DELUSION

@christinebarger

I made a new friend at Delusion haunted play last night at the haunted philips mansion in pomona California 👻 If you love immersive theatre and halloween then you need this in your life 🖤 ventriloquist talks to haunted doll at enter delusion #enterdelusion #haunteddoll #creepytok

♬ original sound – 🎭 Christine Barger 🎬

Every time somebody asks me about immersive Halloween experience is the first word out of my mouth is DELUSION!!!

My husband and I literally recommend Delusion to our escape room guests anytime they tell us that they want to know about immersive experiences. So when I was invited to attend Delusion this year, I was ecstatic. Of course the show, the location, the set design, the actors, and the story did not disappoint. The only thing disappointing was finding out that there will not be new stories coming for next year. This is the final year for Jon Braver running this show, at least for a while.

That means of you haven’t got your tickets yet you have to do it because you need to see this show. There is a good chance that a version of the very first show will be back again next year and hopefully they will rotate through the whole series again, but take no chances: go to the link at the top of this page and book tickets now, then come back and finish reading.

(Please note there are a lot of stairs in the show if you have accessibility concerns this show may not be able to accommodate please check with them.)

Ok welcome back now that you’ve booked your tickets for 2023 Delusion let’s talk about what you’re in for…with very mild spoilers.

This is an extremely immersive theatrical show. It contains many talented actors and stunt performers. It’s at a historic location which, unfortunately is not very accessible because of the amount of stairs. I was genuinely getting a little tired physically from the amount of movement and stairs in the show to be honest, but I am pretty out of shape and not as young as I used to be. This year’s story encompasses the previous years stories and wraps it all up in a beautiful bow, however, you will not need to have attended any prior performances to understand what’s going on. I am confident in that, as we had a discussion about it with our group after the show and not everyone had been to any other prior performances. Everyone still enjoyed and understood what was going on as much as the seasoned attendees.

You check in in the front of the house after parking on the streets and have some time to explore on your own. If you are lucky enough to see Manny say hello to him and have a conversation he’s very talkative. There’s also a gift shop and restrooms available, there were drinks and food also available for purchase outside

Once you’re name is called you will join a group in the front and wait for an actor to come and begin the show by bringing you around the side of the house. We were able to explore different parts of the property and buildings. The story is shared with us through the actor performances, as well as lighting, and sound effects recordings and more. One of my favorite stunts returned this year. Don’t worry you won’t be involved in performing any stunts yourself, but they will surround you and hopefully pleasantly surprise you. You will, however, be running, going up and downstairs hiding and other physical activities throughout the performance. Unlike a stage show where you sit in the audience, Delusion is an active performance where you move throughout the space often going to the actors instead of them coming to you.

If you have upgraded your ticket, you will also have access to special locations after or prior to the performance, and possibly even become a character in the show yourself. Without giving too much away, I found their use of the VIP experience to help add to the show incredibly clever and fun.

Overall Delusion remains one of my all-time favorite immersive experiences and also one of my favorite Halloween events. I’m so grateful to live in Southern California, where I am able to attend productions like Delusion so I am constantly reminded of the incredible creativity that exists in the world by people who are passionate about what they do.