SQ Classics: STEAMPUNK HAUNTED HOUSE - October 31, 2010

Patrick: 00:00:08

Hello, my name's Patrick and I'm a scream queen. I'm a scream queen, and so are you.

Tom Pearson: 00:00:31

I'm Tom Pearson. I am one of three co directors of Third Rail Projects, along with Janine Willette and Zack Morris.

Zach Morris has been the vision keeper and creator of the steampunk haunted house. This is now its second year here at Abrams Art Center.

Steampunk Haunted House is based on a couple of ideas, primarily the aesthetic of steampunk, which is sort of an anachronistic future. It's like a Victorian past meets our contemporary technology, but. And sort of this fantasy world where the ultimate technology was steam.

The other main consideration that we. We wanted to address was the suspense and what.

What actually is scary, what actually terrifies people, and finding that it's not blood and gore and the. The kind of overt signifiers of violence, but really the. The idea of creating uncomfortable moments and suspense.

Patrick: 00:01:31

So now I'm doing this out of order, but after I visited the Vortex Haunted House, I stumbled across one more that sounded so interesting, I just couldn't resist it. It's called Steampunk Haunted House. And I looked at it and said, what the does that mean?

And when I looked at the website, it looked so artsy and, and, and, and different and unusual and, well, just creepy. I. I just couldn't resist. So I said to Mr. Brad, hey, do you want to go? And he's like, all right.

So joining me to talk about the steampunk haunted house is Mr. Brad.

Brad: 00:02:15

Hi, everyone.

Brad: 00:02:16

How are you?

Patrick: 00:02:17

They can't hear you. I mean, they're not going to answer. If they are, you're not going to hear them. We're fine, Mr. Brad.

Brad: 00:02:26

Patrick, you're crazy.

Patrick: 00:02:27

I know that. So does everybody else. So you had no idea what steampunk was when I mentioned it to you?

Brad: 00:02:33

Not really, no. I felt like. Did a little research on it, but it promised to be a horror house based on a genre that played on something other than blood and guts.

So I kind of felt like it was right up my alley.

Patrick: 00:02:45

That's why I asked you.

Brad: 00:02:47

And steampunk itself is based on kind of a retro futuristic vision from a Victorian era. So it'd be like what Victorian England would see in modern day times, if you know.

Patrick: 00:03:01

Yeah, pretty much that's it. And I'm going to pretend like I knew what it was. I had the vaguest idea of what it was.

I know what it looks like, but I couldn't tell you a definition of it. But anyway, I just want to take A minute to read a little bit of the website here, its description of the show, because that's what's got me.

That's what got me interested. 3, 2, 1. The Steampunk Haunted House. Presented by Zack Morris and Third Rail Projects.

Backed by popular demand, the visually stunning, lushly designed steampunk haunted house returns to the Abrams Art center this October.

In this truly immensive experience, audience members are thrust into a beautiful and terrifying dreamscape of neo Victorian elegance and phantasmagoric clockwork horrors.

Once inside, audience members are separated until one by one they find themselves alone, lost somewhere within the three sprawling floors of Abrams majestic century old playhouse. From there they must choose where to go, exploring innumerable twisting hallways, looming balconies and labyrinthine cell.

All the while the whirlwind of mechanical apparitions, wraith like sleepwalkers and gear powered beasts hurtle through corridors and lurk behind every corner and within every room.

Unlike traditional haunted houses that rely on gore or graphic violence to horrify their patrons, this event chills, delights and terrifies its audience without having to show a single drop of blood. I was sold. And plus, looking at the pictures, the design looked really cool.

I have a link up on the website because you want to check out some of this, some of the stuff, it looks pretty cool. There's a trailer that gives you a good idea of the costumes and everything like that.

So we got our tickets and off we go on an incredibly balmy 70 degree October evening. So we walk over to the Lower east side and we're walking and we're walking in. The neighborhood's getting seedier and seedier and.

Brad: 00:04:46

We're getting nervous right down through the housing project. Yes.

