It might not be Halloween anymore (we can’t believe it’s almost Christmas), but the scare factor is returning sooner than we thought. Bath-based studio, Stormjar, will host an immersive horror game on an isolated island in the Bristol Channel in the new year.
Using a mixture of online and real-world ways to interact with the audiences, The Nightmare Market has been described as “a psychological location-based horror experience about a spirit market where monsters trade the nightmares of humankind.” But the first ‘nightmare’ tells the story of a former WWI trench radio operator living in solitude.
Set on Flat Holm, a real island in the Bristol Channel about four miles from Weston-super-Mare, you will be asked to discover the secrets of this haunted island in a variety of ways. Over the years, the strong tides of the Bristol Channel have hurled countless ships on the island’s rocks. So there are plenty of scary tales attached to the island, which has been inhabited in one way or another since the Bronze Age.
The Static Sea is described as a twisted ghost story that blends WWI history, the birth of radio and Flat Holm’s ghosts. The experience will end in March 2024, with a live event taking place on the actual haunted island. Where six lucky (or maybe unfortunate) guests will stay overnight and get to the bottom of the creepy goings-on.
To set sail to Flat Holm, you can purchase a £10 lottery ticket, giving three lucky winners, plus one guest each, to visit – all money raised over £5,500 will go to environmental projects in the Bristol Channel. The lottery will close on December 14, with the ‘winners’ revealed in January. If you miss out on the chance to visit, the online community will still be able to help out on the night. They will also be given clues to help those on the island.
Stormjar Studio was founded by Jim and Soph, who came together to merge their experiences of immersive physical and digital experiences; they aim to create expansive stories that are accessible both through real-life and online channels. If you want to get involved with this new kind of immersive horror experience, sign up to The Nightmare Market Discord & enter The Static Sea channel to find entry into the story.
To purchase your lottery ticket to The Static Sea live event head here.