Room Escape Artist

 ”We would lean into specific horror tropes and then subvert them and change them.”

Eveline Shadow, the famous horror novelist, is staying at a local hotel while working on her latest novel, The Nightmare. You’ve just arrived for your meet and greet with her, only to discover that she’s mysteriously disappeared. Not only that, but this hotel feels… a little unsettling. As you creep deeper and deeper into the hallways, you discover empty abandoned rooms with hints of their former occupants.

Reality starts to blur when you find manuscripts projected onto the walls, narrating your journey. You realize your deepest fears might be waiting just around the next corner, but the only way through the story is to push on. Welcome to The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow.

The closure of hotels during the pandemic quarantine era created a golden opportunity for a trio of talented creators from the Benelux region. Alexander Gierholz of Logiclocks, Jeroen van Hasselt of Entered, and Meggy Pepelanova came together to create a unique horror experience set in an entire empty wing of a local Marriott Renaissance hotel.

Alas, they experienced their own nightmare when lockdown regulations became even more restricted. They had to put their experience on hold, and then suddenly regulations lifted entirely, and the hotel began to resume normal operations. Their window for hosting The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow at an empty hotel vanished. We’re left with only handful of photos and this Spoilers Club two-part series as evidence of its existence.

Alexander and Jeroen join us to share the story of creating The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow. They created an entire world for this experience, but unfortunately only about 20 people in the world had a chance to see this project. We’re thrilled to document it here for you.

How to Listen

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms… spoilers and all!