Treat yourself to something up close & spooky and help the arts thrive? A no brainer!

This year in lieu of an opening night fundraiser, Rough House is offering an all-inclusive experience on Thursdays & Sundays (Oct 8- Oct 25) that includes the perks you crave, including a backstage tour so you can get in the box with those frightful puppets!

The experience includes:

• 1 ticket to Thursday or Sunday exclusive LAST show of the Night Exquisite Corpse VI: Lullabies
• 1 post show backstage tour/photo ops with puppets
• 1 drink ticket per VIP customer
• 1 entry into our giveaway!

Rough House Puppet Arts presents, House of the Exquisite Corpse, Chicago’s one and only puppet haunted house, returning for its sixth Halloween season with a new, immersive horror experience sure to haunt your dreams. Recommended for audiences aged 13 and over.

House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: Lullabies runs October 8-November 1 at Steppenwolf Theatre’s Merle Reskin Space. Six teams of Chicago artists will bring life to six unique puppet terror experiences, tapping into the horrors embedded in Lullabies for its unifying theme in 2026.

Directed this year by Chicago artist Corey Smith, veteran of House of the Exquisite Corpse and co-director of last year's triumphant Blood & Puppets.

Lobby Immersion: Jacqueline Wade & Sion Silva
Room 1: Creators VIM HILE, TANIMA • Performers CAMILLE MITCHELL, CASE DOE
Room 2: Creators CHARLIE MALAVE, CAITLIN MCLEOD • Performers  FINN BRADLEY, EDDY BARBER-ROZEMA, RACHEL HARTMANN, EMILIE WINGATE
Room 3: Creators MADIGAN BURKE, ZHEN HEINEMANN, ANDY SLATER • Performers LINDSEY BALL, CANDICE CONNOR 
Room 4: Creators LEAH LARA, DIONNE • Performers SAMUEL LEWIS II, TIA PINSON
Room 5: Creators SASKIA BAKKER, RUBY QUE • Performers KHALIL SMITH, ALEXANDER FERGUSON
Room 6: Creators J. FELIX, ABBY PALEN • Performers MALLORY LIMBRELL, SHANNON TWENTER

DIRECTION Corey Smith • PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Anastar Alvarez • DRAMATURGY Molly Sharfstein • PRODUCER Claire Saxe •  PROJECT ADMINISTRATION Marcey Abramovitz •LIGHTING DESIGN Quinn Chisenhall • ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN Melissa Schlesinger, Jackie Berland, Ken Buckingham, Nina D'Angier • SOUND DESIGN Mike Meegan • ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGN Joey Meland • PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGEMENT Kacey Lindeman • STAGE MANAGEMENT Emi Cruz, Tess Duncan•  BOX OFFICE MANAGEMENT Lucy Wirtz, Mikayla Wilson • ROUGH HOUSE MARKETING Kimzyn Campbell • PUBLIC RELATIONS Jay Kelly
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Regarding Refunds and Exchanges:
• Because of the limited number of tickets available for the remainder of the run, exchanges to a different performance date/time may not be possible.
• We are typically not able to process refunds requested less than 24 hours before the ticketed show time.
Thank you for your understanding!

Tickets are Pay What You Can

Pay What You Can lets you choose how much to pay for a ticket. Nothing should stand between between you and great puppet art, least of all a brutal social construct like money. Suggested prices can be found by selecting different ticketing options on this page. For more info on how we make Pay What You Can work, click here

Be prepared to move during this show!

Audiences enter, if you dare, in small groups via timed entries. Once inside, you must brave its dark halls for approximately 50 minutes, stopping at each room to spy through keyholes, cracks, and hidden doors to see the horrors happening within.

You will be mostly on your feet for the ~1 hour production. Chairs are available for those with difficulty standing for long stretches.

Facilities & Accessibility

 Let us know how we can help make your experience more easeful and complete!
Rough House is committed to making Exquisite Corpse accessible to everyone who wants to be there! The venue and the show are equipped with the following accessibility features:
• Fully accessible entrances and restrooms
• Accessible Seating
• Audio Descriptions
• Plain Language Summaries
• Print-outs of Spoken Text
• (Every audience member receives personal audio through headphones, so additional additional assistive listening devices are not necessary for this production.)

If any of these accommodations will help you experience this show, let us know! 
Give us a heads up of any accessibility needs at boxoffice@roughhousetheater.com
When possible please communicate requests at least 48h prior to your show.

Sensory Warnings

For attendees with sensory sensitivities, please be aware that our show may include:

• Fog and Haze
• Flashing Lights
• Loud Noises
• Depictions of Puppet Violence

Parking

Self-parking is available in the Steppenwolf parking garage at 1624 N Halsted for $20.

Accessible parking spaces are located in Steppenwolf’s valet parking lot at 1700 N Halsted, one block north of the theater. Patrons who park here may pay the standard rate of $20 at Steppenwolf’s café in Front Bar.

Come Vaccinated. Masks recommended.

For the health and safety of our audiences and especially our performers, we suggest that all audience members wear a mask and we ask that everyone be vaccinated unless you have a medical exception.

Exchanges & Refunds
If you need to swap your tickets to another ticket time, email boxoffice@roughhousetheater.com
We'll try our best to help you out, but because of the limited tickets available in this show, we may not always be able to meet your requests. We are typically not able to accommodate exchange requests at less than 24 hours notice.
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FAQs

What is an “Immersive Puppet Haunted House”?
There are 6 haunted ‘rooms’— large boxes that contain a ~6min puppet show, which is viewed through peep-holes cut in the sides of the box.You will be assembled in a small group according to your ticket time. You approach the first box, find a hole at a comfortable height, view the show, and when it is done, proceed to the next box and find your spot. The next group will be right behind you. Stationed at each hole are a pair of headphones (cleaned at frequent intervals) for you, the viewer, to hear the audio that accompanies the puppet show.

COVID-related Cancellations & Exchanges
If you or someone in your party shows any sign of illness or COVID-related symptoms, please stay home! Email us! We'll exchange your ticket for a time when you're healthy! boxoffice@roughousetheater.com