Negative Space Studium Somnum Nocent Immersive Horror Experience

Nocent’s Studium Somnum is a Dreamlike Dive into an Ocean of Radical Empathy

Nocent’s Studium Somnum is a Dreamlike Dive into an Ocean of Radical Empathy

 

Below is a review for nocent’s Studium Somnum.  It contains mild spoilers. Bookmark this page to revisit later if you would like to go into this experience blind (which is recommended).

 

My alarm goes off, startling me out of my reverie.  I haven’t been sleeping – how could I? I’ve passed the time shaking, curled up in the fetal position, trying not to look at the shadows flickering near my closet out of the corner of my eye. But the alarm isn’t really to wake me up anymore, it’s to tell me it’s time to hear the next part of Riley’s story.  Her voice is…wrong this time.  Hoarse, desperate.  

 

“There’s no food left in me.  Please stop making me dry heave.  My gag reflex is bruised.  I want to be held, please…”

 

She’s close to tears as she describes black vomit, headlights burning her eyes, bugs under her skin, and music threatening to burst her eardrums.  And I feel every word.  My empty stomach churns, my skin itches, my eyes burn.  There’s no turning back now…whatever happens to her, it’s going to happen to me too. 

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

Letting Nocent In

Nocent’s Studium Somnum is a three-night remote experience billed as an experimental study on sleep and dreaming but with a great deal more hiding under the surface. This intense but customizable 10 hour per night experience is a gateway to a nested, narrative-heavy, psychological horror plot that sits somewhere at the intersection of The Shining, The Invisible Man, and Black Mirror.  I would not have thought it possible to be reduced to abject horror, paralysis, and cold sweats on night three by what is, ostensibly, 15 scheduled meditative audio tapes telling a linear story, supplemented by phone calls, nightly evaluations, an optional community chat space and, potentially, and hour long in-depth meditation as an add-on. The deception is masterful and, as is the norm for nocent experiences, the personalization is astoundingly intimate, with many participants balking at a character’s ability to ground and see them during the most psychologically intense moments of their experience.

 

This emotional gut punch of terror, awe, and catharsis is delivered by top notch voice acting, intimate personalization and surprises, a chilling narrative, and opportunities for communal emotional candor. Dark, traumatic, and maddening, Studium Somnum is not for the faint of heart or weak of spirit. The interactivity is “challenge by choice”, meaning that engagement and intensity level are at the participant’s discretion and those who choose to share, engage, and lean into the discomfort will find their decisions validated in game, with far reaching ripples into the overarching nocent universe. Yet, for those who wish to experience the story without immersing themselves in the world, the study allows for that, and the narrative can still be experienced fully. Ultimately, this is an experience that gets inside your head and sets up shop there, leaving you changed and deeply unsettled in the most fulfilling way possible.

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

Lab Rats

On the surface, Studium Somnum is a cut and dry scientific study on lucid dreaming: participants are expected to wake up every 2 hours to record their dreams and mood states, listen to one of that night’s 5 meditation tracks, and return to sleep. Not only are the meditative tracks expansive sonar and visual landscapes complete with binaural beats, ASMR-esque sound effects, hauntingly familiar voices, and hypnotic undertones, but they also seem to have immediate and potent effects on the intensity, lucidity, and recall of participants’ dreams. Additionally, players are told in advance to expect calls from the nocent employees responsible for the study, but when these calls come they are not at all the tone that was expected, and participants quickly begin to wonder what they’ve actually signed up for. And don’t get me started on what happens to participants brave enough to participate in nocent’s camera storyline (an optional on-going interactive means of communicating with a single character named 00011); this further proves that the more engaged you are in nocent, the more they find ways of having study-based sound effects reveal themselves at the strangest times

 

Participants who opt for the pre-study meditation add-on discover right off the bat that there is more to the Studium Somnum than meets the eye. This hour-long meditation takes participants on a highly sensory journey into nocent’s lore (an ocean of memories of pain) and the Jungian concept of shadow work (confrontation with unconscious elements of the self) that is heavily featured in it.  Abounding in easter eggs, clues, and references to the nocent journey so far, this meditation serves as an excellent orientation to the study and to the nocent universe as a whole for those both new and veteran to the nocent experience. Additionally, participants report lucid, vivid, and emotionally complex dreams on nights when they listen to the meditation. Our group enjoyed using it to build anticipation and syncing up so that we could all listen at the same time and discuss it together. 

