Our car turns along the winding, dark path through the abandoned park. Static crackles through the radio, punctuating the ominous instrumentals that heighten our anticipation. To the right of the car, moonlight reflects off of a glassy lake. With heads and flashlights sticking out of the windows, we anxiously scan the landscape around us. Before long, my flashlight catches something shadowy shambling up from the lake. I scramble to find it again in the darkness, and when my light lands on it it’s much closer, staring straight at my open window. Grotesque and plant-like, it is frightening and alien in form. After meeting my gaze for what feels like a lifetime, it lunges at the car. We drive away, and I don’t dare to look back. The Bite LA.

A Full Night of Frights

Meyer2Meyer’s The Bite LA is a food crawl, a haunted house, and an immersive experience that you can do from the safety of your car as you drive around the hauntingly beautiful Legg Lake. Over the course of 2.5 to 4 hours, participants make their way through three separate phases of the experience: the “creature safari”, the food crawl, and the ghost stories. The progression is linear, and depending on the crowd there can be some wait time between stations, although the decorations, music, food, and, hopefully, company should help the time pass quickly. The tone is delightfully spooky, and the costumes, sets, and story content are all executed at the highest level of aesthetic intention and production value, showcasing the quality Meyer2Meyer has become known for. 

A stellar cast of scare actors manage to be unsettling and moody without touching you or your vehicle, no small feat. Even the security guards and staff members get into character, resulting in a cohesive mood that starts the moment you turn into the park’s dark road. Vegetarian and vegan food options are available during the crawl portion, and accommodations are graciously made if an item is unavailable or doesn’t fit a particular participants’ dietary restrictions (subject to availability). Once the show starts, progress is dependent on the pace of the cars in front of you, so this is one to leave lots of time for and to enjoy leisurely with a good group of friends or family. While some guests noted long waits, we applaud the sense of feeling isolated on the creature safari. Overall, The Bite LA is a full evening’s worth of Halloween fun, full of food, stories, and scares.

It’s also worth noting that the experience is safety focused and a great one for the covid concerned. Expectations around mask use, driving speed, and interaction are clearly provided and strictly enforced. Overall the show is refreshingly well organized and paced. Instructions are clear, and the 3 phases flow well from one to another. 

Creature Safari

Part 1, the creature safari, feels a bit like a traditional outdoor haunted trail, albeit with the appropriate modifications for social distancing. Participants drive down a snaking lakeside road and attempt to spot various monsters with a flashlight, many of whom will interact from afar or pose ominously for a picture or two. The road is very dark with headlights prohibited, and only the occasional mood lighting from the set breaks the otherwise ominous darkness. The beauty of this design choice is that it makes you feel isolated and alone driving down this path. It also aids in hiding the monsters among the darkness, providing a scare and a moment of excitement when you find one — whether it is far away or much closer to your vehicle than expected.

The creatures are actually frightening, with well designed and captivating costumes and theatrical presence. The costumes are gorgeous, with wonderful attention to detail. Despite hiding in the darkness, the creature design is purposeful and distinct; Monsters range from the tall and imposing to the small and quick, darting among the darkness. The tone of this section to me was reminiscent of The Mist, Stranger Things, or Annihilation – unsettling and intriguing (no gore or jump scares here). This first phase sets the mood for the evening and is a fun and interactive activity for the whole car. 

Food Crawl

The food crawl portion of the evening doubles down on incredible creature design, and now adds in sets while providing delicious and plentiful food. You get a lot for your money here, as a few of the “bites” together could serve as a standalone meal. Before beginning the crawl portion, participants will have an opportunity to select from a variety of options, including some that meet dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, or gluten free). Trays, trash bags, and utensils are thoughtfully provided at the beginning of the crawl to help organize your food and prevent a mess in your car.

The food itself is primarily simple comfort food. While the names are themed, most of the food items themselves are fairly standard.  The Jack’O Sliders are the cutest and most thematic food item, with Jack’ O Lantern eyes adorning the top of their buns.  The vegetarian sliders we had were a highlight, as were the Nightmare on Elm Street tacos, both veggie and beef versions.  The Drunk Harbinger Mac & Cheese is the most decadent item on the menu, and definitely enjoyable.  The capstone of the food experience is the “campfire special” station, which includes a cinnamon sugar churro donut and your choice of warm beverage.  I had the apple cider, and the combination was an absolute delight.  Hot chocolate, coffee, and water are also offered. A variety of other food options such as terror tots, chilled fall crumble, Alfredo Hitchcock ravioli, thankskilling meatballs, and thrilli chili round out the massive menu (you get all of this). The food is simple, warm, rich, and filling, and is more campsite food than fine dining. 

