In what is perhaps the most stylistic NIGHTMARE to date, this year's theme is Fairy Tales. Under the direction of Creator and Co-Director Timothy Haskell, NIGHTMARE: FAIRY TALES stages the original versions of well-known (and some lesser known) fairy tales at their most gruesome and horrific. Over the centuries many of these fables have evolved into sanitized entertainment for children, but they began as racy and violent tales intended to keep children from misbehaving.
Get lost in a dark forest and wander through the woods while becoming the characters and reliving the terrifying experiences extracted from over a dozen twisted stories handed down by
The Brothers Grimm, Aesop, Hans
Christian Anderson, and more. Try and stay on the path as you go from cottage to cottage - each housing a familiar tale told in the way they were intended - to scare the wits out of you! Each cottage gets more and more intense until you reach the climactic conclusion. Then you have to find your way home. Be careful, though, there are hidden cottages to explore.
"The original purpose for virtually all fairy tales was to scare children straight, so they wouldn't do anything dangerous, bad or amoral," says co-director and creator
Timothy Haskell. "We are going to teach those same lessons to our audiences! The narratives of the Fairy Tales chosen lend themselves to Nightmare's unique theatricality, while giving opportunities for fantastical scenarios and set pieces."
Another component to this year's NIGHTMARE will be a sensory assaulting 5-D theatre experience called THE EXPERIMENT created and directed by John Harlacher and
Timothy Haskell. Unlike year's past where the second event was a much smaller prelude to the main event, THE EXPERIMENT is actually Full-on, every bit as satisfying and experiential as the haunted house. Experienced from your chair in a small lab, you are a subject in a case study for research on the threshold of fear. Will YOUR limits be hit?
The NIGHTMARE: FAIRY TALES artistic team is headed up by
Paul Smithyman (Production Designer) and Justin Haskell (Art Director) and David Hinkle (associate Art Director). The rest of the team includes:
Garin Marshall (Lights),
David Roy (sound),
Aaron Haskell (specialty props), ND
Candice Thompson (costumes).
http://www.hauntedhousenyc.com/
