Bloody brilliant: a review of The Blumhouse of Horrors

The producers of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister have created a bloody brilliant haunted house in Downtown LA.  Staged in the Variety Arts Theater, this haunt takes groups of ten on a tension packed tour of the building.  We scurried like theater mice up and down stairways, outside into the back alley, in and out of elevators, and even onto the stage.

We arrived on a Saturday night and although the line was down the block, the staff managed to keep it moving and energetic scare actors kept us entertained. The only bottleneck of the evening occurred in the theater lobby, which was uncomfortably hot.  Our tour began with an introduction by a flamboyant theater usher.  She explained that we would be walking the halls with the ghosts of the dearly departed who were doomed to repeat their deaths in front of us.  She told us of the mysterious disappearance of a magician’s assistant who went into a vanishing box and was never seen again…

As our small group pressed forward, we traveled back in time to the 30s.  Actors, stagehands, and ushers popped in and out to guide our way on.  All of the scenes were packed with rich details, like the backstage area filled with abandoned props from long ago productions.  Combining the jump-scare tactics of a traditional maze with funhouse tricks, The Blumhouse of Horrors is a fully immersive haunt.  We loved the way we were led and chased through all levels of this fascinating old LA building.  When we found ourselves inside the theater, the actors performances made us feel like we were watching a ghostly recreation of the past, as the mystery of the magician’s assistant was finally revealed.

If you are looking for something that’s a little scary and a lot of fun, I’d suggest a trip downtown to the The Blumhouse of Horrors with tours nightly through November 3rd.  You’ll definitely have a screamingly good time, and might even run into a real ghost.  The staff was happy to tell us that this haunt is actually haunted.