OUT & ABOUT

SUBTERRANEAN SCARES

Check out The Bunker Experience for a frightening (yet safe) Halloween.

by DANIEL TOZIER

If you’ve long since outgrown trick-or-treating on your All Hallows’ Eve, consider descending into the terrifying subterranean world of Pasadena’s only escape room, e Bunker Experience. Every year, creators Bea Egeto and Charlotte Bjornbak host e Halloween Experience: an amped-up, extra-chilling version of their already daring adventure series.

For those unfamiliar with the narrative spin that Egeto and Bjornbak have put on the familiar escape room formula, here’s a quick rundown: players sign up for one of three current chapters ( e Bunker, e Hive, or e Gatekeeper) of an ongoing post-apocalyptic saga, each one featuring a diff erent environment, challenging puzzles, and live actors portraying the characters that populate the underground world. rough the course of your labyrinthian adventure, these elements swirl together, creating an immersive night of theater that puts you and your friends on center stage. e special Halloween Experience throws you headfi rst into the apocalypse, giving players all three chapters backto-back in a fast-paced, 60-minute session. For returning survivors, the duo has thrown in thorny new puzzles and a few heart-pounding scares appropriate for the season.

“We’re taking the most thrilling parts of each game, the most suspenseful parts, and combining them into one experience,” Egeto explains. “From the moment they start to the moment it ends, it’s going to be a top-notch adrenaline rush.” e Halloween Experience will run Friday and Saturday nights from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31. To keep everyone safe, all employees and participants will be asked to wear masks for the entirety of the event. 