Room Escape Artist

Hail to the king, baby

Location: Passaic, NJ

Date Played: August 28, 2025

Team Size: up to 8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price:  $40 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: This game is located on the second floor and requires climbing two flights of stairs to access. At least one player needs to crawl.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

As a company, Brighton Asylum knows where their strengths lie. Their long-running haunt has inspired their escape rooms, most of which are horror-themed and very atmospheric. Dead by Dawn was another expression of those design guidelines, and in some ways improved upon their previous rooms. However, a few quality of life improvements would go a long way towards making the experience feel more polished.

Dead by Dawn took no time at all to drop us into a space that felt like it had a potential for dread and horror. Once the introductory audio had played, the dark room was eerily lit with red lights streaming in from behind the wooden cabin walls. Of note, the room timer began counting down before the intro had even started. We wound up not needing that 45 or so seconds, but watching the timer tick away before we could start playing didn’t feel great. In this first space, the miniature flashlights we had been given were helpful considering the darkness in the cabin. 

Fans of the Evil Dead franchise would immediately spot the inspiration for Dead by Dawn in the items and audio sprinkled throughout the game. One area of the game provided two obvious references to the franchise – one groan-worthy and one very cool. Most of the props were direct nods as well, and Brighton Asylum clearly put effort into most of these. Every time we picked up a new object we remarked on how creepy it looked and spent a moment passing it around.

Brighton Asylum knows how to create atmosphere and some memorable moments. Dead by Dawn was a tribute to a seminal film series and a good thematic addition to the haunt company’s repertoire. Over the years Brighton Asylum has improved their escape rooms in many ways, and we hope that they can continue to tighten up their games and create more complete experiences that will leave us wanting more.

Who is this for?

• Horror fans
• Best for players with at least some experience
• Fans of a certain cult horror movie franchise

Why play?

• Movie references galore
• High quality and great looking props

Story

A weekend trip to a cabin turned into a horrifying tale when night came and something terrible awoke in the forest outside. We had to find the Book of the Dead to reverse the spell.

Setting

Dead by Dawn took place inside a remote and dilapidated cabin.

Gameplay

Brighton Asylum’s Dead by Dawn was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around making connections and solving puzzles.

Analysis

➕ Dead by Dawn was unabashedly an homage to The Evil Dead franchise, and it captured the campy horror vibe of the movies.

➖ Audio mixing issues near the beginning of the game made it difficult to separate background music from audio narration.

➕ The props were well designed and felt like high quality items. This made holding them and using them very satisfying.

➖ The space was large, but felt underutilized. A lot of the square footage was left empty.

➖ We found an unused prop that we believe to be part of a ghost puzzle.

➕ The crawling section was surprisingly spacious and comfortable.

Tips For Visiting

• Getting to the location can be confusing, so make sure to be familiar with the instructions in the FAQ. Brighton Asylum texted me 15 minutes before our start time with instructions and pictures, though I can not guarantee this is something that happens for every booking.
• There is a parking lot. Again, make sure to follow the instructions in the FAQ to locate it.
• There are plenty of places to eat nearby. The Allwood Diner will meet your classic New Jersey diner needs. Rutt’s Hut, a local icon known for deep fried hot dogs and more, is also a short drive away.

Book your hour with Brighton Asylum’s Dead by Dawn, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.