As someone who looks awkward regardless of their outfit, I never followed fashion. I liked the various punk rock looks (spiky fashion punks, Fred Perry/well-dressed Oi), but I’ve pretty much been wearing a band T-shirt and khaki pants since high school. Andy Ryan (Raggedy Andy) took a different path and embraced the fashion aspects of punk, which eventually led to the creation of The House of Horrors, an event management company that focuses on alternative fashion and horror-themed celebrations.
“I was introduced to punk rock when I was 13,” Ryan says. “I was inspired by the music and always admired how the bands dressed. DIY is a lifestyle. Skinny jeans were unpopular when I was in school, so I learned to use a sewing machine to make tight pants. I began redesigning clothes with patches and studs. It wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that I began to share my passion with the world and began designing clothes for other people.”
Ryan initially started hosting a combination of art, fashion, and music events in the basement of a friend’s tattoo studio in Manchester, NH, using the moniker “Oh the Horror Enterprises” at the time. After losing access to that venue, he spoke with friend and fellow vendor, Chris Arpino, owner of Skindress Taxidermy, about joining forces.
“He played an instrumental role in finding other vendors and promotion,” Ryan says of Arpino. “After losing the tattoo shop venue, we decided to team up officially and The House of Horrors was born,” Ryan adds that Arpino has over 20 years of experience promoting events, which has been an asset.
The House of Horrors recruited Kitty Meow Meow, Nikki Tracia, and Kevin O’Leary to the team to assist with setup and promotion. They quickly started booking events all over New England. They’ve made Alchemy their RI home, taking part in various KINK Nights and a community-building day. The team understands each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which they use to their advantage when putting events together.
“Working with a team is great,” Ryan says. “Many-faceted events of this extravagance would be virtually impossible to put on by just one person alone. Not only to lighten the workload, but being able to bounce ideas off each other, utilizing our individual strengths and weaknesses, not to mention that having a team of people just makes it more fun!”
The House of Horrors offers something distinct to those who follow the alternative counterculture, though they gladly welcome anyone interested in attending an event. They have a friendly atmosphere and strive to make everyone feel comfortable. Their events can range from a few hours of being a vendor at someone else’s event to putting on a three-day festival. Their vendors sell anything from taxidermy to homemade candy; the performances can include side shows, burlesque, drag, fashion modeling, interpretive dance, and live bands.
“We strive to make each show its own unique experience,” Ryan says. “All of them consist of a variety of alternative live performances. The only thing shared between each event is our theme of ‘all things HORROR!’ Our goal is to always create a sense of community that is safe and inviting, especially to everyone who has felt like an outcast and loves Horror as much as we do!”
New England is a relatively compact, densely populated region, which is an advantage to The House of Horrors. You can travel from Stamford, CT, to Houlton, ME, in about eight hours (not counting traffic), with many large cities in between. This gives the entire area a sense of community and makes it easy to promote their brand and events.
“Living in New England has an endless amount of benefits,” Ryan says. “There are always so many cool events happening. We love helping to promote other events, as long as they are run by well-intentioned people. Also, New England has a greater historical value than any other part of the country! People from all over the world fly into Salem during spooky season and we love providing them with multiple horrifyingly entertaining events to attend!”
Ryan has a true passion for designing clothes. He notes that it is a tedious process that requires an incredible amount of patience. He is constantly looking for inspiration, finding it from a piece of fabric, an item at a thrift store that he redesigns, or an idea that pops into his head.
“Not coincidentally, my fashion and music are both the same styles: punk rock meets rockabilly pin up with a vintage appeal, and always spooky!”
Ryan looks forward to promoting his brands as much as possible. He doesn’t sit still for long and is always working on something creative or performing on stage. He is a true artist who creates for his own sanity and the enjoyment of others.
“Being an artist is the ability to personalize something to your own creative vision,” Ryan concludes. “Whether that be bringing new life to the deceased through taxidermy, giving a new look to clothing you found at the thrift store, changing a blank canvas to a painting, blank skin to a tattoo, or decorating moments in time with music. It’s about expressing yourself for any reason, and an opportunity to show others how you view the world.”
For more information, visit hehouseofhorrors.net