Many of us who are old enough to remember shopping in ‘In Shops’ may view that as a nightmare market, but there’s a different kind of experience opening in Bristol.
A fascinating new horror experience, The Nightmare Market, is launching in Bristol this month, allowing fans to immerse themselves in unique, creative digital and real life stories and experiences.
‘The Nightmare Market’ is a new story world from Stormjar Studio, created by Bristol creative designers Sophie Shaw and Jim Wheale who met working on “2.8 Hours Later”, the world’s largest street game in the 2010s. Since then, Sophie has worked with leading immersive organisations on ambitious projects, including a one-of-a-kind festival experience for an audience of 60,000, the world’s first amazement park, and a 12-hour BAFTA-nominated theatrical broadcast.
Jim has been working in multi-sensory storytelling and innovative technology, creating dining experiences for astronauts and digital experiences paired with the world’s rarest chocolate. They’re now delving into the challenge of bridging the physical and digital realms to create expansive story worlds that are accessible through various real life and online channels.
‘The Nightmare Market’, which opened its doors on Halloween this year, where the first story, The Static Sea, was revealed. The story focuses on a radio engineer from the 1920s who served as a trench radio operator during WWI. However, since the end of the war, he has lived in solitude on Flat Holm, an island in the Bristol Channel, which is allegedly haunted. People will be able to interact with the story in several different ways, including online, where they’ll be able to uncover the mysteries surrounding the island as the story unfolds, but they will also be able to purchase a lottery ticket for the opportunity to secure a spot at ‘The Static Sea’ live event, which will take place with an incredible real life overnight immersive experience on the island of Flat Holm in March 2024.
The Static Sea live event will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, giving six lucky participants a truly unique immersive horror experience. Tickets include a boat trip to the island, dinner and breakfast and an overnight stay in The Grade II Listed Fog Horn Cottage, and ticket holders will be thrust into the story of the island through an immersive psychological horror experience that will unfold throughout their visit. Those who are following the story through the digital community will gain access to exclusive digital content filled with clues, which they will be able to use to help those experiencing the story of the island in real life to unravel the mysteries surrounding the radio engineer, the island, and the alleged hauntings.
Speaking about the experience, founder Jim Wheale:
“Most artists spend their lives pursuing their passion project. We are launching Stormjar with ours. We want this to be the mission statement for what we make and do – amazing historic space, democratic, community driven, one of a kind experiences. The world is on fire. Nothing makes sense. Come be part of something that matters to you.”
You can find out more about Stormjar, The Nightmare Market and The Static Sea on the website here