Patrick: 00:04:49

And Mr. Brad's going, we went the wrong way. I'm like, no, the Novas are going up. He's like, no, we went the wrong way. And then we ran into some other lost souls that were.

We can't find a haunted house. But eventually we found it and turned out I worked there before. I long time ago.

I did a show at this place and you know, I must have been high because I didn't remember the name. Didn't ring a bell. Nothing. Anyway, so here we are and what's me reviewing something without just talking about the whole experience?

Now we had timed tickets. You know, you had to pick a special in a certain time to go in. We're supposed to come in at 9 o' clock and we get in on the line.

The guy in front of us is bitching about something Just holding up the line. Shut up and move along. Like, I got lift tickets for my friend and I got student discounts.

And I went, the lady was great because, well, no, she's just this wonderful, wonderful, like large older black woman. And she's looking at him with one of them, mm kind of faces and he's just babbling on and on. She goes, honey, this is not my problem.

Take your tickets, move along. No, no, no, no.

Brad: 00:05:50

Well, I'm just here working for my health insurance.

Patrick: 00:05:57

I'm cutting that out.

Brad: 00:05:58

No, but no, no, sor.

Patrick: 00:06:03

No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, so it was funny.

Now we're waiting on the line for the 9 o' clock and I the 9:15 and these douchebags came in who didn't have any tickets and like, oh please, can we just squeeze into one more group? Oh please, oh please, oh please.

First of all, you, west was bought on tickets in advance and paid the surcharge and just trying to squeeze into a sold out thing. You. Second of all, you. They were just in their steampunk garb. And I point over to Mr. Brad, I'm like, see that, that's what I'm talking about.

That's steampunk. Or that's what they think. Steam. They, they all have their aviator goggles because that makes you steampunk. You.

Brad keeps telling me, be quiet, be quiet. They can hear him. Like, I don't care.

And one of them was wearing this trench coat, this black trench coat that clearly was from a costume store because it was from that really thin fabric that, you know, oh, here's your Dracula cape made out of. You can spit through you. I was hoping they wouldn't get in, but God damn it, they got in.

So we're waiting in the line and it becomes, I. I said to Bristol bread, oh, by the way, it's this. The sub name for this haunted house is Beautiful Dreamer.

I was reminded because I'm hearing coming from the house a music box tinkling Beautiful dreamer over and over. So we finally get escorted in with the whole 9:15 group and this guy's just like, move in. Circle around, circle around, circle around.

Brad: 00:07:28

Put your back to the wall.

Patrick: 00:07:29

Put your back to the wall. Circle around. Shut up. No talking. Circle around. And he reads us the rules.

Brad: 00:07:35

And one thing I did like was that they kind of explained what the place was going to be about. And then they handed us these lanterns. Yes, not flashlights, but. Because that would be against the genre. But these lanterns, and they were metal.

Patrick: 00:07:48

Boxes, they're brass lookingy Things with a.

Brad: 00:07:51

Light attached to the end of it.

Patrick: 00:07:53

Yeah, very fake red light that we.

Brad: 00:07:55

Wear around our neck and could use to explore the theater and explore the.

Patrick: 00:08:01

And actually the light was at the bottom of the lantern, so you had to hold it like a flashlight to see anything anyway. Otherwise you'd just be illuminating your junk. Which is fine if you want to do that in a dark theater.

I know you've done that before, Mr. Brad, but that's not the point right now. Oh, but before we went in, he tells us, oh, look at this little pedestal, which was all filled with Victorian frou fruit.

I said this was the inspiration for the house. And you might discover our storyline within this pile of fruit.

Brad: 00:08:25

About three Greek fruit furious Furies.

Patrick: 00:08:28

Yeah, there was. There was one of the things.

One of the first things I saw was a letter on the ground, a piece of paper that was describing the Greek furies, which apparently are spirits of vengeance or something. Look it up yourself. We have better things to do.

Brad: 00:08:39

And, you know, retribution, death and revenge.

Patrick: 00:08:43

Yes, very good, Very good. And there were just other things, like roses and like, Victorian things. Victorian things. Victorian things.

