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Chicago’s only immersive puppet haunted house
House of the Exquisite Corpse IV: Superstitions
Chicago’s one and only immersive puppet haunted house
returns October 10-November 2
at Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Garage Space
Here at ChiIL Live Shows & ChiIL Mama, we've caught every year of Rough House's House of the Exquisite Corpse, since its inception. Aside from their pandemic era offering with full face shields, that fogged up like aquarium glass, it's been a macabre delight.
Chicago’s only immersive puppet haunted house, House of the Exquisite Corpse IV: Superstitions, returns October 10-November 2 at Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Garage Space with an all-new program of puppet horror sure to shock, astonish and inspire.
Fans of Halloween, haunted houses, puppetry and live theater are the ideal audience for House of the Exquisite Corpse, where original puppetry, physical performance, soundscape, and illusion combine for a frightfully fun night of smart, creative adult Halloween revelry.
Or, as the Chicago Reader put it, “if you want to move beyond schlock and shock into an elevated horror experience this October, look no further than House of the Exquisite Corpse.”
Rough House Theater's House of the Exquisite Corpse III in 2023 featured this puppet by Grace Needlman and Pablo Monterubio, puppeteered by Lindsey Ball. Credit: Yvette Marie Dostatni
Each fall, Rough House Theatre’s puppet haunt returns with a new theme. 2024 is the year of Superstitions.
So don’t step on a crack, because six teams of Chicago artists who work in puppetry and other disciplines have joined to create six different puppet horror experiences, each inspired by a different superstition:
“Step on a crack”
By Ken Buckingham and Corey Smith
“Broken Mirror”
by Justin D’Acci and Pablo Monterrubio
“If you lie, the devil’s darning needle will sew your mouth shut”
By Chio Cabrera, Alonso Galue and Brett Swinney
“Through the Looking Glass”
By Felix Mayes and Cam Armstrong Smith
“A White Bird in the House is an Omen of Death”
By Jacky Kelsey, Fletcher Pierson and Kevin Wesson
“An ill fate befalls those who pluck from fruit in their dreams”
By Sion Silva and Emilie Wingate
House of the Exquisite Corpse III features puppets by Ken Buckingham, puppeteered by Felix Mayes and Kevin Michael Wesson. Credit Yvette Marie Dostatni
House of the Exquisite Corpse III featured puppets by Emilie Wingate and Tom Lee, puppeteered by Sam Lewis. Credit Yvette Marie Dostatni
Enter House of the Exquisite Corpse IV: Superstitions, if you dare.
First, you’ll gather in a make-shift foyer, where a bar sells beer, wine and a truly horrifying speciality cocktail (TBA).
Next, small groups enter via timed entries. Once inside, they huddle close together, braving the house’s dark, murky expanse, stopping by each “room” to spy through keyholes, cracks, and hidden doors to witness the carnage, horrors, and sometimes, humor, happening inside.
“Our Halloween production gives local puppet artists the freedom to follow their own visions, create their own visuals, and be motivated by whatever flavor of horror that freaks that person out the most,” said Mike Oleon, Co-Artistic Director of Rough House, who conceived House of the Exquisite Corpse with fellow Co-Artistic Director, Claire Saxe.
“Then we all come together to assemble a collaborative installation that, collectively, blurs the lines between horror, puppetry and theater, beckoning you to gaze into a variety of nightmares you won’t soon forget.”
Opening Night is Thursday, October 10. Visit House of the Exquisite Corpse, if you dare, Thursday through Saturday, through November 2. Ticketed entries are every 15 minutes, starting at 7 p.m. Last entry at 9:30 p.m.
Tickets are $21-$46, and go on sale August 18 at RoughHouseTheater.com. Rough House also offers several Pay What You Want options. This production is recommended for audiences ages 14 and over.
House of the Exquisite Corpse III featured this puppet by
Grace Needlman and Pablo Monterubio, puppeteered by Lindsey Ball.
Credit: Yvette Marie Dostatni
House of the Exquisite Corpse III featured puppets by Jacky Kelsey, puppeteered by Chio Cabrera and Lucy Wirtz. Credit Yvette Marie Dostatni
About Rough House Theater Co.
Rough House Theater Co. is on a mission to connect individuals and communities through art that celebrates the weird things that make us unique and the weirder things that bring us together.
Rough House creates theater that captures the heart through the eye. Their shows use puppetry, music, and human performance to tell intimate stories, as strange as they are sincere. Through performances, presentations of work by fellow artists, and artist training, Rough House aspires to make Chicago a national hub of contemporary puppet theater, comprising a diverse and ever-growing community of audiences and artists.
Earlier this year, the Chicago Reader named Rough House Theatre Company’s Nasty, Brutish & Short puppet cabaret series “Best late-night adult-content puppet cabaret.” The company’s work has also appeared in the National Puppetry Festival, The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, punk houses, funeral parlors, a lotion factory, and the woods of Appalachia.
For more information, visit RoughHouseTheater.com and follow the company on Instagram and Facebook.
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