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“a horror experience like no other"
an overnight hybrid horror experience that took place online and on Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel in September 2024.
Photo by Jack Offord
Ahead of the launch, an online community was built around the story through online films, puzzles and digital art.
Photo & video by Malaper Photographyguests were chosen via a lottery and visited the uninhabited island to play out the the story’s finale.
Photos by Jack Offordghosts emerged from the static, demons prowled the land, and monsters from The Nightmare Market struck deals.
The Static Sea was brought to life through crowdfunding support from 250 people worldwide, produced by Stormjar and executive produced by Alex Dean with a team of volunteers to raise funds for the conservation of Flat Holm.
Photo by Jack Offord
Image: © Hawlfraint y Goron / © Crown copyright (2024) Cymru WalesFlat Holm Island
Flat Holm is a small Welsh Island with a mysterious and macabre past. A haunted lighthouse, a quarantine hospital, the smallest pub in Wales and many many ghost stories…
Now a designated nature reserve and site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The crumbling remains of its dark history is preserved alongside breeding colonies of great black-backed gulls, herring gulls, slowworms and rare plants such as rock sea-lavender and wild leek.
The Crowdfunder
On 14th November 2023, we launched this project on Indiegogo. The news spread quickly, and The Static Sea was featured in BBC News, Time Out and the Daily Express. On 9th January 2024, we reached our 100% funding target and went on to raise £1000 for the Flat Holm Society charity.
A total of 250 backers supported this project and claimed perks such as telegrams, soundtrack downloads and have even named some of the ghosts in the story!
Despite the project's focus on a small Welsh Island, we've had backers from Germany, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, India, Canada and the United States!
Photo by André PattendenThe Story
We released fragments of backstory online through puzzles, film and digital art. The story brings together real historic elements of the island, such as the birth of radio with the world’s first wireless transmission sent from the island to the Welsh mainland, the now derelict and crumbling quarantine hospital for sailors and smugglers caves where 18th-century pirates would hide contraband from the Cardiff Port authorities, combining them with our creative ideas.
All of the backstory was collated on a story-so-far website which was put together by our community on Discord who were actively uncovering the story.
THE Live Event
The story’s finale took place as a hybrid event on Saturday, September 14th, 2024. Six lucky participants, chosen by lottery, journeyed to the island and were transported back in time to 1924, a century earlier. The participants searched for ghosts, unraveled the mystery and made pivotal decisions that shaped the outcome.
Meanwhile, people from around the world joined on Discord to play an online version of the story, featuring photos, audio and videos streamed in real-time from the island. Due to the emergent nature of the online game, this extended into the following evening, culminating in seven hours of live gameplay.
McKenna Fernandez from Little Dot Studios/Shiver Dark History created a three-part TikTok series on The Static Sea and the history on Flat Holm Island
Louis and James Inglis from HANA news wrote an article focusing on the environmental aspect of the project.
What was perfect about this mix of brilliant creators was how they each covered different angles of the project -horror, history and environmental impact—three areas we’re equally passionate about.
REVIEWS
We recieved some incredible reviews from both the volunteers who helped us bring the experience to life and the ticket winners who joined us on the island.
We also invited Ash Millman, a UK content creator specialising in horror and dark fantasy, who produced a deep-dive review.
a UK content creator specialising in horror & dark fantasy who made us a deep dive review
McKenna Fernandez from Little Dot Studios/Shiver Dark History who made a three part TikTok series about the event and history on Flat Holm Island
and Louis & James Inglis from HANA news who wrote an article about the environmental side of the project.
What was perfect about these mix of brilliant creators is they covered it from three angles that we are equally passionate about.
RECAP & AFTERMOVIE
Want a flavour of the experience? Here’s a quick recap or full aftermovie
SOUNDTRACK
The OST was made by Jim Wheale, co-founder of Stormjar
Each character has it’s own theme in which many of the characters are named by our backers
Thank You
We want to say a massive thank you to the volunteers who have made this experience happen, The Flat Holm Society Charity, the Cardiff Harbour Authority, Cardiff Council, Vale of Glamorgan Council, the World Experience Organisation, Duchess Media, Andre Pattendon, everyone who has contributed, shared or spoken about this campaign (especially those in the Discord taking part in the story every single week), our Executive Producer Alex Dean, the warden and volunteers on Flat Holm Island itself, and the teams at Indiegogo and RallyUp.