<\/p>\n
Many people, perhaps you, will have reached this point eager to read the details of what happens inside, having failed to find them anywhere else online. \u00a0You will have to accept that your string of disappointment continues on. \u00a0The veil of secrecy surrounding The Victim Experience is not so much to protect ticket sales — there are very few tickets to be had in the first place — but to maintain the integrity of the powerful black magic that will be worked on the Victims. \u00a0To quote H. P. Lovecraft, \u201c<\/span>The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The basic themes are easy enough to describe. \u00a0Think of the Victim Experience as a realistic and visceral simulation of pretty much every violent crime you can imagine, with you in the role of victim, and you won\u2019t be far wrong. \u00a0Or get a ticket for Gates of Hell during its normal hours, and walk through its dark maze with its electric shocks, and actors who jump out and make contact with you, yelling terrible things. \u00a0Now imagine how any given room could be made ten times worse — you\u2019ll still be missing some critical details, but you\u2019ll be on the right track.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you think of Gates of Hell as an R-rated movie, Victim Experience is the NC-17 version. No matter what your personal fears or taboos, you will find something to shock, offend or trigger you. \u00a0This is a design feature. \u00a0The Victim Experience is not only physically brutal, but like any good rite of passage it will test your mind, body, and soul, and leave its marks on them all as well.\u00a0 It is not fun, not one second of it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What makes this, for at least a few, an experience to seek out rather than flee from, is that the event is run by some of the most caring and hospitable people you will meet. The love is readily apparent in the pre-show briefing, and in the post-show decompression. \u00a0It is still there, possibly in greater measure, during the show, which was built with incredible attention to safety. \u00a0But you will not feel that love during the show; you will just have to accept that it is there, and that despite what any of your senses are screaming, the people around you want you to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Although over the years, fewer than 30 percent of the attendees finish without calling the safe word to end the experience, there are greater prizes than a t-shirt. \u00a0The creators report that nearly everyone is glad they tried it, and that many report gaining insights into life. \u00a0One of the attendees this year, who prefers to remain anonymous, had this to say:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The part about The Victim Experience they don\u2019t tell you is it\u2019s not over when you exit…I never, ever anticipated the physical pain to affect me emotionally. What felt like the crushing weight of empathy for the thousands of people who endure torture and abuse without a choice, flooded over my consciousness…The next morning I woke up from what you could barely call sleep with the strongest sense of empathy for my fellow man and woman I\u2019d ever experienced.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a consolation prize for not providing any juicy details of how the show actually works, here are some tips that might help you get through it, if you ever find you have ignored your wiser nature and bought a ticket. \u00a0It\u2019s free advice, and worth what you paid, but it is offered in the hope that it might also help you get through other dark places in your life.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Consider the following things <\/span>before<\/span><\/i> you walk into the darkness. Once there, you will probably only be able to think of yourself and your immediate survival. \u00a0If you\u2019ve considered them in advance, they may be waiting at the back of your mind when most needed. \u00a0There are no wrong answers, but know your own answer.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why are you here? \u00a0What do you hope to achieve? \u00a0Are you here to prove something to yourself? To others? \u00a0Do you just want to learn what lives in the deepest parts of your mind?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What drives you? \u00a0What keeps you putting one foot in front of the other? \u00a0Pride? Duty? Friendship? Fear of failure? Sheer habit?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is the source of your strength? \u00a0(You have more of it than you think.) Are there friends supporting you? (You have more of <\/span>them<\/span><\/i> than you think.)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Look for the good things in your life. \u00a0The worse things get, the more you appreciate small things. \u00a0A quiet moment of peace or a breath of fresh air are things you might take for granted outside, but they are rare in here. \u00a0Enjoy the hell out of them. (Pun intended.)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Remember that things are probably not as bad as they seem. \u00a0This is usually true, and when it isn\u2019t, it is still a very useful lie.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thus ends the meditation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Freakling Bros’ Victim Experience<\/a> is sold out for the season, but walk up spots may still be available. For more information visit their website<\/a>, or follow Freakling Bros.<\/a> on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ____________________________<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Haunting is a resource for immersive theater and horror fans in Los Angeles and across the world, promoting art and community. Want to help us reach even more people, and get some cool perks and experiences? For as little as $1 a month, you can join our\u00a0Patreon<\/a>\u00a0and help us keep bringing content to life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you like the above article and want to find more like it, make sure to join our community. If Facebook is your favorite,\u00a0follow us there<\/a>\u00a0and become a part of our groups for\u00a0Immersive Horror fans<\/a>\u00a0and\/or\u00a0Immersive creators<\/a>. We\u2019re active on Instagram, posting evocative imagery and informative stories to promote our reviews and recollections;\u00a0follow us there<\/a>. You can even find us on twitter;\u00a0click here to follow<\/a>. For those who want to explore deeper, we have a vibrant\u00a0Slack community<\/a>\u00a0with new event alerts and immediate ticket sale announcements;\u00a0click here to join<\/a>. Finally, we have a newsletter that comes out once a week;\u00a0click here to sign up<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So however you like your news being delivered, we have something haunting for you.<\/p>\n Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience Freakling Bros Victim Experience<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Freakling Bros Victim Experience On the edge of Las Vegas, far from the artificial lights of the Strip, is a place far more real and primal. \u00a0It exists only for a few days in October, partly in a gravel parking lot in a strip mall, and partly in the darkest parts of your mind.\u00a0The Victim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":22093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[7172,80,7173],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[18762,18761,18767,18764,188,18772,18771,18769,18766,5605,5601,18760,18759,18763,5610,5602,5600,18770,18768,18765],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.haunting.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Freakling-Bros-The-Victim-Experience-Full.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89hUA-21f","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7765"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Victim](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.haunting.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Freakling-Bros-Victim1.jpg?resize=802%2C802&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nA Private Hell<\/h4>\n
But…why?<\/h4>\n
![\"Victim](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.haunting.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Victim-Experience-Header2017v2.jpg?resize=1170%2C272&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nA Meditation<\/h4>\n