This paper examines how the epistemological crisis born of the destabilisation of the old word order reshaped early Modern English theatre, and how its reaction to the threatening chaos led to the emergence of the genre ‘revenge tragedy’ – although ‘metaphysical horror’ would be a more accurate moniker.  Three exceptionally important representatives of this unique genre, Thomas Middleton, John Webster and John Ford, all had a different way of processing the foundational cultural experiences of the era (in the fields of theology, anatomy, astrology, painting, politics and gender,) and elevating them to become a dramaturgical organising principle.