 

Sodium Somnum’s bait and switch brilliantly disorients the participant before depositing them smack in the middle of Riley Williams’ most traumatic memory, unfolding in pieces within the meditative tracks as participants connect with the collective unconscious.  The length of the check-in surveys coupled with the increasing intensity of the imagery in both Riley’s story and participants’ dreams means that sleep deprivation takes its toll, until, as 00012 puts it, “you are too tired to resist”.  Riley’s darker moments are full of hypnotic suggestions and vivid descriptions of darker fears, resulting in psychosomatic, manic paranoia that bleeds over into the daylight hours.  The dream surveys slowly lose their scientific value and morph into journal spaces to process unsettling semi-conscious experiences – one of my second night surveys read, for the first four questions: “I don’t know.”, “I have no idea.”, “I can’t sleep.”, “Please God just let me sleep.” If you’ve ever wanted to experience a controlled descent into your own madness, Studium Somnum has the mechanics to make you question everything you thought was real, only to set you safely back in reality at its conclusion, wondering how any of it was possible. 

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

Negative Space: Emptiness, Darkness, and Longing

Riley’s narrative marries the concept of negative space (the space of loss and potential that is left behind when something disappears) with a mind-bending examination of fringe states of consciousness. Psychological horror through and through, this is an experience that makes your skin crawl and your mind burn, leaving a lasting sense of unease.  The tone of the experience starts out nostalgic and warm – Riley is a likeable and relatable protagonist who has recently been going through a hard time.  I immediately identified with her and wanted her to succeed in putting herself back together.  From the very first meditation, there is ominous foreshadowing, and in spite of all of our hopes for Riley, the experience and, in parallel, her story, gradually descend into sleep deprivation-fueled paranoia and a frighteningly intense and personal exploration of the depths of madness.  With multiple jaw dropping reveals both in the narrative and in our personal experiences, study members discovered first hand how frightening synchronicity can be. 

 

Studium Somnum’s narrative itself demonstrates a deep tonal understanding of loss, guardedness, and longing. Riley’s story cycles from bright and relatable to horrifying and tragic, with jarring tone changes that feel like jump scares to the soul.  Her tragic story of empowerment and transformation facilitates sympathetic transformation in those who hear it, but in a way that leaves them wondering about the cost. 

 

It isn’t just Riley’s narrative in Negative Space that draws in and engages the participant. 00012’s Studium Somnum meditations are chances for each participant to catch a glimpse of their own inner world and engage in opportunities for personal growth. As the participant’s experience and Riley’s narrative move into darker territory, the intensity of the meditations increases and their tone darkens in parallel. The meditation leverage mythological imagery to reframe not just the study, but the entire thematic nocent experience, providing an intimate look at individualism vs collectivism while exploring some of the most breathtaking and imaginative imagery that I’ve ever encountered. Within the meditation, you are the main character of your own story, opening your mind to allow Riley’s story in. 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

The Fear is in your Mind

Participants cannot change the outcome of the memory they’re witnessing, but they have full agency around their own engagement with the narrative, and the consequences of their choices echo through the macrocosm of their nocent experience, opening up new paths and character connections.  For example, a participant can sleep through every alarm and lurk in the chat to listen.  Another can discover a space where techniques from the study can be practiced indefinitely and make that a part of their nocent identity. A third can put their every thought on display to the study group, allowing their mind to become a battleground for Riley’s story. The choices and their consequences are yours – a recurrent nocent theme. There is a subtle magic in what nocent does that has to be experienced firsthand.  Have you ever wanted to see who you are with your walls and defenses broken down? Studium Somnum isn’t really a study of sleep – it’s a study of you.

