HOUSE OF THE EXQUISITE CORPSE V: BLOOD & PUPPETS
House of the Exquisite Corpse returns with a fifth edition of new immersive puppet horror, guaranteed to make your blood run cold. In a new vein of horror, six artist teams will each bring to life a different exquisite terror. Whether it be Blood & Power, Blood & Family, Blood & Sacrifice, each room in this year’s house will take BLOOD & PUPPETS to a place you’ve never seen before.
Thursdays | Fridays | Saturdays, October 9 – November 1, 2025
The Merle at Steppenwolf
***House of the Exquisite Corpse V: Blood and Puppets is currently SOLD OUT!***
WAITING LIST/STANDBY PROTOCOL:
There is no advance wait-list for House of the Exquisite Corpse. However, we will be building a list for standby tickets at the door!
Because of the unique rolling entry of the show, each night will have three unique standby groups.
> We will be accepting names for the waiting list beginning on the hour 7pm, 8pm, or 9pm.
> Standby members will either be admitted to the show or released by 45m after the hour (e.g. 7:45)
> Because our lobby gets crowded, we are not able to accept people before the hour for the following hour's standby list.
> The standby list for each hour is first come, first served
> We are not able to hold a reservation of multiple spots on the standby list; each person holds their own spot on the list, in the order of arrival
Due to the nature of the show –viewing peep-holes + individual headphones – the capacity for Exquisite Corpse is strictly limited; as much as we would like to, we are not able to "squeeze" additional people in. Thank you for your understanding!
Entry/Exit Chambers: INSTALLATION DESIGN/FABRICATION Jacqueline Wade • PERFORMER Miguel Long
Room 1: Blood and Miracles CREATORS Casey Doe & Quinn Kempe • PERFORMERS Alexander Ferguson, Abby Palen, Khalil Smith, Camille Mitchell
Room 2: Blood and Transformation CREATORS Saskia Bakker & Emilie Wingate • PERFORMERS Rachel Hartmann, Leah Lara, Saskia Bakker, Emilie Wingate
Room 3: Blood and Ruin CREATORS Justin D’Acci & Vim Hile • PERFORMERS Twan, Tanima, Justin D’Acci, Vim Hile
Room 4: Blood and Memory CREATORS Chih-Jou Cheng & Charlie Malave • PERFORMERS Tia Pinson, Richie Whitehead
Room 5: Blood and Letting CREATORS madigan burke & Nina D’Angier • PERFORMERS Sam Lewis, Amandatron 5000
Room 6: B|O̸OD̸ and ₵ØⱤⱤɄ₱₮łØ₦ CREATORS Pablo Monterrubio & Fletcher Pierson • PERFORMERS Lindsey Ball, Ruby Que
DIRECTION Felix Mayes & Corey Smith • PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Anastar Alvarez • DRAMATURGY Molly Sharfstein • PRODUCTION SUPPORT Claire Saxe • LIGHTING DESIGN Quinn Chisenhall & Brendan Marble • ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN & TECH DIRECTION Pei-Yu Hung & Melissa Schlesinger • ENVIRONMENTAL DRAMATURGY Jackie Berland • ENVIRONMENTAL ART Ken Buckingham • SOUND DESIGN Mike Meegan • ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGN Joey Meland • PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGEMENT Kacey Lindeman • STAGE MANAGEMENT Lenny Fritsch • ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGEMENT Mallory Kimbrell • BOX OFFICE MANAGEMENT Lucy Wirtz • GRAPHIC DESIGN Raul Delgado • ROUGH HOUSE MARKETING Kimzyn Campbell • PUBLIC RELATIONS Jay Kelly