“Hello? Hello?” A ghostly voice echoes out against the darkness. The walls are overgrown by something alien, almost plantlike it’s in connectivity—but in it is something familiar: a phone. Texts scroll by, but they’re all blue, and one sided. There’s no response from the other side. I take a step forward, and a hand grabs at me. Then in a demonic voice, it screams at me: “Reply! Or Die!” Murder House Productions presents their first haunt in their new space with Ghosted.

Murder House Productions’ Ghosted: Reply or Die is an exceptionally witty and satirical look at the dating world, accomplished through their largest and most complex immersive haunted house yet. With insanely impressed sets, a tongue-in-cheek narrative that is both innovative, unique, and frightening, and some strong acting—Ghosted: Reply or Die is so much more than a traditional haunted house—it’s an immersive, theatrical horror experience.

The experience is split into two sections: the wait (don’t worry—they will reply to you) and the walk-through haunt. Groups are let in by themselves into the experience, so that the actors can give you their full attention and so that audiences never hear or see another group—truly isolating them from anyone else as the title implies. Thus, the wait portion can range in time, but there’s plenty of interaction during this portion. The walkthrough is a ten minute, fully designed, multi-room haunt with numerous actors that use the space effectively to jump-scare you throughout.

The Wait

Normally, a queue would only be given a small paragraph in a larger review—but sometimes there are lines that fully expand and immerse you in their world, setting the mood, the tone, and the aesthetic before the actual experience ever begins (I’m looking at you Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland). Murder House Productions’ Ghosted: Reply or Die does this exceptionally well and I’d personally say has the best line of any haunted house we’ve experienced.

They accomplish this by personally welcoming each group at the gate to their location. An eerie, scientific, neon green floods through the bars with the fog, as a man in a lab coat welcomes you and brings you into the ENTYP facility. Here, you have an entire room to wait in before the walkthrough.

But as mentioned above, you won’t be left to yourself here. A projector displays a wall-sized screen of various immersive-notables (Mason Conrad, Morgan Taylor, Kylee Thurman) expertly discuss the dating scene, being ghosted, and that something strange might be happening here. It’s wonderfully campy but with their strong acting, it feels nostalgic and almost ripped from the pages of the Scream-franchise. It sets the mood perfectly and showcases that Ghosting is a problem—even outside the walls of Murder House Production.

You won’t just be watching videos though, other scientists from the fictitious ENTYP will navigate the space, and probe you for information. Rattling off a series of dating sites ranging from FarmersOnly to JDate to Bumble, you are questioned on them—as well as if you’ve ever Ghosted, Love-bombed, or even Bread-crumbed someone. Misha Reeves plays this to role to perfection, maintaining an analytical tone throughout the questioning—but emoting 110% with her face. We laughed through the entire bout, and it’s a pleasure knowing that Murder House Productions is not taking themselves too seriously with Ghosted.

The Experiment / Haunted House

When your time comes, you are welcomed into the doors of ENTYP, where your mission is to undergo a cyber-linknetic transfer when you enter a gateway and make contact with the “absent spectral link.” Yet, with any strong haunt, the cyber-linknetic connection fails, and all goes awry. This part of Ghosted: Reply or Die should last between six and twelve minutes, depending on how quickly you progress. But we recommend you walk this haunt with care and enjoy all the details put into it, because it’s a treasure trove of nuance and design.

If you know anything about Murder House Productions, it’s their attention to detail: everything is designed with purpose, and Ghosted: Reply or Die is no different. From the very first room, the design is perfect. A chart on the wall showcases the relationship between the probability of “is she ghosting you” to time elapsed shows the scientific rigor of ENTYP and their studies. A destroyed phone covered in some bio-organic matter rests in a protective case. There’s even a list of “effects of being ghosted” with a sticky note over it saying “Electromagnetic powers and they will haunt the living.” I love details like this because it just makes the entire haunt feel part of a larger universe—and not just a standalone, themed experience.

The walkthrough itself sends guests through the gateway and into the realm beyond. It’s dark, and the light from worlds beyond glows bright, neon in color, and distorted as if viewed by the lens of a phone. Long tunnels covered in plant-like interconnectedness feels alien and squelchy. And at the end of these tunnels are small glimpses into familiar places—like the bedroom of a girl, looking for connection. But the room is sideways—just the way a phone would see her room as she holds it in bed, late at night, waiting for a reply.

You aren’t alone in this maze. There’s the girl whose room we enter, calling out helplessly for someone to respond. As the wait becomes intolerable, she shifts from normalcy to sadness to anger—shifting between these emotions with ease. There’s also a ghosting monster that expertly moves between rooms, utilizing the space between to scare you from all sides. It is covered in the neon wires of the interweb, potentially preventing messages from reaching their desired location. And in the end, a massive creature with white face, flowing gown, and long fingers, presides over you—the titular ghost, which you must face and realize and you are strong enough to move on.

Ghosted Conclusions

Murder House Productions are experts in creating visually appealing immersive horror experiences with witty storylines. While their previous work focused on known movie franchises (Trick or Treat) or urban legends (Wendigo and Krampus), Ghosted: Reply or Die is proof that Murder House Productions can produce an incredible haunt with a novel idea, a witty concept, and biting satire that resonates in everyone’s hearts who’ve attempted dating in the digital age.

This is simply a fun experience, and innovation that we need to see in the horror community. People try to be the scariest, but sometimes a good laugh compliments horror in a way that elevates the experience. It’s theatrical in all the right ways but then follows up with a haunted house that has some great scares, gorgeous sets, and a commentary that made us want to leave—and text every single person we ever ghosted.

For more information on Murder House Productions or Ghosted: Reply or Die, check out their Instagram, Facebook, or website. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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