There are some haunt experiences that go above and beyond the traditional jump scares. They are some that pull you in, making you an active participant in the proceedings, forcing you to play a part in order to get through. These immersive experiences are becoming more and more common these days, and with that, are becoming some of the most sought-after experiences during the Halloween season.

The Interactive Scares: Total Immersion panel held at ScareLA this past weekend brought together three of the biggest names in immersive entertainment for a discussion on what they do, and why people are drawn from it. Panelists included Jon Braver from Delusion, Dylan Reiff from the Stanley Film Festival, and Erin Reynolds from Nevermind. The panel was moderated by Jon Schnitzer, director of the documentary HAUNTERS.

The panel kicked off with each of the panelists talking a bit about what they do.

Reynolds is the creative director behind Nevermind, a bio-feedback adventure horror game. The game reads your heart rate, and responds to it in real time. The more scared you are, the harder the game gets. Meant as a stress management tool in some ways, it makes great use of bio-feedback technology to make sure each player’s experience is suited to their play style. The game is currently available on Steam Early Access, and it will be one Xbox One and Oculus Rift store next year.

The narrative revolves around psychologists from the future who travel into people’s repressed memories to help them come to terms with it. They put together the fragmented pieces for themselves, even though the memories are just slightly…off.

“It’s very surreal and abstract,” Reynolds explained. “Milk flowing in the kitchen, giant screaming hears, bodies hanging in bags…you know, not your normal stuff.”

The game started as her grad thesis project, and she made a proof of concept before graduation. She eventually went to work elsewhere for a year, but her mind was always on it.

Erin Reynolds

“My heart was still in it, so I quit that job, and have been developing the game for the past year,” she said. They are now close to launch, and excited for everyone to check it out.

Braver is the writer and director of the extremely popular show Delusion, which takes places during the Halloween season. He described the show as being inside a horror and suspense story.

“You are a character in it, and it’s very story oriented,” he said.

After a brief trailer was shown, showcasing clips from the last few years, he went on to explain that it doesn’t translate well to film because it is such a unique experience. However, based on the crowd’s reaction to some of the things on screen, it definitely triggered certain memories from their own experiences from the show.

The show grew out of his love of role playing games, where everyone had a part to play. In fact, the “side quests” as he calls them that happen to people who get plucked from their groups for a few minutes every show, are a direct result of that.

His first foray into this sort of thing was at his parent’s house in Chicago in 1996, where he literally took over the house, forcing his parents to stay in a hotel, and put on a ten minute play for the neighbors. It was extremely successful, but it destroyed the house.

“So the next year, we moved it to a neighbor’s house who hadn’t seen the show before,” he joked.

Delusion’s first year was in 2011, and after he threw up just before the first show (Braver’s words!), it culminated into being in the movie he always wanted to be in as a kid. He knew it was going to be a bit, because he is just like the folks who would go to Delusion; he loves it.

As for his writing process, he talked about how he likes to walk the space, where ever the show will be that year, and get a feel for it.

“I have a black book of ideas, and I always go through it to see what ideas I’ve had that could work within this space and this story,” he said. He did it this past year, for Lies Within, with co-writer Peter Cameron, and came up with a spectacular story, with twists that no one saw coming.

“How about Ember? Did you see that coming?” he asked the audience. When we all responded no, he smiled and said “Good. Then it worked.”

It was great that he brought up the music in the show as well, because the day before, while explaining it to a friend, I said the same thing: it’s an integral part of the experience that most people don’t even realize is there. It’s subtle, and yet heightens the emotions he wants you to feel.

Jon Braver had some microphone trouble.

Braver also revealed that they are close to signing a 5 year lease for a year-round experience, for somewhere around 140 nights a year. Though he was scant on the details, I’m sure it will be amazing. As for this years’ experience, he said there was still a 50/50 shot of one happening, due to problems with the location, but if they do one, it’ll be the same show as last year’s. Considering I went twice last year, I am absolutely OK with diving back into the world of Elena Fitzgerald.

Reiff talked about his interactive, horror-themed game that takes place every year at the Stanley Film Festival, which was the inspiration from the Overlook in The Shining. He called himself an Independent Game Architect, and creates a horror game that you accidently find yourself the protagonist of. The game is played out over 4 days, and has various entry points and levels of play.

“You can find yourself making a new friends in the bar, and talking for an hour. Then, at the end of the conversation, they might hand you a key, and you are left to wonder was that person even real? Or is it all part of the game?” Reiff explained.

He went on to say that the game starts the minute you walk off the plane, and you have no idea what is real and what isn’t. It’s up to you, the player, to investigate it and see what is true and what isn’t.

“I wanted to create something to heighten fear, and have someone tangibly experience it.”

Growing up as a big theater nerd, Reiff met the director of the film festival, who was looking to include an experience that was full of terror, stress, and Lovecraftian fear, and Reiff was immediately hooked. He went crazy, and created these stories that are on-going, with each year’s story continuing the last.

Dylan Reiff

“You’ll meet characters year after year who help you, or hurt you, along the way. I wanted it to be a real, living world that you continue to come back to again and again.”

Along those lines, he also includes real world situations into the story. For example, one year, the hotel was under-going construction, so the story revolved around an ancient ankh that was unearthed during digging.

But the game is also built to be played at whatever comfort level you have, to play at whatever level elates you.

“It’s truly an open world game. So, when you come across that shovel, you have to make that decision as to whether you want to dig up that grave or not,” he said referring to a section of one of the previous games.

What was interesting to hear was that part of the genesis of the game was to be social. He wanted people who might never meet to come together and work together toward a common goal…which is why you might find movie star Elijah Wood working with Colorado locals to defeat an ancient evil.

“That sort of thing grew out of sitting around in a dingy basement with my friends, playing multiplayer games, and just having that social experience,” he explained.

Reiff also spoke on an epic, 5 year story he did for ONE person called Future Shock. It revolved around a kid, who was 16 when it started, that was chosen to save the world. Over the 5 years, Reiff orchestrated it so he went on amazing adventures to save our future.

“I chose him completely at random, and just wanted to create this super positive experience for him to remember forever.”

Hearing the details of said adventure is pretty amazing.

Overall, these three amazing experiences are all quite different, but to me, make up the next step in entertainment. Everyone brought something new to the table, and I’m very excited to see what they have in store for us in the future.