Pop quiz: If April showers bring May flowers, what the hell do April scares bring? Honestly, no one knows when it comes to LA’s newest horror attraction. A few months back, rumors started circulating around The Tension Experience—what seems to be an immersive scare "journey." However, after hours of scouring the internet, registering on the website and even picking up the phone, we are still largely in the dark about what The Tension Experience really is. According to the site, the big reveal is said to happen today, which left us feeling like it's possible we're being played, as part of an elaborate April Fool’s hoax.
While The Tension Experience leaves us skeptical, here are some mystery-solving terrors we can count on ...
Gearing up for some horror fests, like Days of the Dead in Burbank this weekend and
Monsterpalooza in Pasadena at the end of the month, we’ve teamed up with horror actress and director
Jessica Cameron to bring you some of the city’s best mind-bending thrills—if you dare …
Escape Rooms
THE BASEMENT
Sylmar, $30-$35 pp
Jessica Cameron:
The Basement is one that I am eager to try. I have heard great things about it and have been told that it is gory enough to meet my horror requirements. It basically puts you IN a horror film and you have to figure out how to get out before the cannibal gets you. Its creator is a huge horror fan, so my expectations are high.
Theater
Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre
North Hollywood, $15 pp
JC: This theater focuses on the bizarre and twisted, though it’s not a haunt or an escape room, but I want to mention it cause I adore it so much. Zombie Joe's Underground Theater is open all year long, with a constant rotation of shows, all of which horror fans are sure to adore. For a good prank, take a friend who considers themselves a horror fan, but hasn’t really seen much dark horror. You will get to enjoy their shocked reactions!
ALONE: An Existential Haunting
Location Unknown, $45+ pp
Jessica also recommends this extreme haunted house, which LA Weekly deemed, “a stroke of evil genius.” While escape rooms are very much a team effort, Alone is something you do … alone. Forget grabbing your boyfriend’s hand—you are on your own for this one, making it the most intense suggestion on this list! ALONE events resume in June; sign up on their
website for details.
JC: Word of warning, this is a full-touch haunt, so be prepared. I like the fact that you go through it alone. For me, that makes it much scarier since you can’t go with friends.
Citizine’s Five Favorite Escape Rooms in LA
RoomEscape Los Angeles
West Hollywood, From $33 pp
Adrenaline junkies, puzzle lovers, horror-fanatics and that guy in the office who can solve a Rubik's Cube behind his back: Your day is now. RoomEscape LA has a total of four-themed rooms: Cold War Bunker, Zombie Lab, Prison, and the Bank—each designed for two to six players, ranging from intermediate to advanced. We highly recommend the Zombie Lab in preparation for that imminent Zombie apocalypse.
Enigma Escape Rooms
Hollywood, $30 pp; $160-$320 per room
Sure you could waste time and effort this April Fool’s by swapping your roommate’s toothpaste with jock itch cream and giggling until one of you ends up with a black eye. Or, you can challenge your bro to a puzzle solving duel that will either leave you scratching your head or give you founded bragging rights. Room themes, geared for two to six people, include: The Secret Temple, Apartment 205, The Will, and the Crime Scene.
DTLA, $32 pp
EscapeIQ may only have two rooms, but they can accommodate up to 10 people at a time … perfect for conjuring mass hysteria. Currently running Alcatraz and Vault themes, which run an hour each. They suggest arriving at least 15 minutes early, being late means you will have less time to solve the puzzle and rooms can’t wait since they are booked for specific time slots!
Maze Rooms Escape Game
Various LA Locations, $30 pp for 3+ players
In the name of defending your intelligence, after whatever prank you fell for today, check out one of Maze Rooms’ 10—soon to be 11—delightfully scary puzzles. For the Chucky doll fans out there, may we suggest the Demon Hunter? Come out of these rooms unscathed before time runs out and, rest assured, you will have redeemed yourself as nobody’s fool.
South Central, $30 pp
Krampusnacht, Santa Claus’ evil twin, is in town kidnapping kids. Will you confront this holiday horror and save the children in under 60 minutes? Or would you rather flee from an active volcano? Maybe you’re more of a Sci-Fi fan? Count Down has a room for that too. Pro-tip: With less than a 30 percent chance at best, according to Countdown’s stats, that you will emerge victorious, be sure to chose your teammates wisely.
These may be our top five picks, but they are hardly the only ones. In a city famous for creating anything and everything you can dream of, Los Angeles is home to over 20 escape rooms with more and more immersive horror, haunted houses and theaters popping it up all the time. Now you can have your Halloween adrenline-junkie fright fix year around. Here are a few others to check out too: Ace Escape Game, Exit Game, PanIQ Room Hollywood, Trapped in a Room With a Zombie, The Ripper and The 13th Room, to name a few. Good luck and happy haunting!
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Alethea Cho, AKA Lady Lovesblood, is no stranger to horror or escaping from odd situations. Once handcuffed to a chair on her birthday, she managed to escape with the aid of a bobby-pin, how she ended up in that situation still remains a mystery. To follow her unlikely adventures check out Twitter @lady_lovesblood or Instagram @ladylovesblood.
Featured image of Jessica; courtesy of Jessica Cameron