The Book of Darkness & Light is going on tour – and we need your help to get the show on the road.
Three chilling tales. Two ghostly performers. One thrilling night.
On an Autumn evening in 2015, two friends told a ghost story to 1,500 people in a dimly-lit church in the centre of Leeds. Now, after a tour to libraries, arts spaces and theatres, Adam and Ben are going back on the road with their thrilling tales and haunting violin accompaniment.
WATCH our show trailer: https://youtu.be/K09MROlwVH0
Who Are We?
We are Adam Z. Robinson and Ben Styles, Storyteller and Musician, and we need your help to make our tour a success.
We've been working together on our ghost story shows for a couple of years and we've been thrilled with the response we've received. In fact, it's the kind comments, support and reception from audiences which have pushed us to take the show out for a second tour. This time, everything is under our own steam. It's a huge challenge - but we really want to bring our creepy tales to new venues, towns and audiences.
The Tour
Spanning 3 months the tour will take us to 22 theatres up and down the country. We've already announced the following dates: Ropery Hall, Barton-upon-Humber (21 Oct), Century Theatre, Coalville (28 Oct), Shelley Theatre, Boscombe (2 Nov), Margate Theatre Royal (4 Nov). But there are many more due to be announced soon.
Getting the Show on the Road
We need your help! Taking the show to all of these different venues, across all of these different dates, has many costs.
Your gift - however large or small - will help us with: vehicle hire for the tour, putting petrol in the van, hiring technicians, accommodation, equipment hire and marketing costs. Our IndieGoGo target is just a fraction of what we need to raise - but it will make a huge difference. We'd be so grateful if you would consider supporting us.
The New Show
We're currently working on a brand new set of stories - a brand new Book of Darkness & Light show! We're working in association with Square Chapel Arts Centre and Harrogate Theatre. We really want to bring the new stories to some of the libraries we played at last year. These library shows will be on a Pay What You Decide basis - making them available to everyone. We can only do these shows with your help.
Ghost Story Writing Workshops
Adam is looking into running a course of ghost story writing workshops. This is a big project and requires lots of time and dedication. But, it's something we really want to do. Again, we need your help to achieve this! (This is one of our 'stretch goals' if we exceed our target).
Our Target
Our IndieGoGo target is only a small fraction of what we need to raise in order to do all of the things we'd like to. But getting your donations will make a big difference. We hope you will consider supporting us.
Rewards
Any donations, large or small, would be appreciated immensely. We have a fantastic list of rewards – our original violin soundtrack, unique horror haikus, signed posters and scripts and even a live performance of the show in a venue of your choosing (ghost stories in your living room, anyone?). These are our way to say thank you for whatever you can give.
The Book of Darkness & Light Team:
Adam Z. Robinson
Writer and The Storyteller in The Book of Darkness & Light. The first horror movie Adam ever saw was Silver Bullet. He was both terrified and hooked from that moment. Today, his favourite scary movies are The Exorcist, The Wicker Man and The Blair Witch Project. He is obsessed with M.R. James and pretty much all ghost story writers.
Ben Styles
Violinist, composer and The Musician in The Book of Darkness & Light. Ben saw The Mummy when he was 12 and did not like it one bit. In the past few years though he has rediscovered horror and particularly likes the surreal ghost stories of E.F. Benson.
Dick Bonham
Producer (LittleMighty) and Dramaturg for The Book of Darkness & Light. Dick is a massive fan of classic Hammer Horror films, with his favourite being Plague of the Zombies and Quatermass and the Pit. He is a big fan of gothic literature, with his favourites including Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.
Stretch goals
If this campaign does well and we exceed our target, the extra funds will go towards:
- A course of creative writing workshops
- Library shows: The brand new show will be taken to various libraries on a Pay What You Decide basis.
- Further marketing, to make sure we fill every venue.
- More stories and tours going beyond 2017/18.
Risks and challenges
The main risk is that we struggle to pay for the travel to each venue, accommodation for all of the dates and can't afford technical staff members for certain dates. Plus, there is some extra equipment we'd like to hire for bigger auditoria in order to deliver the best show possible.
The other risk we can foresee is that we don’t secure the audience sizes we are expecting. We feel that this is unlikely – our proposition of a thrilling ghost story with live music in an unusual venue is one that people seem to get behind – but it is a possibility.
We will put everything we can into marketing the show and, as mentioned above, any extra we might raise from this campaign will go towards making sure people know about the events.