GPS tour
Mysterious Baltimore
More than fifty stops of legend and true history, from Poe's grave to Fort McHenry. It starts wherever you happen to be standing, and a brass compass arrow walks you along the actual streets.
Take a look ↗Story apps · Built for the night
The phone in their pocket
is part of the set.
We can build a custom app for almost any event we design. Murder mysteries, séances, galas, hotel weekends, the birthday party where somebody (politely, and in character) has to die. Every one is safe, web-based and opens in the browser on any phone or tablet. Nobody downloads anything. Nobody stands at the door waiting for an update while the opening line quietly dies of old age.
01 / The promise
Safe. Web-based.
Works on anything with a screen.
SAFESafe by
Safe by
design
Every app runs over a secure connection, with a picture-puzzle check at sign-in to keep the bots outside where they belong. We ask for what the story needs and nothing more, usually a first name, a last initial and an email. When the night is over, the app can lock itself up like a good butler.
ANY DEVICEAny phone.
Any phone.
Any tablet.
iPhone, Android, iPad, your aunt's tablet with the cracked corner. If it has a web browser, it has a ticket. Laptops work too, for the guest who insists on being different.
NO DOWNLOADNo app store.
No app store.
Ever.
Guests tap a link or scan the QR code on their invitation. That is the entire installation process. The sentimental ones can pin it to their home screen like a pressed flower.
LIVERun live by
Run live by
your cast
A private console lets the performers message the whole room or whisper to a single guest, change the status of the evening, and open the case file at precisely the wrong moment (which is to say, the right one).
02 / Case study · Murder on the Midnight Express
A train that never
left the house.
The Midnight Express runs its once-a-year night service out of Baltimore, north toward New York by morning. Then a fallen tree blocks the line, a storm closes the roads, and the passengers shelter at a grand private house while the crew clears the tracks. Among them is Mr. Rufus Griswold, a gentleman with a remarkable talent for making enemies. Also aboard, purely to enjoy the scenery, is Monsieur Vincent Dupin, great-grand-nephew of Poe's own detective.
You can guess roughly how restful the evening turns out to be.
Every passenger carried the train in their pocket. Their invitation arrived days ahead, so the story started before anyone had found parking. On the night, the app became their boarding pass, their timetable and their line to the Conductor, who could send a telegram to the whole house or a quiet word to one guest alone.
As the plot turned, so did the app. The status banner moved from a polite delay to something considerably less polite, and the case file waited, locked, until it was needed.
✧ The dates on these screens are today's date, wherever you happen to be reading. Your guests' version would show the night of your event.
Swipe for more screens →
Invitations & prologuesPersonal tickets & passesLive messages, all or oneClue & case filesMaps & GPS routesVoiceoversPuzzle sign-inCast console & trainingLocks after the show
03 / More from the workshop
The Midnight Express
has company.
A few of the other apps we have designed and built. Walking tours, a speakeasy hunt, a ghost story you read on the stairs, and one selfie booth that got slightly out of hand. All of them web-based, all of them on any phone, none of them asking anyone to download a thing.
GPS tour
The Poe Walk
A narrated walk from the Lord Baltimore Hotel to Edgar Allan Poe's grave, or the other way round. Each stop opens up when you are standing at it.
Take a look ↗
Spirit walk
Restless Baltimore
From Poe's first grave to his statue, by way of the city's unquiet. Walkers collect a calling card at every stop, which is more than the spirits ever got.
Take a look ↗
Ghost walk
A Ghost Walk of Fells Point
Six spirits keep their own addresses on the old waterfront. Each one shows itself only to someone standing on the spot.
Take a look ↗
Story companion
Echoes from the Haunted Harbor
A chaptered companion for a live ghost story evening in Fells Point. Guests read the first chapter on the way upstairs, and the house is in mourning before they reach the top.
Take a look ↗
Speakeasy hunt
The Baltimore Mystery Lounge
A trail of clues across downtown Baltimore that ends at a speakeasy with a hidden entrance. Where is it? Nice try. You solve your way in.
Take a look ↗
Photo booth
Drag Me, Hon!
