Firefly Crankie Collective brings spooky "crankies" to Life for Halloween

When you think of storytelling, books, plays, or movies may first come to mind. However, there's an old storytelling art form you might not have heard of, called "crankies."

"Crankies" originated in Europe in the late 18th century, when it was known as "moving panoramas."

Baltimore has a large community of crankie enthusiasts, and they're putting their own spin on the ancient art form. 

WJZ caught up with Baltimore's Firefly Crankie Collective for their Halloween show. The group welcomes anyone who wants to make crankies.

In early October, just three weeks out from the collective's show, "Scary Stories in the Dark" at Blue Pit BBQ, members worked on their scrolls at a dining room table in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood.

Scrolls of vibrant drawings on butcher paper lay draped on the floor, and these untrained artists, as they call themselves, were having fun. The long-illustrated scrolls are wound around spools, loaded into a box and hand-cranked while a story is told or sung.

After taking a course in crankie making, member Phillip McKnight made his first crankie while hiking the Appalachian Trail.

"I often play a ukulele when I show mine," McKnight said. "Then there's usually someone to puppeteer, and then there's usually someone to crank."

He found others who wanted to make "crankies," and they formed the collective.

"I think there's something comforting about it's in a box; it's on a piece of paper," said member Kay Kron. "You have the form and then within that you can do wild things."

"Waffle Girl"

Kay Kron was drawing pictures to go along with an old poem she wrote called "Waffle Girl." She had just been broken up with and had to work a 10-hour shift at a waffle shop. The poem compares her breakup to being dismembered.

"I hope that they feel seen," she laughed.

Kron performed her poem for the Halloween show because she said, what could be scarier than a lady in her 20s going through romance.

"Waffles and gelato and coffee being metaphors for hearts and blood and like eyeballs, feeling like pulled apart by these things while you're serving them to people," she said.

Firefly Crankie Collective presented their spooky-themed creations at Blue Pit BBQ the Thursday before Halloween.

Kron got married over the weekend on Halloween and gave her soon-to-be husband a shout-out before she presented her crankie at the show.

"Deepening the Wonder"

It's the performance aspect Phillip McKnight enjoys the most.

"It's usually in a dark space with like one light on, so it's really low stimulation and just that fact kind of brings everybody in the room into like one experience in a way that's like different than I've ever seen," said McKnight.

His "crankie" went along with the poem "Deepening the Wonder" by Hafez.

"It kind of gives a different spin on death as like part of life and enjoying the moments, savoring the moments, which is something I try to remember," he said.

"Like your Greek chorus"

For Kay Kron, she can now find the humor in her poem, and she took the crowd along with her.

"They just like come along, and they are like your Greek chorus," she said. "Like in the moment that the thing was happening, that you're talking about now, you're like, 'I don't have anyone to turn to,' and then suddenly you're like, it's you guys, you understand!"

The members hope, for the audience, seeing these stories will encourage them to give it a try.

"We want you to make a crankie after you see it and get inspired," McKnight said. "Probably more crankies in the world would make for a better world."