Horror? You’re Soaking In It

You probably know you’re not about to enter a typical haunted house experience when you’re asked before you participate in it if you have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). That’s what happens before you enter a popular horror experience called Blackout, which combines immersive theater with horror film scenarios you are the star of.

As one participant of the Josh Randall and Kristjan Thorgeirsson cult show described it, “It’s an intricate production where participants are not given the gift of an alternate identity…You’re not stepping into the shoes of a tourist trying to outrun the snare of a serial killer. You are yourself. You are the sum of your vulnerabilities.”

A documentary called “The Blackout Experiments” premiered at Sundance 2016, featuring interviews with Blackout participants and what this immersive experiment meant to them.

Blackout combines a number of trends we’ve been tracking, including the desire for Immersive experiences; Extrasensory, or experiences that heighten and combine our senses in new ways; and Shock and Awe, daring, shocking, surprising and taboo-breaking, and boundary-pushing experiences. In the 20th century “breaking the fourth wall” between performers and audiences was considered avant garde. But we’re in an era of sensory overload. Cosplay, LARPing (or Live Action Role Playing), and Virtual Reality are all signs that many need to literally be inside the story to get into a story.