A selfie booth that paints the face, teases the wig to heaven and hands every guest a drag name. Divina Formstone sends her regards.
Take a look ↗Next in the workshop
Your event
goes here.
Tell us about the night you are planning. If we are designing it, we can very likely build its app, and you will get to name it something better than "the app."
Start the conversation ↗
04 / The thinking
Story first.
Screen second.
I have sat through enough events where the technology was the show, and the show was a man apologising to a projector. We work the other way round. The story comes first, and the app is built to serve it, like a stagehand who never trips over the scenery.
So the app knows when to speak and when to go quiet. It delivers the clue, sets the mood, hands the moment back to the performers, and gets out of the way. Guests should look up from their phones far more often than they look down.
05 / The people part
Apps don't act.
Our performers do.
Every app we build is wrapped around live people. Detectives, singers, conductors, card sharps, the lady on the telephone who knows rather too much. The app simply carries their voice to every corner of the room, including the corner by the snack table.
Noir
The Detective
Asks the questions. Rarely likes the answers.
Speakeasy
The Pianist & the Flapper
One plays. One watches who is listening.
Speakeasy
The Singer
Her set list doubles as a set of clues.
Noir
The Starlet
Has an alibi. Has several, actually.
Period
The Gentleman
Impeccable manners. Questionable bank statements.
Interactive
The Caller
She rings your table. Then she rings your phone.
Photography shown is representative of the kinds of performers and worlds we create.
06 / Almost any event
If there's a story,
there's an app.
If we're designing your event, we can very likely build its app too. Some clients want the full train timetable treatment. Others want a single beautiful invitation that turns into an epilogue the morning after. Both are fine. Both are fun.
If your event isn't on this list, that isn't a no. It's a more interesting conversation.
Murder mysteries & dinner theatreSéances & paranormal eveningsCorporate parties & team-buildingHotel & venue experiencesWeddings & milestone birthdaysHaunted attractions & festivalsGPS walking tours & trailsGalas & fundraisersConferences & conventionsSomething nobody has tried yet
07 / How it comes together
From first idea
to final bow.
01 · THE STORYWe write
We write
the world
Characters, secrets, the order things go wrong in. The app's job gets decided here, not the other way round.
02 · THE BUILDYour look,
Your look,
your words
Designed to match your event, from Art Deco railway to candlelit parlour. Real photography, your branding, your guests' real names.
03 · THE REHEARSALCast
Cast
training
The performers get their own walkthrough of the console (with voiceovers, for those of us who don't read manuals), so it is second nature by showtime.
04 · THE NIGHT & AFTERLock, reuse,
Lock, reuse,
remember
The app locks when the curtain falls and keeps safely for the next run. Guests can be sent an epilogue, a keepsake, or one last clue they really should have spotted.
08 / Questions
The sensible
questions.
Do guests need to download anything?
No. The app lives in the web browser. Guests open a link or scan a QR code and they are in. No app store, no account to create, no storage space surrendered.
Will it work on my guests' phones?
It works on any modern phone or tablet, iPhone or Android, and on laptops and desktops too. All it needs is a web browser and a connection, either Wi-Fi or mobile data.
Is it safe?
Yes. Every app runs over a secure, encrypted connection and uses a picture-puzzle check to keep automated sign-ups out. We collect only what the story needs, typically a first name, last initial and email address, and the app can be locked once the event is over.
Who runs it on the night?
Your performers, or ours. A private, PIN-protected console lets the cast send messages, move the story along and reveal clues live. Your own staff can run it too, after a walkthrough.
Can we use it again?
Yes. Apps are saved after the event and can be reopened for another run, a new set of guests, or an anniversary performance.
Does it have to be a murder mystery?
Not at all. We design apps for séances, tours, galas, conferences, weddings and the occasional event that defies a category. If we are designing your experience, we can build an app for it.
Your event, in their pocket
Let's give your guests
a story they can carry.
Stock photography from Pexels by Andres Idda Bianchi, cottonbro studio, Yan Krukau, Yury Oliveira, Agustina Tolosa and MART PRODUCTION. App screens from Murder on the Midnight Express.