Madison Rubino
Staff Writer
To celebrate Halloween, Fairplex is hosting the event Into the Black every weekend for the month of October, from 2 p.m. to midnight, Friday through Sunday.
Into the Black offers a virtual reality experience created by Hollow Studios, which gives guests the background story of the Black family, who mysteriously vanished in 1866.
“We created this experience to tie into the story of Into the Black,” Dave Love, creative executive of Hollow Studios, said. “The haunted house is more of a present day experience whereas the virtual reality experience takes people back in time to the 1800s, and shows them what actually happened to the Black family and who they were.”
The virtual reality experience is about four and a half minutes long and allows participants to see the story through the eyes of Lilith, a possessed doll.
After participating in the virtual reality experience, guests enter the haunted house.
It is designed to represent the Black family’s house and was rumored to have strange occurrences. The family was known to be heavily involved with witch craft.
The haunted house includes rooms themed with devil worship decorations and workers dressed as demons lurking throughout the maze.
It takes an average of 20 minutes to walk through the house, while guests struggle to find their own ways in the dark and dodge unexpected demons jumping out at them.
One thing that sets this haunted house apart from other attractions is that they only allow guests to walk through the maze one at a time.
“The reason I wanted to do this is the alone factor,” said Larry Bones, co-owner of Bone Yard Effects, Inc. and the creator of Into the Black. “I knew that would be the thing that would really get you scared, because you have no friends to cling to.”
People showed up with their friends, bought a ticket to the attraction and were shocked with fear when told they were only allowed to go in alone.
“I’m going to have a sore throat from screaming,” said Kay Brandt, who was on her way to Oktoberfest when she saw the Into the Black attraction. “I was actually scared. I think I even peed my pants a little.”
While standing outside the haunted house, one can hear the screams of those making their way through the maze.
“It was really dark and scary,” Joann Kaites, a 45-year-old Pico Rivera resident, said. “Going by yourself is a totally different experience. You have to figure out where you are going while you are being chased.”
Madison Rubino can be reached at madison.rubino@laverne.edu.
Madison Rubino
