Frightening Scene: Cortland Street Warehouse Set for Horror Production Company

There are terrifying visions, hideous sounds and ghastly creatures hidden away on the top floor of a warehouse on Cortland Street in Belleville. frightening

Under the banner of Fever-Dreams, a team of frighteners and filmmakers are creating a unique and visionary horror web series, Flesh For The Beast: Tsukiko’s Curse. 

The six-episode show follows paranormal investigators tasked with exploring the dark occult fringes of reality and pulls from a variety of inspirations.

“We’re taking elements of Japanese horror and mixing it with reality shows like ghost hunters and the old school European horror style of someone like Lucio Fulci,” director and writer Carl Morano said.

While it’s far from Hollywood, the Fever-Dreams production studio is a professional organization, with full-time employees and impressive semi-permanent sets like the paranormal investigators’ headquarters furnished with macabre items like candles, skulls, pentagrams and portraits of famed turn of the century occultists Aleister Crowley.

“It’s not what’s called a backyard film,” Fever-Dreams owner John Sirabella said. “There’s a real crew and real actors.”

He did note that the budget for the series, which he estimated at about $500,000, was tight for what they wanted to do. Special effects and makeup artist Ashley Thomas, tasked with the creation of tentacles, monsters, weapons and more, said that she’s had to be innovative to get the required gore.

“It’s very intense,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot of challenges. You have to be very creative and be able to think on your feet.”

In addition to their standing sets, they’ve filmed in churches, cemeteries and diners in Belleville, Nutley, Newark and elsewhere in the area.  They had nothing but praise for local residents, officials and police, who they said couldn’t have been more accommodating. But while they’ve encountered friendliness from people and love their Belleville space, they’ve had trouble finding needed equipment and resources.

“We live at home depot,” Morano joked.

Fever Dreams have been making movies and inspiring nightmares since 2003. Originally headquartered in Manhattan, they moved out to Belleville last year when they discovered the Cortland Avenue warehouse space they’ve turned into their studio.

They’ve distributed previous work to Hulu and other online streaming services. But making a series for distribution on the web is still something of a new and experiment way of getting a vision to the public. Morano said that with the recent success of Hemlock Grove, a horror series made exclusively for Netflix, the market for original scary programming is growing.

In addition to making movies, also distribute foreign films, particularly Japanese horror movies, through the Media Blasters label. Through releasing the catalogue of blood-spurting Japanese director Takashi Miike, they’ve created a relationship with Hemlock Grove maker Eli Roth.

Veteran low budget horror actor Edward X. Young, whose acting credentials include fare such as Psycho Street, I spill your Guts and Sheriff Tom Vs. the Zombies was quick to praise the Fever Dream team for their professionalism.

“I appreciate the sophisticated production values,” Young said shortly after wrapping up a death scene. “They deliver a well-decorated set.”