BEST LOCAL THEATER DIRECTOR
JOHN TAYLOR TIMMONS
BEST LOCAL THEATER PRODUCTION
THE SAVANNAH UNDERGROUND
BEST LOCAL PODCAST
THE MOST HAUNTED CITY ON EARTH
The Savannah Underground brings one of the most haunted cities in the world to life in their immersive theater experience that promises terror—with the audience right in the middle of the action.
The team of Savannah natives aims to frighten and entertain visitors, while at the same time provide the audience with a deeper look at the dark side of the city in a brand new way.
“It’s a 360 degree set and its dark all around as the stories unfold. People are always looking over their shoulder. They’re taken back in time to another world,” said writer and co-owner John Taylor Timmons.
Timmons has always had a love for horror, and ever since experiencing The London Dungeon when he was young, Timmons knew he wanted to create an experience that was just as immersive.
He took what he called “the single-most mind blowing experience and theatrical experience I ever had,” his love for horror, and his time at the Florida State Univ. School of Theatre, to build a show that he wanted to see come to life in Savannah.
In mid-2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Timmons wrote “The Savannah Underground” while he was self-isolating at home with his wife Madison, also a co-owner.
“My wife is a Savannah historian ghost extraordinaire, and she’s the one with the knowledge of the stories. She’s sensitive to the paranormal. That’s why she was so interested in it before she met me and it worked so well when we came together,” he said.
In the show, audiences are taken on a variety of journeys, including on a haunting tale of the yellow fever, the hag from the Gullah Geechee culture, and an exorcism that promises to have the crowd locked in terror.
Co-founder Kewaan Drayton says The Savannah Underground was founded in 2020 because he felt like Savannah’s spooky scene needed something fresh and new.
“I gauge how I respond to different attractions and experiences in Savannah,” Drayton said. “Walking tours never really did it for me. Trolly tours, ghost tours, they never hit the nail on the head for me. I wanted to create something where people can get the history; they can get scared; they can have fun.”
For Drayton, that meant literally surrounding audiences with Savannah’s haunted past. With top-notch actors, excellent costume designs, and a whole lot of Holy water, The Savannah Underground is completely immersive and guaranteed to spook.
If that was not enough from the creators, they also started a podcast that takes a deep dive into the very tales and experiences that keep our city of Savannah the most haunted city in America.
The podcast is called, “The Most Haunted City on Earth: A Podcast About Keeping Savannah’s Dead, Alive.”
The show is hosted by paranormal expert Chris Soucy, and paranormal investigator Madison Timmons and they discuss Savannah’s creepiest legends, crimes, and haunted places.
“We were all sitting talking about ghosts in Savannah’s history and one day we thought why don’t we just put microphones in front of our faces and as a filmmaker I thought we might as well film it,” said Timmons.
Thanks to the social app TikTok, their podcast has taken off. People would share clips, and that boosted listeners to the podcast. They now have about 40 thousand downloads a month according to Timmons.
