Depraved — Belgium’s first public extreme haunt.

Ever since being a small boy, my son has been fascinated by scary stories and horror movies. This quickly extended into enjoying Halloween and finally the discovery of immersive haunts (note: he is actually the one that introduced me to immersive theatre).

So for years, one of his life goals has always been to organise an immersive haunt himself. So, last year he took all the savings he had accumulated an 18-year-old, convinced his dad to invest a bit of extra venture capital, and go for his first Halloween production, titled ‘Depraved’.

It’s clear that it was quite the learning experience for him. Booking a space, finding actors who’d work for pizza, build props, print flyers … is a steep learning curve at any age.

But he wasn’t the only one who learned from the experience. I took away some lessons too. So here’s what I learned from my son’s immersive haunt.

Lesson #1: Props need not be elaborate to work

As the space he used was an open warehouse, my son physically had to ‘build’ the walls of the rooms he needed. While this took quite the effort, it also meant that there wasn’t much time or budget to go too elaborate on props and furniture. But interestingly enough, those who visited are very willing to explore and suspend disbelief. The smell of leaves scattered in one room only lit by lanterns created a forest atmosphere which made the cult ritual taking place in it, credible. The strongest room, was a simple chalk line on the floor, with a young lady sitting on a chair in a wedding gown, lit only by a flashlight.

Lesson learned: People want to be immersed. If you give them the right cues, they will quickly fill in the blanks where the scenery is incomplete.

Lesson #2: Deprivation of one sense is a scary thing

At the end of the haunt, participants got a bag put over their head and they were guided — in the dark — to the exit. Even though everything was 100% safe (I knew my son was guiding me), the depravation of one sense was very disorienting and even slightly scary. Even though our mind says that everything is all right, our bodies know that something is wrong and react on instinct.

Lesson learned: if you want to disorient someone or put them on high alert, switch off ‘one’ of their senses. But make sure they feel safe as it can be scary. Inversely, don’t do to more, as you may freak them out.

Lesson #3: Waivers and safe words really matter

I always considered waivers to make people feel safe and stay friends with the insurance company. But I learned that these pieces of paper and their accompanying safe words really matter. Even in a mild haunt like my son’s.

In his case there was a group who wanted to go through it as part of their Halloween celebration. However, we found out that many of them were fugitives from not so nice parts on the planet. So the waiver was a great way to ensure that we didn’t let people go through the haunt which had lived the real-life trauma of having bags put over their heads.

And when one went through anyway, the safe word allowed them to get out the moment things got too scary (which they did). But by being upfront about it all, everyone had a good time, and all remained good fun.

Lesson learned: even if you think it really isn’t required, give people a sense of what might happen to them, and a ‘way out’ if they don’t like it anymore. It will shape (heighten?) their expectations and they will feel safe at all times.

Bonus lesson: Dreams matter

‘Depraved’ cost my son every penny he had amassed over his 18 years of life, and then some. It caused him anxiety, physical pain and late nights. But it made him grow as a person and helped him achieve his childhood dream of organising the first ever — public — immersive extreme haunt in Belgium.

Seeing this happen reminded me we should all keep going for our dreams.

Lesson learned: Keep going for your dreams. No matter how unrealistic, ridiculous, expensive, crazy, foolish, childish or unachievable they appear. And if someone tells you something can not be done, then remember that this says more about their inability to think different, than your inability to achieve your goal.

P.S. I also learned that even though the topic is scary, the haunt community consists of some really nice people. As he started out, my son got notes of encouragement from around the world and one of Europe’s main haunt bloggers even came by to encourage him and write an honest, but positive and highly encouraging review.