Sick to Death

> the current stone porch that makes up a part of the Bridge Street Rows is from 1849-50 when the church was largely rebuilt by James Harrison.

You can see a fantastic piece of art from the Grosvenor Museum's collection featuring this tower porch in our doorway throughout Rowvember.

There has been a covered porch at the front of St Michael's church for hundreds of years, first wooden and then stone. While it's likely that a stone church was first built on this site in the 1100s, >

if you carve a turnip let us know

A meme of Marge Simpson holding a potato, below it says: I just think they're neat! Superimposed over the potato is a cut out digital sticker of a carved turnip jack o' lantern with a scary face on it.

A large orange pumpkin on a shelf, with small black riding l writing on it. To the left is a small carved turnip with a creepy face, small narrow eyes with cat like pupils and a grimacing mouth with lots of small teeth. It's all lit with a slightly purple light.

You can find more facts about Halloween themes and medical history dotted throughout the museum if you visit this week!

Jack o’ lanterns are said to represent many things,
from roaming supernatural beings, wards against evil or harmful spirits, Christian souls in purgatory, or even just scary but fun decorations!

Most are carved from pumpkins now, but they were traditionally lanterns made from turnips, mangelwurzels, and other root vegetables.

Pumpkins are originally from the Americas, so they weren’t used until European settlers began introducing the tradition over there in the mid 1800s.

Samhain, Hallowe’en, All Hallow’s Eve and
All Saint’s Day, Diá de los Muertos. One of the most iconic symbols today is the jack o’ lantern. There are many stories about how they
came to be, but it’s believed the practise began in Ireland and Britain and is tied into folklore about will o’ the wisps.

Here at Sick to Death we always like to give a (horrifying) nod to history with our seasonal displays!

There are many holidays at this time of year that have similar themes of remembering the dead, and
the veil between the living and the dead being thinner:

you will not be surprised to learn that our staff skew Very heavily in the Halloween direction, on the holidays spectrum

The alignment of Halloween with the October half-term is truly a gift.

If you're looking for days out during the holidays next month, come explore our weird little medical history attraction!

We'll be adding extra strange, spooky, and silly touches to the experience for our favourite season.

A group of ten adult students, all in different clothes, men and women, wearing lanyards. They're stood posing in an area with a stone arch. In the middle of the group is a person dressed as a plague doctor and one student in wooden stocks, with rotten fruit on it, and a sign that says Sick to Death Chester.

We've been having a great time with groups of new @uochester.bsky.social nursing students visiting us all day today!

Wishing you all the best on your studies ahead... but may your bedside manner be better than Plaguey D's.

👏👏👏

guys we finally have an idea for Halloween costume for Plaguey D

A screenshot of the section of an e-mail, white background with black text: Dear Sick, We are pleased to advise you that t...

that's Doctour in Phisicke Sick to you...

you just can't get the respect these days

*its 🙄

An angled photograph looking up an old roof, with two main sections visible, above a sandstone wall arch, just seen on the right. The first section of the roof is dark panelled wood, with intricate carvings and gilded accents. At the base of some of the wooden arches are carvings, in both wood and stone. Beyond, is a 'newer' section of roof with large open wooden arched beams and a Tudor style timbered roof with white sections between each beam. In the far distance, just visible through the open arches, in an open arch of the bell tower is a skeletal figure in a robe.

*slaps roof of church*

take a look at this bad boy, still got it's original 15th century north arcade and chancel, hardly ever leaks

(We heard we're taking photos of nice old rooves?)

An angled photograph looking up an old roof, with two main sections visible, above a sandstone wall arch, just seen on the right. The first section of the roof is dark panelled wood, with intricate carvings and gilded accents. At the base of some of the wooden arches are carvings, in both wood and stone. Beyond, is a 'newer' section of roof with large open wooden arched beams and a Tudor style timbered roof with white sections between each beam. In the far distance, just visible through the open arches, in an open arch of the bell tower is a skeletal figure in a robe.

*slaps roof of church*

take a look at this bad boy, still got it's original 15th century north arcade and chancel, hardly ever leaks

(We heard we're taking photos of nice old rooves?)

Scared to Death is on for three nights only: Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, October 29th, 30th, & 31st.

From 6:30pm – 10pm (last entry 9pm).

Recommended for ages 12+ due to frights and scares. Our grave digger will be on duty, should they be needed...

