#nychaunts

I was able to experience Psycho Clan’s preview run for This Is Real last weekend.  An escape room, a haunted house, immersive theater...whatever it was supposed to be, it was definitely exhilarating.

This Is Real puts you in the clutches of a deranged killer and you must work with your teammates to find clues and break out before you’re the next victim. You get three lives.  If your captor catches you outside your cell, you die. You’ll need to think quick.  You’ll need to hide. You’ll need to survive.  Not everyone is who they seem either so you’ll never know who to trust.

**Spoilers.

Blindfolded and bound, you’ll be locked in your own cell, listening to the crying and begging of an unknown victim.  Once you get yourself free from all the restraints, you’ll come face to face with who you’re dealing with.  When he leaves, it’s go time.  You’ll have to get yourself and your teammates free from the cells and start searching for keys or any object to open the door and reunite with the other half of your group.

Don’t ignore that nonchalant whistling.  There are many creative places to hide, but that isn’t always going to save you.

I actually died three times, but was still able to finish the experience.  Some directions were a little unclear and I think they’re still working out kinks. They had to yell some clues at us outside the room. And I missed the escape because I got so nervous and hid in a fridge lol.  But the escapees weren’t so lucky anyway...

My boyfriend also got thrown to the sharks because we were all being chased and it was absolute chaos.  One of the guys in our group closed the door separating the rooms before he could get in and just sacrificed him.

It’s definitely scary in an anxiety inducing, fuck we’re running out of time kind of way. No jump scares. And the clues to escape are less riddles and more basic survival skills.

I visited Nightmare at Gravity Hill in NJ this past weekend! Pretty standard haunted trail. Zombies, clowns, jump scares, and of course, my least favorite, chainsaws...

I do want to mention my favorite experience though. This scene really stood out among the rest and it was something I haven't seen before. I guess they added a new attraction called The Swamp. Green lights and fog created this awesome effect like you were trudging through a dark swamp. You couldn't see the floor at all. Or the alligator. I think it was really effective and everyone in my group really enjoyed that particular scene.

All of the sets were really great. The trail was also pretty long and I think that alone is worth the money. The only downside was they did not space out the groups long enough and at one point it was so crowded there was a line to walk into the next set. That got pretty frustrating. They do have a lot of actors there to jump out and scare you so you will get spooked at least once.