Room Escape Artist

I don’t like scary escape rooms… apparently, I love them?

Here’s the story of how I overcame my fear of horror escape rooms and my tips for you, if you’d also like to experience these incredible performances.

I Don’t Do Scary

When I started playing escape rooms, and I learned that some of them were scary, my immediate reaction was “no, thank you!” I’ve never enjoyed scary movies. Living one in real life? Nope. Not for me. But I hadn’t ever actually played a scary escape room. I like fun escape rooms and I didn’t equate being scared with having fun.

I’ve always been nervous because of my husband’s affinity for playing high-end escape rooms… and the number of horror games crowding the top of TERPECA meant a trip full of horror escape rooms was inevitable.

Athens, Greece, is known for having top tier horror escape rooms and has long been on his list of destinations. I cringed at the idea of traveling that distance just to be too scared to play any of the games. But here we were, on our way to Athens anyway. Richard had arranged to play the horror games with some other enthusiasts and I made plans to keep myself busy and then join them for the few non-scary rooms on the schedule.

As luck would have it, travel delays among some of the group led to them being shorthanded for the first horror game of the trip and I was asked to fill in. So I found myself headed down a dark alley, to a black door, waiting for our time to enter. 

We were greeted by an in-character game host who led us into a dark room and gave us minimal instruction, with the most important being to move away from the demons. This rule would prove important to my awakening.

My team was awesome and gave great emotional support throughout the experience. Someone else was always willing to be first (or last) into the dark rooms and tunnels so I could melt into the middle of the bunch. This support helped me make it through my first Athens horror escape room. 

Another One?

The team had another horror game booked and I was again invited to join. But I was still on the fence. They’d taken good care of me, but this one was supposed to be even more terrifying.

I asked Lisa Spira what to do. She used to fear horror escape rooms, but they don’t seem to phase her anymore. She gave me some great advice: play the game as a curious observer, focused on evaluating why people are talking so highly about this game. 

I took this advice and entered the pitch black escape room as a serious scientist. I would analyze this experience and figure it out!

After two hours of exhilarating jump scares and actor acrobatics, I began to understand why people like these types of escape rooms. These games are fun! The overused term “immersive” was, for once, not hyperbole. It is empowering to face demons and survive. The sets and spectacle are impressive and the acting is amazing. They are theatrical experiences. I was not surprised to learn that many Athens escape room actors are trained dancers. The way they move through space and contort their bodies makes it evident that they are true performers. 

I started off the trip not wanting to play any scary rooms and ended the trip wishing I would have played more. I am proud of where I ended up as a player and grateful for not having missed out on some of the best experiences our industry has to offer.

What I Learned

I learned to like and appreciate good horror escape rooms. If your spouse is committed to horror escape rooms, or if you’re just curious about them, here are my top 10 tips for pushing outside your comfort zone. 

Rely on your teammates. It helps tremendously if someone in your group is willing to go first (or last) down those long dark hallways. There is safety in the middle.

Understand the rules of the game. Move away from the actors…knowing what to do when I encountered a demon, ghost or a possessed being made these moments easier to handle because I could take the correct action with confidence. The way creators used darkness and trained us how to act in the complete…and I mean COMPLETE darkness was truly masterful. As was the way light was used to indicate to us when we should advance to the next space. 

Be a protector. Being brave is easier if you are playing with a friend who is equally anxious. I learned that if I wasn’t the most frightened person in the room, I handled the scares better. Moving from helpless into the role of comforter or protector for a teammate builds self confidence, and you can switch back and forth between these roles at different points during the game. 

It’s a business. Remember that these escape rooms creators are trying to attract as many paying customers as possible. They are not going to run experiences where a significant portion of their customers are having a bad time. So they must, and they do, have ways of making these games fun for most players.

The actors are having fun. I found it helped me a lot when during the post game debrief, the actors broke character and I could see the fun they were having performing their roles. The fact that they were having fun with our group made it easier for me to realize that I was also having fun with them and the experience they had created for me. It reminded me that we were there to have fun…and we did!

It gets easier. Give horror rooms at least a few chances to win you over. The more I played the more I liked playing scary escape games, and the easier it became. Like a lot of things in life, taking the first step is the hardest. I had to be the brave one in a few of our later games and I was able to accept the role with little reservation. 

Actors adapt to you. Most actors adjust their in-game interactions based on the fear response of the players. When any of us became paralyzed with fear, the actor was less aggressive. If we showed no fear, their scares were more deliberate. 

Accept spoilers. I accepted minor spoilers from friends that previously played these rooms. I also used EscapeRoomers.de scarefactor level ratings to compare other games that I played with the experiences that were on our Athens itinerary. 

They are not that scary. My imagination of what might happen was far more frightening than the actual games turned out to be. 

Be a scientist. Take Lisa’s advice. If you need to, take a mental break while playing and focus on the craft of the experience. The highly rated horror games are recognized as such for a reason. Take it in as a scientist, observer, or critic.

Not For Everyone

Horror escape rooms are not for everyone. They weren’t for me, until they were. I gave them a try and found a path through my fear that led to fun and appreciation. If you are trying to decide whether or not you should play some of the scary games you have heard so much about, my advice would be to give them a try before writing off the category completely. 

If you have specific triggers, it’s worth checking for specific content warnings. You might not have to avoid the entire horror genre if there are specific types of content that you don’t want to experience, for whatever reason. And you might find, like I did, that you kinda love scary escape rooms!?