Tickets available now: www.sicktodeath.org

It's a perfectly quirky way to immerse yourselves in the strangest season, with a Halloween activity trail (with trick OR treat prizes), extra fun characters to meet, and even face painting on select days!

Oct 25th - Nov 2nd, 10am - 6pm (last entry 5pm). Tickets available now: www.sicktodeath.org

A poster graphic with a black background and a plague doctor character appearing out of the darkness, with a lit lantern raised by their beaked mask. It reads in various black and red and beige fonts: Sick[crossed out] Scared to Death! Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, October 29th, 30th, & 31st. 6:30pm – 10pm (last admission 9pm).

A dark cellar, the photo has been heavily post-processed. There is a plague doctor character digging in the soil with a shovel, surrounded by candles and carved pumpkins.

This Halloween, Sick To Death becomes SCARED To Death with late night openings!

We invite you to explore the gory story of medicine by lantern light as you are stalked around our historic church by perilous plague victims and barbaric barbers!

Will you survive the night and all it has to offer?

A poster graphic with a beige background, gothic black border, and prominent orange, black, and red Halloween imagery. All the fonts are slightly 'spooky' or 'horrible' and it reads: Sick to Death presents: Horrible Halloween. Saturday October 25th - Sunday November 2nd: Open every day 10am - 6pm, last admission 5pm. Family-friendly fun!

A women dressed in tatty clothes, with a hooded cowl, is holding a dirty sponge on a stick. Beside her is a stack of carved pumpkins, the top one, being held by a rat puppet. The scenery is old wood, beams, a lantern, and an old sign that says 'Festering Flies'.

Our favourite time of year is almost here! Get excited for some spooky family fun this Halloween half-term at Sick to Death!

Join us during the day-time for thrills that everyone can enjoy, as you explore the gory story of medicine.

Bring your weird morbid little children! We know you have them!

Our passion for the spooky season cannot be contained! Join us next month at @chesterscibar.bsky.social for an entertaining talk about Halloween creatures, medical myths, and supernatural skeletons!

It's not hard to imagine that one of you could do better, so go on, let's see your best apple-doctor based proverbs!

(Also, if you want to watch this video with some Charli xcx playing in the background, you can check out our Instagram, it's fun.)

"The evidence does not support eating an apple a day to keep the doctor away, but they still make a nice snack.
If someone tries to convince you that eating plastic apples is the answer instead, well, that person is a quack."

The exact version we say today was recorded in use by 1887 though and even then it was referred to as 'an old saying', so it's likely this adage has been around for some time in various forms.

So, with that in mind we've decided to write our own version:

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"

Did you know the first written record of this saying is from 1886? It was noted as proverb from Pembrokeshire and originally it was said: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."

A photo of a person dressed in a Plague Doctor costume. They are stood an area with a stone floor and stone pillars, outside, over the sky to their left there is a logo: in red bold text that says Sick to Death, with a small stylised skull logo in beige. Beneath is the tagline: The gory story of medicine through time, in black. To their right is a red circle that says School trips! They are leaning forward, looking at the camera, while they use a pointer to point at a blackboard being held by a young girl with blonde hair in a ponytail, pink glasses, a pink jumper, and blue trainers with white frilly socks. Most of her body is covered by the large blackboard with a wooden frame. On the black board in chalk it says: Plague was [in green] GOOD for business but also [inserted after the fact] ^ very [in red] BAD for people!

A flyer style poster in mostly beige, red, and black. There's a large logo at the top: in red bold text that says Sick to Death, with a small stylised skull logo in beige. Beneath is the tagline: The gory story of medicine through time, in black. To the lower right of the logo is a red circle that says School trips! On the left, the main focus after the logo, there's a cut-out photo of a person dressed in a Plague Doctor costume holding up a blackboard and pointing to it with a pointer. On the blackboard, in typed front it reads: Bring the history of medicine to life! With a fully immersive and interactive experience, Sick to Death is a great destination for students and classes studying the history of medicine! Below are three bullet-points, with the little skull icons in black as the points: Located in a historic church on the medieval Rows of Chester, Hands-on learning to engage all age groups, Covers GCSE curriculum topics across exams boards. In beige text on black a the bottom: For more information: www.sicktodeath.org/school-visits

Teachers! Looking for school trips to help bring history to life for your students this year? We've put together a brand new webpage with everything you'll need for a trip to Sick to Death. *Don't worry, Plaguey D might be there, but we'll leave the teaching to you...* sicktodeath.org/school-visits/

this one is only for you Bluesky