Tag: things to do in los angeles
ANNOUNCEMENT- ZJU
“THE BOGEYMAN WITHIN”
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group proudly presents their Amazing-New 20-minute Blindfolded Horror-Theatre Experience that Delves into Your Deepest Nighttime Terrors! A unique, fun and freaky theatrical-immersion that gently moves the audience through a spiraling plethora of fears, aspirations and the darkest of fantasies! Directed by Zombie Joe & Jorge Lozano. For Ages 18 and up.
(3) Weekends Only: FEBRUARY 21 thru MARCH 7, 2020;
FRIDAY and SATURDAY “Late-Night” (5 Performances Nightly): 10:30pm / 11:00pm / 11:30pm / 12:00am (Midnight) / 12:30am
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group
4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
TIX only $16 in Advance / $20 at door.
Advance TIX at: ZombieJoes.Tix.com
For Reservations CALL: 818-202-4120
Official Website: ZombieJoes.com
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZJUTheater/
On Twitter & Instagram: @ZombieJoes
ESCAPE ROOMS – 60out Hyde Circus – CA
HAUNTS – Museum of Monsters – CA
Museum of Monsters is a fun monster themed popup just in time for Halloween! It’s a perfect event for all ages. The monsters are creative and a little weird but not especially scary. It’s a great stop for anyone looking for fun Halloween Instagram pics too!
HAUNTS – IT Chapter 2 – CA
#Chapter2
IT Chapter 2 haunted attraction pop-up in Hollywood California is a fun and creative way to promote the newest film in the franchise.
Take a look inside this incredible pop-up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj8R5bxY6Wc&feature=share
ESCAPE ROOMS- Nautilus Escape Room at 60 Out – CA
60 Out is an amazing company with many incredible rooms. This is one of the most immersive escape room companies in Los Angeles. Their games are great for both new & experienced players.
HAUNTS – Los Angeles Haunted Hayride – California
Growing up in the midwest hayrides and tractors were a bit more commonplace, but the idea of a haunted hayride in the middle of Los Angeles is unique. The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is located in Griffith Park near the old zoo area. The hayride, dark maze and trick or treat area are the three main haunted attractions at the event. There are also food vendors, psychics, entertainment and a creepy carousel.
LA Haunted Hayride is a fun event, however 2017 was not their strongest year. The clown theme was interesting enough, but not very original. I liked their use of the old zoo area and incorporating the animals. The oversized marionettes were fun. The guy on the motorcycle looked cool. Overall the hayride didn’t deliver those stunning staged scenes I have come to expect from this event. This year it seemed a bit lighter on actors and the scares seemed to be focussed primarily on jumping on the wagon or stalking guests a little too long along a sparsely decorated path.
The House of Shadows maze is a dark maze with a handful of actors that work very hard at jump scares. It’s a fun place to get lost with your friends. There are a few dimly lit scenes within and some writing on the walls to “help” you to the correct path. There was a half deflated airbag effect that was less than effective. It isn’t the scariest or prettiest maze I’ve seen, but the idea of getting lost in an actual maze is quite fun.
Trick or Treat was the only attraction that made me put away my camera specifically saying “no lights, photos, videos, snapchat, instagram, etc while inside”. I wondered if that was so the poor quality of the attraction wouldn’t get plastered all over social media. It was a lot of fun the last time I did it…actually one of my favorite things in Los Angeles because of the creativity of trick or treating at the homes of different creatures. This year the set looked like it needed some touchups, the actors weren’t behind their doors to answer the knocking and there was no candy for the trick or treaters. It was a series of awkward moments where we would knock on a door and wait, then an actor may or may not appear to try and do some sort of jump scare that we were literally standing around waiting for. It seems to have lost motivation for Trick or Treat when they removed the Trick or Treating element from the attraction.
​Overall this year was disappointing, but I still look forward to seeing what they do next year. I hope it is a fun theme and they reignite that spark of creativity that I have enjoyed so much from them in the past years.
HAUNTS – Into the Black 2017 – California
Have you ever wondered how you would react if you were the character walking through the spooky house alone in a horror flick? Now you have the chance feel what that is like. Into the Black at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds in Pomona California is a new Halloween event for 2017. It is a three part adventure in that there is a short movie, VR experience and walk through haunted house that all work together to tell the story. You can watch the movie on YouTube before attending the event. The VR experience is a fun short adventure into the past to meet the characters of the home and find out a little more of the history of the house and it’s former residents. The haunted house is an individual experience inside the house which we have now gotten quite familiar with. Overall, it’s a creative, fun and unique event.
The haunted house is beautifully designed and truly feels like it’s own character. One of my favorite things about the design is the use of space. I enjoyed the large room scenes in combination with the claustrophobic hallways. I also love that there are choices to make within the path. The make-up is amazing, of course. Afterall, Larry Bones (Boneyard Effects) is an incredible make-up creator. The hardworking actors are perfectly placed to build tension and then pounce. The sound design is also wonderfully done. I loved the moment when I was following the sound, but could barely see anything. Everything works together so well to create a fresh style of psychologically thrilling experience.
You can more of my thoughts in the YouTube video below along with my husband and short interview with Larry Bones.
ESCAPE ROOMS – The Laboratory Escape Room – California
If you are looking for an interesting puzzle game with a lot to accomplish, this is your game. The Laboratory in DTLA has a unique style. It is especially good for large groups because of the amount of things to do throughout the game. I really enjoyed the way the game designers split the puzzles into smaller groupings allowing small groups within the large group to break off an work together in an organized and effective manner. It wasn’t the chaos I’ve come to expect from large games with so many puzzles. There is very little searching involved. The puzzles themselves are creative, but fairly simple. I believe this game is perfect for beginner and intermediate players because of the difficulty level of the individual puzzles, however I think most enthusiasts would also enjoy themselves and appreciate the experience.
My husband and I played the game alone, so the gamemaster removed a couple of the puzzle groupings to allow us to have a chance to beat the game. The way they accommodate smaller groups is to remove certain puzzles. I like the idea in theory, but we discovered that we’d prefer to play a complete game and possibly lose, than win at a game that isn’t complete. We beat the game and then asked if we could do more of the puzzles since we had extra time. We just didn’t feel that sense of accomplishment that we normally feel after beating an escape room. I don’t know if it would be the same for beginners.
The story is basic…solve puzzles in a lab to prove your intelligence or the bomb goes off. The puzzles aren’t especially connected to the theme, but they fit the world because the story sets up that it’s a challenge. The location is nice. There is no parking, so bring cash for nearby parking lots during the day. They have great customer service.
Overall, it’s a clever and unique game that will definitely keep the players busy.
ODDITIES – Jurassic Planet at the LA County Fair – CA
I’ve never been particularly interested in dinosaurs, but I heard about Jurassic Planet and my curiosity got the best of me. I’m glad it did.
For only a small $5 up charge to your fair admisssion you can walk among 40 life sized realistic animatronic dinosaurs. It pretty darn cool! I know they aren’t actually real dinosaurs (except for a few live creatures on display such as an emu, alligator and tortoise), but they seem pretty real if you let your imagination run wild. I found myself wanting to pet them and at one point talking in “baby talk” to a few adorable animatronic baby dinos.
I really enjoyed Jurrasic Planet and wanted to share it here. I also recorded a bit of my experience which you can watch from YouTube below.
Live Escape Room & Haunt Reviews 
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