The sets for the food crawl are gorgeous, ensuring that receiving the food at each station is as much fun as eating it. Each one effectively uses lighting and props to create distinct themes, from dystopian sci-fi to haunted mansion to witch’s hut. We wished at every station that we had more time for pictures or to explore the set. The level of artistry and vision behind each scene was astounding. The final phase was equally well executed, with high production music videos and visual ghost stories driving home the night’s theme. From a production value standpoint, the experience exceeds expectations. 

We recommend taking a few bites as you go, but saving the food until the Ghost Stories at the end, as it can get cumbersome to eat, while observing the sets, and receiving new food. 

Ghost Stories

Your night at The Bite LA will conclude with spooky music videos and chilling ghost stories. Each participant parks their car near a drive in style screen (disguised as a campfire) to enjoy their remaining bites while watching the entertainment. The music videos are fun, if a bit campy, and the ghost stories are classic, chilling, and well presented. The organization of the experience allows ample time for drivers and riders to enjoy their food before hitting the road. It’s a fun send off for participants.

The stories themselves are perfect chilling campfire stories.  The first ghost story follows a young woman who mysteriously inherits the estate of her distant relative, Agatha. What begins as a slow burning mystery takes a turn with a surprising horror twist that will chill and delight.   The second story follows the legend of the crooked bone woman, and shows a horrible children’s rhyme playing out in real time.  Both stories are fun and frightening, everything a good ghost story should be.

The overall result is a journey that feels like telling scary stories around a campfire, accompanied by a good meal. Enjoy the adventure, quite a lot awaits you down Legg Lake’s dark road. 

Overall Sound

Each of the three sections utilize a different radio station to provide an in-car soundtrack to the experience. This small, but noticeable detail, is essential to creating the atmosphere needed for each of the three unique sections. Just recently, members of the haunting staff remarked that this would have elevated a drive through haunt like Urban Legends, and it was exciting to see background audio executed so well. The sound design allowed for transitions between phases and food stations without breaking the mood. The use of radio for the third phase movie viewing gave the end of the experience a charming drive in movie feel. The audio served to create an intimate and thematic setting even inside participants’ car and to bring consistency throughout the three phases. 

Recommendations

Setting the right expectations is essential to getting the most out of your Bite experience.  If you want to get through the experience quickly or if you’re particularly worried about getting your first choice food or meeting dietary restrictions, you’ll want to get there early in the evening or go on a weekday. You’ll also want to arrive hungry, since, as previously mentioned, the amount of food can be overwhelming.  The Haunting team actually recommends saving your food until the end, as there’s plenty of time to eat it during the ghost stories and trying to open, close, and manage food between stations can take you out of the experience. Saving your food also allows you to make sure that you have an appetite for your favorites, since eating everything in order will make it almost impossible to finish or even try everything.  Finally, there is a significant wait time to enter the experience, regardless of entry time.   We recommended that if you have young children you bring something to entertain them, and you should not expect to have food in front of you until an hour or so after your arrival.  There is quite a bit of downtime, so be sure that your group can pass the time. 

Final Thoughts on The Bite LA

Creating a Covid-safe immersive experience is notoriously challenging, but Meyer2Meyer and The Bite LA delivers better than any drive through haunt we have seen thus far. Various monsters will scare you, direct you, and serve you your food. The quick conversations are fun and unsettling, though not particularly high in narrative or agency. The progression is linear, and timing is important, so stopping is discouraged, but actors make sure to make the moments of interaction feel special. The setting works wonderfully – the park feels like some sort of remote campsite far from help, light, or safety. Participants also have ample time to discuss the experience within the car, and the associated radio station does an excellent job of setting and maintaining immersion even between stations. 

The Bite LA is an epic journey of Halloween delight. It is spooky, satisfying, charming, artistic, creative, and highly entertaining. This is a great experience for haunted house enthusiasts, fans of food (and lots of it), or even a family with children who enjoy scary stories. Each station has a theme, and the monster who serves your food will be a reflection of the scenery around it. The food itself has thematic touches in name and, for one, presentation. But don’t expect a narrative here until you get to, well, the ghost stories. And even then you are merely a passive observer of the video content. If high agency or heavy theatrics are your bag, this isn’t the experience for you. 

The Bite LA is fundamentally about the food, mood, and scares. That being said, you can expect standalone and thematically distinct scenes and interactions. It’s like going through a haunted house, but stopping for snacks. The Bite LA sets the Halloween mood by allowing participants to trick or treat their way through a massive park. The experience is immersive in it’s thematic cohesiveness and highly stylized and entertaining, while offering some options for personalization. Expect to laugh, jump, and leave very full. For more information on The Bite LA, check out their  website, facebook page, or instagram.

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