The other side of the pedestal I couldn't see because the douchebags were just standing right on top of it, and we couldn't see anything, but it looked like lots of handwritten written letters. Like, I saw something that was like, oh, my gosh. I can't tell. I'm so. I never would have told them had I known this would have happened.

Brad: 00:09:05

I was gonna pull his goggles and so it would pop back and hit us.

Patrick: 00:09:08

That would have been awesome. I would have given you a doll.

Brad: 00:09:10

But they said no touching, so.

Patrick: 00:09:11

Yeah, yeah, this should have said no douchery either. Anyway, so we finally get let in.

Brad: 00:09:16

We're pulled into the back of the theater, actually.

Patrick: 00:09:19

Yeah, one of the rules. One of the rules was, you know, we're. We're allowed to walk wherever we want. There's no set path.

And if one of the rules was no talking, no touching, and if somebody offers you a rope, you have to take the other end, and you cannot let go of it until you are released. So we go in. But before we go in, there's a little presentation. You know, we're walking in and we're this dark figures hovering all around.

They're all singing beautiful. Which we got really sick of because people were singing all night, but that's not the point.

But then we're lined up and we see a young girl sleeping on a bed, which all of a sudden flips over. And these three women come flying out of it and Victorian garb. And they're like hissing and screaming and snarling.

And it's this very ballet like interaction, very dance like. And they drag her off into the house. And we have the people that are singing now come off, start offering us one by one little snippies of rope.

Brad: 00:10:10

Oh, you're right. I forgot about that first little room there where they flew out.

Patrick: 00:10:15

Yeah.

Brad: 00:10:15

But then you get pulled into the back of the theater, which is really backstage.

Patrick: 00:10:20

It was the stage. The curtain was drawn, the.

Brad: 00:10:22

The curtain was down. And you had the big bed.

Patrick: 00:10:26

Yeah.

Brad: 00:10:26

And the girl is kind of laying there and then she laying there, she was driving. And then she get into. Would get into a violent. Like a dream had made her violent. And she'd lay back, sleep for a little bit.

And then she'd have another big movement again.

Patrick: 00:10:42

That sounds like she pooped the bed. Maybe she did, but no. And again, all this stuff was very dense, like very hypnotic to watch and very beautiful in its own right.

Brad: 00:10:52

And nobody was leading us anywhere now because everybody had kind of disappeared and we had to go off on our.

Patrick: 00:10:57

Yeah, I still got led further into the theater. I don't know where they dropped you off, but I'm still getting led to the. Through into the main theater area.

And I saw the first thing that gave me the creeps through this little crack in the curtain. They can't see that what you're doing.

Brad: 00:11:16

I know, but the sound was. Yeah, there's this.

Patrick: 00:11:18

There's metallic grinding. And I look through and there's this woman just bent over this. This hole in the ground with light can steam coming out of it.

And she's pulling this chain just endlessly. And it goes all the way up into the raptors. You know, I don't know how long, how high. 75Ft. Just huge change.

And it just looked like this vision of hell. I'm like, this woman's been doing this for eternity.

Brad: 00:11:40

Yeah. And it loops around and it comes back down, goes through the floor.

Patrick: 00:11:44

Yeah.

Brad: 00:11:45

Into the basement. And then comes back up through the hole again. Yeah. And you just hear it going chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk.

Patrick: 00:11:52

Now it's kind of hard to describe the rest of the house because you know, you get. You're free to wander the theater.

The guide, the main host, suggested that you find somebody that you like, find an actor that you like because they all move on a path through the house and you'll get a story of some sort because so everyone's Going to have a completely different experience, which I thought was cool. And, you know, so you did a little exploring.

It had a whole Scooby Doo feel because you're looking at all these intricate decorations with your flashlight and you're getting a story through that somebody would come bursting into a room and do something crazy. And maybe you were. Interest. Didn't follow them or maybe didn't.

Brad: 00:12:21

And there were all these little artifacts placed every place. And so my first thing was I started to look at those.

Patrick: 00:12:28

Yeah, I was doing that too.

Brad: 00:12:29

And going up to the walls and little shelves and things. And there were all sorts of things, like little syringe bottles to.

