Heck House's Super Spooky Haunted Hallway: Thalassophobia Edition

Friday, October 31 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM 

Saturday, November 1 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Sunday, November 2 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Tickets are available by Donation

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Grapple with your fear of the ocean's depths as you pass through the Spooky Haunted House hallway down below Mayo Street Art's main stage hall.  The 3rd Annual edition of this spooktacular event organized by Molly Picone and a cast of local creatives now finds its new home at MSA - the perfect spot for a haunted experience featuring all handmade costumes and puppets both large and small!

Join us as we dive deep into the ocean, beyond where the sunlight shines, past the bounds of human discovery, into a seascape stranger than you’ve ever seen. This year’s haunt will leave you delighted and terrified as you enter into a dreamscape full of sea monsters, sirens, and shimmering serpents of the deep. All ages are welcome to explore the murky depths of the haunt as well as the leviathan’s petting zoo out back. Bring your best scream… we hope to spook you there!

This haunted hallway will take over MSA's studio level for three nights this hallowed season. Enter through the studio level door and exit out the back of the theater after a series of scares along the way, or skip right to the back for the most family friendly and accessible features of the installation.  

Because Heck House aims to create a haunt experience like no other, they say a hearty “no!” to store-bought animatronics, props, and costumes and instead lean into hand-crafted, highly freakish puppetry and art, which frankly is much scarier. While all haunted houses are beautiful in their own right, they feel a sense of obligation to show the world just how spectacular an anti-Big Box haunt can be. Taking inspiration from the beloved low-budget rubber puppets of B movie horror infamy, Heck House’s creatures are unlike anything you’ll ever see at a store, emphatically hand-made and militantly non-symmetrical. Puppets of all shapes and sizes will float, nuzzle, scuttle, and dance their way through Mayo St Arts. While primarily working with hand puppets, there will be some larger, cuddlier dowel puppets, some lilting shadow puppets, some jumpy rod puppets, and some globby marionette-style creatures. Puppets and horror have always gone hand in hand, and Heck House is going to show you why.

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Artist Bio:

This is Heck House’s third season, and they are thrilled to be moving out of their parents’ backyard and into the ever puppety, highly weather-resistant Mayo Street Arts! Their haunt has always placed an emphasis on handmade rather than store-bought, strange rather than predictable, and fun rather than shocking or upsetting. They aim to create a highly spooky experience for absolutely everybody that wants to be spooked, because that’s what Halloween is all about.

This edition of the Super Spooky Haunted Hallway will have live spooky sounds performed by Jack Morbacher to keep the abyss feeling nice and abyss-y, and shadow puppets will be performed by Josie Willis. The haunt will feature puppets, costumes, and decorations from almost a dozen local and national artists, including artists from The Art Department and The Art Certificate Program. While Heck House does aim to scare, they also want to bring together as much art as we can from as many creators as possible in order to draw out and showcase the beauty that emerges when we lean into strangeness. A main goal of this haunt is to show the audience that in an increasingly menacing world, where it seems like all we can be is scared, joy can still be found. When we choose to collectively harness our fears and, rather than run away from them, use them as fodder and inspiration, the sky’s (or should we say the deepest briny depths) our limit.

Molly Picone - Heck House's artistic director - is a fiber artist based in salty Southern ME. They forewent a professional artistic education to get a degree in a field that they will never find a job in, so now they’re working as hard as they can to make their weird art successful and palatable. Molly currently works as an art mentor and direct support provider for adults with developmental disabilities, learning every day how to make art that connects, inspires, and terrifies the people around them. Molly places an emphasis on using found and repurposed items to create their pieces, in hopes of increasing not only the sustainability of their creative process but also the heart that lives in their work.

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PAY WHAT YOU CAN

No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please use this online form or contact MSA at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org to take advantage of pay-what-you-can admission.

EVENT PARKING

Free on-street parking is available in Mayo Street Arts’ neighborhood.

There is one paid parking lot conveniently located a six-minute walk from the venue: Top of the Old Port Parking (119 Pearl St, Portland ME 04101)

Mayo Street Arts is accessible by Greater Portland Metro bus routes with nearby transfer points 7, 9A & 9B. Click here to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

All performances and most other events held at Mayo Street Arts are wheelchair accessible. There are two accessible spots directly in front of our building, however there is not yet a curb cut out at that location.

If you would benefit from additional information or accommodations, we invite you to contact us at info@mayostreetarts.org or 207-879-4629.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Audience members — in addition to artists, staff & volunteers — who feel sick or exhibit symptoms of illness should stay home out of respect for others.

SEATING POLICY

We will save your reserved seat until showtime, at which point any unclaimed seats may be offered to other people. Please call our box office at 207-879-4629 if you are running late.

CANCELATION POLICY

MSA has a no refund policy for all reservations. In the event that MSA is forced to cancel an event due to weather, illness, etc., refunds will be offered via the Ticket Tailor platform.