The House Between

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The House Between[1] is an Internet-only science fiction series created by American author, John Kenneth Muir"for internet and DVD distribution"[2]. According to Muir, the show is an independent, low-budget production: "...we steered our own ship, without committee, without interference," he noted in a column called Independent TV in August 2006, "Our production team was sequestered in an empty old house during the shooting schedule. Over the span of seven very, very long days we shot seven original half-hour scripts."[3]

The House Between tells the mysterious story of five strangers, Astrid, Arlo, Travis, Bill Clark and Theresa, who awaken to find themselves trapped in a strange, empty Victorian house. There is no furniture in the house, and all the exits (doors and windows) are painful to the touch. In short order, the five protagonists begin to reckon not just with each other and their differences, but with the unusual abode, which seems to possess mystical properties, according to the series creator. "Each new room represents a different mind-state, a different manifestation of their inner selves. The house understands their secrets, their guilts, their fears...their dreams...their nightmares"[4]

According to an interview with creator Muir at The Thunder Child, he was inspired to create the series, at least partially, by Jean Paul Sartre's play, No Exit. He recounts: "In the existentialist drama, Hell was actually a sort of sitting room. The idea of the play was literally “Hell is other people,” to quote one character; that for eternity you have to cope with someone you don’t like, someone different from yourself. And you can never get away from them.

I got to thinking, “hmmm that’s not just Hell…that’s life on Earth!” People who are religious, people who are scientists, lawyers, psychics: we all share the same speck of dust in space, and must find a way to get along here, lest the human race destroy itself. So that underlying metaphor, the house as Earth, became a sub-text, an important crux of the series."[5]

In the same interview, Muir lists other inspirations including The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, and the original The Outer Limits. The House Between has been compared to Dr. Who in its early black and white days, by radio host Howard Margolin on Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction. In a live radio interview on Friday, February 23, 2007, Margolin noted: "In the tradition of the original Twilight Zone and early Doctor Who...a series that succeeds on the strength of the writing and the characters."[6]

Joseph Maddrey, the producer of The House Between lists further details of the series creation: "He [Muir] said it was partly inspired by his frustration with the ABC series “Lost” – which was continually resorting to flashbacks, rather than dealing with the present dilemma of its characters - and partly inspired by Jean Paul Sartre's play No Exit. I immediately thought of Night of the Living Dead, the brain-child of ten friends who volunteered their time and money to make a film that transcended its minimal production values. To his credit, John understood that minimal production values did not necessarily reduce the scope of storytelling possibilities. He was determined to explore questions of physics, psychic phenomenon, mysticism, religious fundamentalism, politics, greed and good old fashioned personality disorders… on 2% of the budget of the famously low-budget Night of the Living Dead."[7]

The House Between has been called "an entertaining and mysterious series that represents what is possible for future online shows"[8] The series had its premiere in Chesapeake, Virginia July 31st, 2006 when a rough cut of the first episode "Arrived" and a series trailer was shown at the convention called Fantasci.[9]

CAST & EPISODES:

Seven episodes were created for the first season, and the series began airing on Veoh February 16, 2007. The episode titles and air dates are:

1.1 "Arrived" (February 16, 2007)

1.2 "Settled" (March 3, 2007)

1.3 "Positioned" (March 16, 2007)

1.4 "Visited" (April 1, 2007)

1.5" "Mirrored"

1.6. "Trashed"

1.7. "Departed?"

The series stars are: Kim Breeding as Astrid; Jim Blanton as Arlo; Lee Hansen as Travis Crabtree; Tony Mercer as Bill T. Clark and Alicia A. Wood as Theresa.

A second season has been announced with shooting to commence May 25, 2007. The first two episodes of the second season are titled "Returned" and "Separated."