed by Drew Dir for Chicago’s Manual Cinema, presents a shadow puppetry and live silhouette performance that invites audiences to observe a film being made onstage. Set in a war-torn environment alluding to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the story follows a girl who, after losing her parents in a bombing, finds refuge in Birnam Wood with a mysterious crone. The narrative melds dreamlike imagery, mystical elements, and ambiguous revenge, achieved through an interplay of shadow puppets and live actors, often blending their appearances into indistinguishable projections.

Manual Cinema’s production exposes the mechanics of its craft by allowing viewers to see puppeteers and actors manipulating figures in real time, while a three-piece band performs an original score by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Yegter. The company’s signature storytelling style, which merges light, darkness, and shadow, has previously extended beyond theater, including collaborations with the music act Iron & Wine, contributions to the Obama Presidential Center Museum, and involvement in the 2021 “Candyman” remake.

While the plot of “The 4th Witch” may elude full clarity at times, its visual and auditory presentation maintains a compelling grip on the audience, illustrating how transparency in production techniques need not diminish theatrical impact, but can enhance the immersive quality of storytelling.