About us

Dark Artefacts, spelt with an ‘e’ (we’re Brits), was conceived in 2014 and is the demon child of Nick Birch, art director, writer, photographer, collector and curator of bizarre wonderments.

Nick has been performing magic for over 25 years and has a particular fondness for fine apparatus and clever methods. He’s a detail obsessive having spent his career in branding and design, running several, award winning brand communications agencies. Nick also has a passion for the dark side – from carnival sideshows to paranormal paraphernalia and everything in between.

Our purpose is to unleash on the world of magic an assortment of the weird and wonderful, the abnormal and paranormal. Some of our creations will be entirely new, others will be recreations and adaptations of true stories using tried and tested principles. Every DA product will have one thing in common though – a dark authenticity which turns audiences into believers. And if our effects help mystery performers and bizarre magicians enhance their performances. We’re happy.

Our vision is to become one of the leading manufacturers and producers of niche props and effects that push at the edges of what’s possible. As our inventory grows so will our site where we intend to publish articles and downloads on our beloved spooky. We’ll also be introducing a blog shortly where we welcome your comments.

All DA products are manufactured to give years of trouble free service and come with a 12-month warranty. Quite simply, if there are any issues with any of our products we’ll fix ‘em. No questions asked.

And whilst on the subject of customer service (you’ve got us going now), we don’t believe customers should have to wait a lifetime for products they’ve paid for. If a product is out of stock we’ll notify you when it comes into stock so you can decide if you still want to purchase.

Products are shipped using Royal Mail parcels in the UK and UPS Express Saver worldwide. All shipments are sent tracked so you’ll be notified when your package has shipped.

If you have any questions regarding our products, shipping or anything else please don’t hesitate to make contact.

Commisions

Dark Artefacts is located in the United Kingdom in the rugged Yorkshire Pennine hills where our studio, workshop and photographic facilities enable us to turn almost an idea into a reality.

If you’d like a one off piece designing and building we’d be more than happy to discuss this with you and provide a written quote for the work. Just email us.

Got a product idea?

We’re always on the look out for new and exciting concepts to add to our little sideshow. And with that in mind we’d love to hear from like-minded individuals who’d be interested in collaborating on projects, either as a one off or on a regular basis. Just email us.

With a vast working knowledge of printing techniques and a fully equipped workshop, we’re also able to assist those wanting to get their own effects into production so please email us to find out how we can help.

Enjoy your stay.