With the still, night air surrounding you, you can see them off in the distance: the intruders. You’re not sure where they came from, but you’re terrified. One of them is holding another guest, pulling them back toward the house, toward some unknown terror. But the other…the other seems to be scanning the darkness. Can they see you? Did your eyes briefly meet for a second, as you are hunched in your hiding place? If you make a run for it, will they see you? Or, even worse, will they catch you? But, there is a prize on the line, one that makes it worth the risk. You prepare yourself, and get ready to make your move…when the hand of another intruder falls on your shoulder. You’re caught.

I may have just made that scenario up in my head, but that’s how I likely imagine my evening going when I eventually spend a night playing WELCOME HOME, a brand new, immersive experience from The Reality X.

Last week, I sat down with Cameron Cooper, the man behind The Reality X, a new production company that aims to bring you not one, not two, but three fully immersive experiences over the next year. They run the gamut, from horror, to reality TV, to a murder mystery, with many more on the way. And with such an unique roster of shows, I knew that Cooper himself was going to be an interesting individual.

“I grew up watching reality shows, such as Big Brother,” he told me, which explains his affinity for these real-life ‘adventures.’ To further himself as a good guy, he hold me he even worked on RuPaul’s Drag Race, both Season 10 and All-Stars 3.

“I was one of four production assistants, and I made sure I was the one doing the runs, contacting the talent, doing whatever I could. I wanted to make as many connections as possible,” he told me. But the idea for creating experiences for other people came to him last October.

“I was a finalist to be on Survivor. I had taken off work and everything…but then they ghosted me! No phone call, nothing,” he said. He wondered how many other folks had gone through similar situations, and thought it might be fun to give people a chance to actually compete on these ‘shows’ in his own way…hence The Reality X.

Combined with a passion for escape rooms (he has done over 130 so far), Cooper wanted to up the ante…and also provide a prize for the winner. That’s right, folks; all three experiences will include a cash prize for the person who completes it first. How cool is that?

His horror themed one is aforementioned WELCOME HOME, where guests gather for a dinner party that takes an unexpected turn. They will choose from one of six “routes”, in which they will need to reach their goal before the others. However, intruders will be on their tail the entire time, and will do everything they can to try to stop them.

“My worst fear is someone breaking into my home when I was there, so I wanted to make an experience out of that,” he told me. Inspired by films such as The Strangers and You’re Next, Cooper aims to make the experience terrifying, but also challenging. While the game won’t be over if you do get caught, your captors will put you in a situation where you will have to figure out how to get out of before you can continue.

The game, while played with 10-12 others, will be a mostly solo experience. You are, of course, competing for a prize. You are welcome to work together, but only one person will be allowed to take home the money, right?

“It’s a social experiment, in a way,” he explained. “Sure, you can play with someone else, but if they get caught, what do you do? Help them? Or run for your life and save yourself?”

Each of the six routes have varying levels of intensity, but all have some sort of “Wow!” factor to them to make sure everyone gets a moment that will leave them breathless. During dinner, you will be allowed to pick your favorite choices, but the ultimate decision of what path you are on will wind up with Cooper’s team.

The story itself begins the moment you step on property, with no welcome video, no signing of waivers, nothing.

“All of that will be done before hand,” Cooper said. “I want people to be in the world the moment they arrive.”

He and his team found the perfect house to act as the setting for the show, located in the wilds of LA County, located on 10 acres.

“It’s pitch black out there, it’s unsettling. It’s perfect,” he said.

They have been out there a few times, writing and re-writing the show, to make sure everything works. They plan on testing a full run in a few weeks, putting it through its paces, before they open it in September. Long-time friend of mine (and of the site) Benjamin Marsh is acting as a production coordinator, so I know it will be in good hands.

The show itself will last two and a half hours. But even if another player “wins” the prize, that doesn’t mean the game is quite over yet. You are still welcome to complete your story, your path, but you might not even realize that someone else has beat you to the punch until the very end.

The other experience is called BBX, and as Cooper says, “It is very, very close to Big Brother, but without the copyright infringement.”

BBX will follow the structure of the television show closely, with 12-14 house guests, with two different versions of the game, one lasting 14 hours and the other lasting 26 hours. The prizes for both differ as well, with the larger cash prize being for the longer show.

Participants will play over the time games, and nominate 2-3 people to vote out at the end of them, with the ‘week’ resetting after every vote. Of course, there are twists and turns along the way, but there can only be one winner.

“It basically is Big Brother, but without the cameras,” he says. He’s done five ‘seasons’ of this game already, and is constantly tinkering with it to make it better. And for those concerned about being ‘kicked out’ on the first go-round, don’t worry…there are plenty of ways to continue your game.

SUSPICION is murder mystery show, also with a cash prize, but it is still in development. However, from the description, it seems like a real-life game of Clue, and Cooper assures me it will be highly personalized.

Cooper is very obviously very ambitious, and through the course of our conversation, I could see how passionate he was about these experiences. It was good to know that he doesn’t intend to make his experiences go into the arena of “extreme” shows, and wants people to have a good time.

“There will be forceful grabbing and yelling, but nothing crazy. Safety is a priority for us, so whatever we do has to serve the story,” he said. His team is dedicated to making the shows the best they can be.

Though he was raised in Kentucky, these are the first “shows” Cooper has been a part of.

“In the 8th grade, we had a cornfield maze. We cut trails in the field, and everyone had their own section to manage. We had about 150 people come through on Halloween night,” he laughed. He also worked at the LA Haunted Hayride, in addition to a one-night stint as a ‘ghost with knife hands’ for a press event for Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension.

Cooper has plans for this business venture, and these three games are just the start of it. He’s looking forward to getting them all up and running, and then venturing out into new stories as well. And if our conversation is any indicator, it certainly seems like he’s going to be doing this for a long, long time.

Tickets will be $119 for WELCOME HOME, but use the promo code: ESCREALITY10 for $10 off! For more information, and to sign up for their mailing list, visit them online at: https://www.therealityx.com