Down an Oxford backstreet, turn right at the phonebox, head through the arch into the clouded courtyard: congratulations, you’ve found The Story Museum!

While it’s more famous for regular and well-attended tours and workshops for children, the Story Museum also caters for adults with regular evening shows, where stories take a darker and more bizarre turn.

The Crick Crack club, named for the shout of “Crick! Crack!” that heralds many a scary turn in an old folk story, hosts regular tale-telling performances for grown-ups. These are a perfect night for those looking for a little magic and mystery, and are also available by livestream if you fancy staying home. The theatre is well worth visiting, though; the venue is a story in itself, a small upstairs theatre, airy but intimate, a comfortably benched storyteller’s parlour panelled with salvaged doors. There’s a white rabbit on the emergency exit, and a single seat amongst lights for the storyteller.

The host and content varies, evening by evening, but tonight it is the fabulous, mesmerising Jan Blake presenting Caribbean and African fairy tales, glittering stories of transformation and desire, shot through with dream surrealities; a child in a tree, a zebu in a parlour, a well full of dilemmas – and eyeballs.

These are stories designed to be mulled over and debated, argued with and pulled apart; as you follow them down one sparkling path, they twist into another, mutable and magical. There’s freedom in a story told live; no two tellings are ever the same, and every retelling is unique and refreshed. But Jan Blake’s particular, peculiar skill lies in making these stories seem utterly strange and instantly familiar, magical mysteries that are nevertheless as intimate as if they had come from the depths of your own memories.

Exit via the magic staircase, heart filled with stories.