Projects / The production of daily life

Horror Inc. – The city will eat you alive


Haunted House experience
St Joseph's Church, Sailortown, Belfast
29th October 2018

This Halloween, Household & friends and the Snailortown Crew kids presented Horror Inc., a Haunted House experience like no other. On Monday 29th October between 6PM and 9PM in St Joseph’s Church, Household, young people living in – and with an connection to – the Sailortown neighbourhood, and our volunteer team guided visitors through an immersive experience collaboratively designed and built by the participants in a series of workshops in September and October 2018.

The theme of the Horror Inc. Haunted House was ‘the city will eat you alive’ and the event playfully explored horror in the context of the rapidly changing and encroaching city at a pertinent time in Belfast’s urban development. The Horror Inc. Haunted House was inspired by workshops with Household’s artist in residence, Sol Archer, part of the artist’s long term project The production of daily life, during which young participants made a horror film.

Visitors were welcomed at the reception lounge by Horror Inc. staff, shown a corporate ‘induction’ video, and were led through an ‘enchanted’ forest to the autopsy room. Guided by the animals of Sailortown, they witnessed Dr. Guts and her assistant attempts at resuscitating and dissecting Belfast, followed by a visit to Tom’s hipster human pie shop. Footage from the NI Archive and a cast of suited zombified characters accompanied them along their increasingly frantic journey towards the exit.

Support

Household would like to thank everyone involved in making Horror Inc. possible. Thanks to Thomas Wells and his minions for their freakish pie shop, Stephen Millar and Dr.Guts’ autopsy of Belfast, Alessia Cargnelli and the Ghost Animals’ forest, Clodagh Lavelle and David Frederick Mahon, the talking head and axe murderer in reception, Ana Truchanova and ‘The Pig‘ tour guides with the washing line demon, Charlene and Jonathan terrifying people at the front, the Ghoul in the glass box, Phil Hession, Mitch Conlon, Ruaidhri Lennon and their gang unruly zombies and Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell and Jennifer Mehigan on sound, smoke and lights, Connie McGrath and the excellent zombie make-up, Trisha McNally for the spooky props, Emma Campbell the witch photographer and Colm Clarke for making the set, Sean and Clare Greer for the graphic design and Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive for the visuals. Also a big thanks to Gerard Rosato from Clanmil Housing Association and Terry McKeown from Sailortown Regeneration Group. The Sailortown kids were incredible, and shout out to Danny for this brilliant idea.

This event is kindly supported by NI Screen, Clanmil Housing Association, Sailortown Regeneration, and funding through the Big Lottery Northern Ireland Awards for All.