 

Personalized immersive moments come in the form of chat responses, phone calls, emails, and camera interactions, but the real boundary-pushing immersion comes from the experience’s mental aspects, with participants dreaming shared dreams or pre-dreaming plot points.  For example, I dreamt one night about walking the streets of Williamsburg near my old apartment, and woke to find a news story in my inbox that referenced a narrative-specific disaster just blocks from my old home.  As another participant put it, “They knew everything…how I got here – was that even real?  I dreamt (the plot of the study) before it happened.” Many participants also experience psychosomatic symptoms, including sensitivity to light and sound and, in the case of more intense participation, nausea. As one participant put it, “(I felt) hunger, distance, a disconnect from what was going on around me, and a firm emptiness that hung in the air so heavily”. Another mentioned that they could “feel people walking behind them”. The more you give the characters, the more they will paint your story into something that defies reality and reflects the part of you that you are most afraid of and yet most need to confront.  

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

The Members

00012 is the powerhouse voice actor from the meditation tracks who is also generally found in the study’s designated chats, carrying participants through the experience. His tone is ever-shifting: empathetic and intimate one moment, authoritarian and unsettling the next. 00012 guides the study with pure magnetism and the ability to stir up anticipation and dread with just a few well-placed words, presenting a sort of red pill/blue pill scenario as he coaxes participants further down the rabbit hole of the experience, interprets their dreams, or soothes them to sleep with well-timed, hypnotic phone calls.

 

Riley (Sophie Cooper) is the deceptively down to earth but deeply flawed character whose “memory” we follow throughout the study.  When coherent, she is easygoing, vulnerable, candid, and a joy to listen to – the rock solid and effortlessly cool friend you’d want to grab a beer with at the end of a long week.  As her circumstances grow more tense, the actress does an excellent job of twisting Riley into a tightly-coiled spring – every inflection betraying mounting paranoia and slipping sanity.  When Riley breaks, she is hysterical and overflowing with rage and despair – her screams, sobbing, and scathing monologues of disgust and heartbreak still haunt me, weeks later. The emotional range of Riley’s voice acting, coupled with a positively electrifying script, makes for a show that will hit every emotional button in a way that is both chilling and cathartic.

 

Riley’s parents also show up in the meditations, although her perceptions of them vary by virtue of her own emotional state. Fundamentally, her mom presents as well-meaning but overbearing and her dad presents as defeated and ill-equipped – both characters are tragic in how normal they are, and remind us how easily things break apart. 

 

Given that this is the nocent-verse, the study doesn’t exist in isolation – various other characters acknowledge and contribute to the participant’s experience in the study including  00020, 00012’s friendly, curious, and helpful understudy and 00011, nocent’s famously polarizing and voyeuristic antihero. All characters in the nocent universe facilitate immersion by responding in real time to the choices made inside the Studium Somnum experience, allowing each participant to feel deeply seen.  

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

 

A Game We Can’t Stop Playing

While Studium Somnum formally ends after a whirlwind weekend, the in game implications of the study continue indefinitely. In addition to a dedicated post-study space to continue discussion and application of the experience’s themes, participants can also repeat the experience itself.  Repeat participants can go deeper into the narrative, up the intensity level (which I have never seen a remote Immersive horror experience pull off before), and modify their decisions and engagement for a completely different experience within the same framework. 

 

No two paths through the study will be the same, as so much of the experience takes shape around the mind, mood, and choices of the participant.  Studium Somnum has the ability to permanently change the way participants view their own minds and dreams. Many participants left the study fired up about everything nocent has to offer and eager to continue learning about and unpacking themes that came up during the formal study. 

