alternative museum programming & site-specific immersive experiences
Doctor Lantornia 1.jpg

HAUNTED BY HISTORY- A Phantasmagoria

HAUNTED BY HISTORY ran through the month of October in 2017 at Old Sturbridge Village in central Massachusets.

Guests gather at the graveyard by the Center Meetinghouse (built in 1832) where they meet Dr. Lantornia, a mysterious showman who promises them he can conjure spirits from New England’s past in his “Phantasmagoria.” He leads them into the darkened meetinghouse where they participate in a séance, encountering the ghosts of several New England figures who died in the 19th century with unfinished business, including abolitionist writer Lydia Maria Childs, millionaire industrialist Samuel Colt, decorated naval officer Commodore Matthew Perry, Zerah “The Human Calculator” Colburn and prison reform activist Dorothea Dix. The séance goes awry when we find out all is not as it seems and Dr. Lantornia has ulterior motives for his Phantasmagoria...

Sam Urdang as Samuel Colt

Sam Urdang as Samuel Colt

Kirby Cernosek as Lydia Maria Child

Kirby Cernosek as Lydia Maria Child

Nathan Pecchia as Commodore Matthew C. Perry

Nathan Pecchia as Commodore Matthew C. Perry

Jake Austin Robertson as Dr. Lantornia

Jake Austin Robertson as Dr. Lantornia

Written, Directed & Designed by P.J. Griffith