A first-of-its-kind haunted house is coming to Cincinnati this Halloween season.
“Trick ‘r Treat: An Interactive Holographic Haunted House,” from augmented reality (AR) outfit Verse Immersive, is a headset-based AR walkthrough inspired by the 2007 horror film Trick ‘r Treat from writer and director Michael Dougherty. The experience will be rolled out in 15 U.S. markets this year, including Greater Cincinnati at West Chester’s THE WEB Extreme Entertainment.
During Trick ‘r Treat, guests will step into the lore of Warren Valley, where they’ll encounter Sam — or Samhain — the film’s Halloween rules-obsessed antagonist and enforcer of said rules. In a choose-your-own-adventure-style experience, participants will have to try to survive their time with Sam and decide their fates via an interactive “rules” engine, meaning the world will react to your decisions across the walkthrough, so if you break a rule, you’ll trigger a scare.
“Fans aren’t just watching a story, they’re living it, with outcomes that hinge on their choices,” Ray Kallmeyer, founder and CEO of Enklu, the company behind Verse Immersive, said in a press release. “It’s a holographic haunt: cinematic, social and built for sharing!”
The experience also features Easter eggs from the movie, as well as four cinematic scenes, including the neighborhood street, the quarry, McKinley Woods and Mr. Kreeg’s house, putting you directly in the story from a first-person perspective. The walkthrough is also designed for people who may be new to immersive experiences: because guests will see the real world overlaid with holograms, not VR, they won’t experience the VR-induced motion sickness.
Trick ‘r Treat is suitable for people 13 years and older and is open now through Nov. 2. Tickets are $30 and can be booked online here.
THE WEB Extreme Entertainment, 7172 Cincinnati Dayton Road, West Chester. More info: verseimmersive.com/cincinnati.