Patrick: 00:12:37

Yeah, yeah. Like there was a room full of bird cages with dead birds in it. There was, you know, a tree with violins hanging on it for no reason.

Just weird things like that. And just, of course, weird steampunky looking things. Oh, that mannequin with the tiger mask. That made me scream.

Brad: 00:12:52

Right.

Patrick: 00:12:52

That was really fucking creepy. But.

Brad: 00:12:54

And some mechanical things too. There was that one monster, mechanical monster that they.

Patrick: 00:13:00

Yeah, yeah.

Brad: 00:13:01

And that was very cool.

Patrick: 00:13:03

Yeah. And so what was neat about this? It feels like you're wandering, well, obviously through someone else's dream.

And the spirits or the residents were kind of aware of you and kind of. Not some of them were some. But you didn't feel like you were there. Nobody was popping out and going boo at you. Not really.

Might do something creepy around you. They might whisper something in your ear. But kind of felt like you weren't there for a lot of it. For me, anyway.

So the person I decided to follow was this woman that was coming off as this total predatory lesbian. And I loved her. She had Victorian garb. And I walk into this room and she's attacking this poor girl.

And actually turned out to be a bisexual woman because I guess she. She kept repeating the same loop over and over with. I guess whichever actor happened, she happened to catch.

But she would just grab them and like throw them down and try to do stuff with them and making them look at himself in a mirror. And she'd be writhing and they get away and she'd trash the room and it would be crazy.

Brad: 00:13:50

Yeah. I was gonna say, you seem to got more out of that part of the story. Initially did, but.

Patrick: 00:13:56

Well, I'm attracted to redheaded predatory lesbians. What could I say?

Brad: 00:14:01

But it seemed like after. After kind of getting through it, it was kind of maybe the wife and the husband seeming maybe to have a fight or maybe she was.

Patrick: 00:14:12

Yeah.

Brad: 00:14:12

Upset of something.

Patrick: 00:14:13

What?

Brad: 00:14:13

Because then You. You applied the Furies to it, and it was like, okay, revenge for maybe cheating, retribution for cheating or something. And then the death.

But there was interesting. People kept whispering this one thing and everyone be careful what you wish for.

Patrick: 00:14:30

Yeah. Some people were. People were either singing, some people were whispering. Like I said, Bree said, careful what you wish for.

And I had a girl going, careful what you dream about. Careful what you lust for. And that sort of a thing. So there was a Victorian morals thing coming into this as well.

I went back into the main room where the stage was, and I found all these torn notes, and they all said the same thing, or it was close to the same thing. We know what you did. They know what you did. You know what you did. I know what you did. Over and over and over again.

Kind of like all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And that was in the main nightmare room. I'm like, okay, so I guess she's been having dirty thoughts. That's what I got.

If we're talking about lust and I know what you did. She did something dirty. Or maybe not. Didn't really matter. It was your own story, making up. And there was no help.

I got the feeling that the whole place was a little bit crowded. Like, if there are a few less of us, I think it might have been a better experience. But I'm blaming it on the douchebags. Douchebags ruin everything.

There also seemed to be a divide between the performers there. It's a theater company that puts this on, and mostly they do dance.

And that was very evident in all these spirits and the people that they were attacked. It would be very dance oriented, very energetic, very terrifying and lovely to watch.

And then there was everybody else who seemed to be high school students and.

Brad: 00:15:37

Not quite as into it or not.

Patrick: 00:15:40

Not as skilled.

Brad: 00:15:41

Skilled, but still very interesting. Very visually.

Patrick: 00:15:45

Yeah.

Brad: 00:15:46

And it's. It took a moment to discover.

You know, sometimes you just walk through a house and you feel like you're being pushed through at ding, ding, ding, ding, bing. You discover this at your own pace. Yeah.

Patrick: 00:15:58

And you discover what you find.

Brad: 00:15:59

Sometimes you were sitting there going, okay, what am I supposed to look for? And then all of a sudden you look a little bit closer, and there you get immersed in something and you're like, what does this mean?

