The forest is lit only by a yellowed moon. I pass through pine trees and something grabs at me—it’s a hand. But it doesn’t belong to anyone. It’s severed, disembodied, and left in the tree to rot. I look at the trees around me and notice the same: more arms, hands, and feet; all seemingly growing from within the tree. Are the trees haunted or was this the site of a grizzly murder? I don’t think I want to find out. I push forward and find a clearing. A cottage! I’m saved. A warm light shines from within—but then I notice two massive legs, bird legs, propping up the cottage. I see the visage of an old crone in the window, axe in hand, and she’s butchering something. This was just one scene in BCR: A Place to sCARE’s Cursed Creek haunt.

BCR A Place to sCARE

BCR A Place to sCARE is a haunted theatrical production in Burbank produced by Michael Escamilla and a play on the nonprofit organization BCR A Place to Grow. Bridging Community Resources (BCR; founded in 1963) aims to serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, utilizing the haunted house as a way to raise money for their great cause. This year, they are continuing the theme of 2020’s drive-thru experience with Cursed Creek, an invitation into the world of witches.

BCR A Place to sCare is relatively new to the haunt scene, starting only in 2019 with a vampire ball, in which audiences traversed catacombs to explore the vampires within, all while supporting the community with a blood bank and more. In 2020, their repertoire was expanded, creating a covid-safe drive-thru experience. But it’s truly this year that they found their niche. It’s not in creating a haunted house filled with jump-scares and gore; no, Cursed Creek is a series of vignettes and scenes that all contribute to a whole, immersing you in a world of magic, curses, and folklore brought to life.

Immersion in a Haunt World

As such, don’t expect a walkthrough experience with Cursed Creek in which you will continuously walk through a linear maze. Instead, guests walk from scene to scene, each one denoted by a fully built out set, and guided by one of their witchy guides. Each scene ranges from a few minutes to five minutes, and with five complete areas, expect this theatrical experience to last at least twenty minutes to half an hour. The vignettes occupy their own space in the parking lot area surrounding the BCR headquarters, built up from flats and panels that are beautifully decorated.

The immersion at Cursed Creek is strong, with plenty of wonderful moments of interactivity and engagement. This is not an experience where you are simply a fly on the wall watching the events play out—at least for the majority of scenes—they begin because of you. I could see this experience truly becoming full immersive theater with an indoor space and some strong set design. But as it stands currently, the flats are clearly outdoors, in a parking lot, and the walk between them does, momentarily, break the immersion that the previous scene has built. With a dedicated space or even a tighter build plan, the immersion can only grow and expand—and we are so looking forward it.

A Reason to be Here

The narrative of Cursed Creek is centered on the fact that you are seeking out this coven of witches because you seek something. Whether it is success, power, love, or revenge, the voodoo priestess is willing to grant you it. But as with all offerings, there is a price to pay. The spirits that grant this desire must be given a sacrifice—and how long ago was it that you sacrificed anything to them? A goat, a chicken, a child? Well, I know I haven’t. So, I was able to choose the soul of someone in our group, granting me my wish, and them losing their soul.

The next scene allows the one who lost their soul—or someone who volunteers to replace them—to face a trial. Here, their peers judge them as pure or tainted, and then the truth is brought to light. We assume that whatever choice was made, it doesn’t matter—we’re all tainted and condemned. This was easily the highlight of the experience, allowing the actress to scream at the audience, berating them as abominations, and cursing them for moving at a snail’s pace. While it was never too scary, the dominating factor of this room is sure to appeal to a lot.

Following these scenes, the story of Cursed Creek becomes less interactive and engaging, focusing more on audiences watching stories that play out without needing any involvement. Their vignettes range from a story of an aged witch who was brought forth to seek vengeance after a scared community ended her life to a tale of an old hag who is trying to rescue a young girl from a forest—only for the hag to be revealed as Baba Yaga herself. While the scenes give up the interaction for more of a story-based structure, they are incredibly strong, well-written, and acted.

The final scene of Cursed Creek offers more of a traditional haunt experience, leading audiences down a path of illuminated dolls, into a massive parking lot area in which the shamans, witches, and priestesses lead you forward on your path. This area provides the only scares we experienced here, but again, it was less focused on a frightening atmosphere, showcasing a witch and skeleton waltzing through the space and leading us to what we thought might be the exit—only for it to be the lair of a witch’s pet.

We loved the narrative through-line of coming to a coven, seeking something, and then having to give up a friend to achieve that. It’s something that is truly universal and the question of what would you sacrifice to gain what you want is one that many great stories are based off of. While each scene was developed by different writers, we love that this question was interweaved, at least in the first few scenes. Next year, we challenge the writers to create a through line that connects all scenes together in a way that extends past theming and into creating a world.

Live your Role in Cursed Creek

One of the reasons we felt so strongly about Cursed Creek is the acting. The Baba Yaga scene (written by Rome Fiore) would not have resonated strongly within us if the cries of the young girl did not feel as authentic or pained; the trial scene would not have left us introspective and thoughtful if the female judge was not so forceful and dominant with her words. And especially, Joseline Lovett as the voodoo priestess set the tone immediately, weaving magic into her words as candles mysteriously lit before our eyes and her cup, filled my desires and her potions, was empty when turned upside down. She perfectly engaged with the audience, playing with us, inducting us into her world, and ultimately setting the stage for BCR A Place to sCARE and Cursed Creek to be one of our favorites this Halloween season.

Final Thoughts

While we’ve been attending BCR A Place to sCARE since their inaugural year in 2019, Cursed Creek is our favorite experience they have produced. It elevates the traditional haunted house to something more theatrical, more memorable, more introspective. Showcasing small vignettes, different writers can shine and craft a story of witches that is meaningful to them. This passion can be clearly seen on full display here. We would love to see BCR continue to grow, expanding into new locations, seek even stronger stories, and create experiences that connect us back to Halloween and the communities that we love. Keep an eye on BCR A Place to sCARE because it’s easy to see just how much they sCARE.

For more information about BCR A Place to sCARE, check out their website, Facebook and Instagram pages. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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BCR: A Place to sCARE presents Cursed Creek as their 2021 haunt.