 

The Communal Ocean

With community always at the heart of any nocent experience, participants are encouraged to go deeper together. As participants explore the landscapes of their own dreams, their fellow members are by their side as a network of support and a tether to reality. Moments of surprise and delight showcase the connections between participants and serve as lights in an otherwise profound darkness. Participants are encouraged to share dreams candidly, and I spent countless hours pouring over symbolism and connections in my dreams and those of others. Participants can also enjoy looking for easter eggs, solving a puzzle or two, and debriefing major plot developments as a group.  Groups who go through the study together leave tightly knit, having released some of the memories of loss that had been crawling under their own skin.

 

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep

It’s worth noting that high level participation does require work.  While the questionnaires don’t seem like a lot in theory, they’re fairly long, and 2 hour windows start to feel very short between the questionnaires and the meditations.  They may feel like frustrating busywork, but this is part of the deception – it is cleverly disguising the study’s true intention: inducing altered states of consciousness via sleep deprivation. A participant’s mileage will vary here, reflecting the overall theme of high agency: it’s perfectly possible to phone it in, submitting virtually blank or surface level questionnaires and going back to sleep. On the other end of the spectrum, I filled out lengthy and frighteningly candid responses and often found myself with 10-20 minutes between the end of my meditation and the next wake up time, resulting in a high level of sleep deprivation and an associated high level of physical and psychological effects. 

 

For some participants, sleep deprivation or disruption isn’t feasible or advisable – if you have concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to nocent for customization and accommodation.  One participant who was originally hesitant was able to modify her schedule to allow for adequate sleep and safe participation, and ended up being one of the most enthusiastic and satisfied participants in the study.  Another participant chose to forego wakeups completely, listening to all meditations during the day purely for story elements.  The story is not to be missed, so rest assured that your concerns will be addressed if they are vocalized. 

 

This Will Change You

Studium Somnum is the most radically immersive, high agency, community-oriented production I have experienced to date. Extreme dedication to immersion and personalization blurs the lines between experience and reality, even as it blurs the ones between dreaming and consciousness, creating moments that feel surreal to the point of disbelief. The experience is dark, nuanced, psychological, high-intensity, and realistic. From acting, to narrative, to level of personalization, this is the experience that psychological horror fans have been waiting their entire lives for. The experience facilitates an innovative, evocative, and deeply personal dive into madness and radical empathy unlike anything that has been attempted in the immersive theater community to date. 

 

Nocent has created an experience perfectly suited for the remote space, as though it was never meant to be told any other way. With seemingly infinite depth and repeatability, participants with a curious spirit will walk away with a new appreciation for the beauty and mystery of consciousness and the power of community. And for those who don’t want to dive deep? Well, they’re still in for one hell of a good story. 

 

So, let us dream. Let us dream, together.

 

studium somnum nocent society alterrnate reality game remote experience horror extreme Haunting Immersive Theater dark guilt

Though this experience has concluded its scheduled runs, it may be extended based on demand. Acceptance as a nocent novitiate is a prerequisite to accessing the nocent universe, so please reach out to [email protected] for more information on next steps. You can also find them on instagram,  facebook, and their webiste

Check out our review and recollection of  initiation, as well as a guide to the experience and an exclusive interview

No Comments

Share your Haunting words...

H A U N T I N G
Contact us : [email protected]
© Haunting 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Immersive Theater Intensity Scale Haunting Glowing A - Immersive Theater - Extreme Haunts - Horror Experiences
Visit Us On FacebookVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On InstagramVisit Us On YoutubeCheck Our Feed


Expand your world
Become immersed in the artistic and evocative narratives of Immersive Theater

Check out our sister site:

Immersed Logo - Green
ENTER THE FOG
Generic filters
FILTER YOUR SEARCH
Reviews
Company Hub
Events / Experiences
Haunting.net | [email protected]