What does that mean? And, yeah, it was nice. One of my most exciting things to discover, though, was when I went up towards the stage again.

Patrick: 00:16:19

Oh, yes, yes, yes. The train woman. The woman pulling the chain.

Brad: 00:16:22

Remember?

Patrick: 00:16:22

Tongue, tongue, tongue, tongue, tongue, tongue. Tongue.

Brad: 00:16:23

I decided that I'd look down into.

Patrick: 00:16:25

The hole, which had this bright light beaming out of it with the steam.

Brad: 00:16:29

And there was a guy down dressed in very Victorian clothes.

Patrick: 00:16:35

Yeah, your basic steampunk with the. With the. With the. With the goggles and everything. But it. Deep in the bowels of. Under the stage with the.

Brad: 00:16:41

With tools and pipe tools and stuff in the whole. Basically, what would be a steam engine down there and sweating.

Patrick: 00:16:49

And it was creepy as hell. It, like, added to the whole hellish vision. And I'm like, okay, that's weird.

Brad: 00:16:54

Yeah. And it looked like he had been there forever.

Patrick: 00:16:56

Forever. Forever. And that's going to come back later. Like I said, this is really hard to describe.

Otherwise, finally they come and get us because, you know, you don't know how long you're going to be in there. Like, we will. You'll know when it's time for you to go. We'll come and get you.

And so they come and get us, and we're herded down into the bowels of the theater. And, you know, we're thinking it's over. And it is for the most part. But there's one more thing to see.

And this is what tied the whole house together for me and just left me with this great Oogie creepy feeling. I had to explain it to Mr. Brad. But that's okay. I understand that.

Brad: 00:17:25

Oogie and creepy, Yes. I didn't understand oogie and creepy.

Patrick: 00:17:28

No. But he didn't get why I found it oogie and creepy. There was that girl again from the beginning on a little bed, still having a nightmare.

But she had puppet strings tied to her arms and her feet.

And her writhing is being pulled by these mysterious puppet strings which are being held by this woman who's hovering over her, whispering in her ear. You can't hear what she's whispering, but.

And if you follow the puppet string back, you could see that there's a woman back there weaving, you know, using a loom, which is being powered by the steam, which was the guy under the stage, which was attached to the chain. So I'm like, this is all this weird spider web sort of spinning this nightmare for the sleeping woman. I said, that was a really creepy image.

He didn't get that part of it, or that's not what he interpreted it as. But when I explained it to him after, he's like, oh, that is creepy.

Brad: 00:18:14

No, I. My initial. My initial thought was that it was somehow tied into some sort of S M something or another. I. I Don't know, but it was.

Patrick: 00:18:22

It worked. That works, too. Yeah. It had that flavor of it as well.

Brad: 00:18:24

So after you explained that, you saw that the. The threads were kind of. Instead of being just a bondage thread kind of also being woven.

Patrick: 00:18:35

It was all attached.

Brad: 00:18:36

Yeah. That. It made a lot of sense. Yeah. And it also. With the. The music that kept playing.

Patrick: 00:18:46

I have to go pee. I don't know the lyrics, but, yeah, I thought it was cool.

Honestly, of the three houses that I visited, in a way, this one was my favorite because it was the most different than anything that I saw. I like that the story wasn't forced down your throat. I like that there was nobody leaping out at you. But yet it was creepy. And the.

The space was fantastic. This old theater was the creepiest place to have this. And just being able to explore all these nooks and crannies was exciting.

Brad: 00:19:09

Yeah. And I think the.

You know, for me, it's always the whole idea of this alternate possibility of a universe or a life experience that what if something had changed? And it brought that back in very well.

Patrick: 00:19:22

Yeah. And hopefully they'll do it again next year. I have all the information on the show. Notes. Steampunk Haunted House. I liked it.

Brad: 00:19:29

So did I.

Patrick: 00:19:30

Far out. I like you, Mr. Brad.

Brad: 00:19:33

I like you, too.

Patrick: 00:19:34

And gross. All of the music for tonight's show, unless otherwise specified, has been written by Sam Haynes. You can find all of his music@www.bandcamp.com.