Family Business: Partnership puts company on a solid foundation

Even the most single-minded entrepreneur benefits from a second opinion, business owners and professional advisors tell John Daly

Partnership is at the core of any thriving business, say Karl O’Connor and Sylvia Ridgeway, life partners and co-founders of The Nightmare Realm.

Good partnerships are a blessing in life, as the old saying goes, and that goes doubly so when it comes to business. 

Finding that other person who matches your ambitions, yet pushes the collective creativity to greater heights is a major bonus for fledgling businesses. 

That old observation that some life partnerships are a nightmare brings a smile of agreement from Karl O’Connor and Sylvia Ridgeway, life partners and co-founders of The Nightmare Realm.

A themed Halloween experience established in 2009, it has grown far beyond its origins in Kerry to accumulate a major fan following, and was voted the Most Entertaining Horror Experience by the EU Travel Awards.

First launched in Tralee in 2009, The Nightmare Realm was an immediate hit with people looking for seasonal scares with much more bite than any other Halloween experience in the marketplace.

Becoming a regular part of the October fright scene in Cork, it eventually moved to Dublin in 2016, where it remains an annual part of the tourist and local entertainment scene. Visitors are invited to face their worst fears, with everything from demonic clowns to chainsaw-wielding maniacs, flesh eaters and rat-infested cells.

“We like to create events that put people at the heart of the show, making them a part of something interactive and memorable,” Karl explains about how the secret scare sauce is concocted.

“Growing up in rural Ireland I loved hearing the ghost stories that our elders would tell us. I remember hearing how Halloween started in Ireland — Oíche Shamhna — with tales of the banshee and the evil fairies who would play tricks on people. This was undoubtedly where my love for scaring people came from. In a way these storytellers were Ireland’s first scare entertainers, and I wanted to be one of them, just on a larger scale.” 

Having established themselves at Dublin’s historic Fruit and Vegetable Market, Karl and Sylvia worked hard at becoming Ireland’s first indoor scream park.

The event quickly became not only a favourite for locals, but has attracted a multitude of celebrities including, Machine Gun Kelly and fiancée Megan Fox, Brooklyn Beckham, Little Mix, Christian Convery, Jack Raynor and a host of sporting stars.

“Our goal is to continue to innovate and deliver unparalleled scares and immersive experiences for our visitors, solidifying our position as a leader in the scare attraction industry.”

An experience landing customers inside an expanded Victorian-themed Halloween Town, it comes complete with a number of haunt mazes ranging across Sundown Manor, The Shriekers, Death Row 2 and Dead Carnival.

In addition to achieving the recent title of Europe’s Best Scream Park, the attraction has been awarded the No.1 Halloween event in the World by Unilad, Best Independent European Haunt at the European Scare Awards and the Most Entertaining Horror Experience by the EU Travel Awards.

The Nightmare Realm employs over 100 performers, in addition to an array of behind-the-scenes personnel. Karl and Sylvia envision the themes, set design and costumes entirely from start to finish in a project that takes 11 months of preparation, and is eventually put together within a three-week timeframe.

Entertainment and interaction are key to its annual success: “We are always looking to better the show and take it to new heights in every sense of the word,” Sylvia explains.

Moving from its RDS location to the City Market has significantly expanded the show. “We’re now a scream park which is something we’ve always wanted to be able to offer to our fans.” 

Awards like ‘No.1 Halloween event in the World’ are an obvious boon to the business, and help to lift its profile to a wider audience, she says: “Anyone can say they’re the best, but when it’s awarded to you by the industry in which you work, that’s when it stands the most. Receiving awards are a wonderful surprise, but they also come with pressure in keeping the expectations high for our visitors.” 

Karl and Sylvia work a year in advance, ensuring they are already in the logistics stage for the following year, even as the current show unfolds.

“It’s the best way to see how we can improve, listen to feedback and take on board what the customers want for the future. We really are involved in every aspect — set, design, costumes, marketing, film shoots, construction, training our actors and managing a team of over 100 during the event. 

"We are firm believers in the phrase ‘always a lesson, never a failure’. I have learned having mental strength has been the most important thing in staying top of the game.”