Interview: Timothy Haskell Talks SANTASTICAL: A VERY, MERRY TWISTMAS

Timothy Haskell and Psycho Clan are finding news ways to delight New Yorkers during the holidays. They have successfully scared the pants off many with the critically acclaimed Nightmare Haunted House. They have brought New Yorkers gleeful, springtime joy with Full Bunny Contact. Now, they're ready to give New Yorker's copious amounts of mirth and frivolity with Stantastical: A Very, Merry Twistmas. To get the inside scoop, I chatted with Timothy Haskell about the new project.

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Following the success of New York's iconic Nightmare Haunted House, where did the idea for Santastical come from?

Timothy Haskell: Well, a few years ago I came up with a bunch of different ideas for different seasonal twisted events, where adults can do things and remember what it was like to be a kid. I came up with the haunted house. It was the first and most successful, and then I did Full Bunny Contact. I started that as an Easter event two years ago. Santastical was the third idea, which I'm now doing.

I just sort of thought, "What can I do around a holiday that's fun, can be nostalgic for adults, and still be something that is not inappropriate for kids while being made for adults." The ideas came from that mandate, and that's how Santastical came about. I thought, "What is that thing that adults can't do?" Well, it's kind of inappropriate for adults to take a picture with Santa. But, now it's not! (Laughs)

That's awesome, and at Santastical there's options when it comes to taking photos with Santa. What can you tell me about that?

Timothy Haskell: Well, then there's that. (Laughing) We can't just do it normal. (Pauses) There are different Santas. None of them are traditional.

There is Krampus, which is sort of the Pagan Santa-the demon Santa. It takes misbehaving children away. It originated in Germany, and there's now a big Holiday movie about him. I have not seen it, but I heard it's not so bad. Then, there is Bernie Santas. I'm a fan of Bernie Sanders, but he's mostly there because the pun was too wonderful not to do. There's Hanukklaus, which is the Jewish Santa. He's for those kids who have both Jewish and Gentile parents, so they celebrate both. Then there is Sexy Mrs. Claus because who doesn't want that? There's also Hunky Shirtless Santa Claus, which I think a wide variety of people can appreciate. Then, there's Black Santa, which isn't unusual, weird, or twisted. It's just that you don't get to see Black Santa very often. And, why not? It's a fictional character anyway. (Laughs) Those are our six Santas.

It also seems like you have a Macy's Santaland-like wonderland for people to enjoy too.

Timothy Haskell: Yeah! You wonder down a little path, and on the path there's lots of interactive things to do.

There's a Christmas emoji wall where you can stick your head through the holes and take a picture. There's a mistletoe forest, which is a little enclave where you can go in and smooch. There is Christmas karaoke, which will is playing all the time. Anyone can just go take the stage and start singing along with a Christmas song. The words will be up there. There's also an interactive nativity. We've built a manger, you can choose which outfit you want to put on, and you can become part of the manger scene, and take a photo. There's a pretend ice-skating rink, which you can skate around on in your socks. There are multiple bars. During the day they serve cider and hot cocoa. At night, they are bars. There's a step and repeat. (Laughs) It's just silly little things you can stop off at. On the way to the Santas, we also have little benches that you can hang out at, chat, and watch other people do silly things.

For the hour that your ticket is good for, we want you to hang out, play around, and have fun in this Santa world. It's a lot less stressful than, I think, Santaland probably is, you know. (Laughs) Here, you're allowed to go to a little side project and then get back in line. We don't think anyone would not be able to do everything. And, I think, it's something that is sort of harmless, fun, sweet, a bit irreverent, and good seasonal, holiday fun everyone.

It sounds like fun is the key word.

Timothy Haskell: Oh yeah. Even with the way we've decorated it. We got as many garish lawn ornaments that we could find. It's like if someone in Ohio won a contest to decorate Santastical because they submitted their lawn decorations. That's what it looks like. There are many blow-up Frosty the Snowmen, Santa Clauses, and reindeer in addition to lights and signs. Think, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. That's what Santastical looks like.

Stantastical: A Very, Merry Twistmas runs at the Clemente (107 Suffolk Street, NYC) through December 24, 2015. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the box office. For more information, please visit http://santastical.com. You can also find Santastical on Facebook.

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