You’re stumbling through a dark hallway and into dark rooms. Creeping danger is everywhere. And that’s the fun of it.
New VR experience Sinister Inn brings the haunted house to pretty much where ever you and your headset are. CEO Joe Mares and creative producer, Trace Hagan chatted with Halloween Every Night about bringing the new experience to fans of spooky old houses.
Halloween Every Night: What was the inspiration behind Sinister Inn?
Joe Mares: We wanted to build a cool haunted walkthrough that can be played in any location, but that also fit the technical requirements we had. A haunted hotel easily lent itself to having a creepy atmosphere, while also giving a claustrophobic feel, as well as being able to guide guests through organically, all of which added positively to a frictionless, fun experience. We also just love scaring people in innovative ways.
HEN: What does the experience involve?
Trace Hagan: The guest walks through a haunted hotel just like you would in real life. There are no controllers, and no puzzles to solve, it’s just a good old fashioned haunted house, except in VR there is no limit to the horrors we can put you through.
JM: I won’t give any spoilers, but the ending usually catches everyone off guard.
HEN: Where has it been available and what are your plans for February?
JM: Last Halloween season we were at Sacramento Scream Park, and Castle Dark in Riverside, Calif. where we helped them win third place in the USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Theme Park Halloween Event. Next week we will be back at Sacramento Theme Park in their Valentine Haunt event from February 14th – 16th from 6:30 to 10:30 pm every night. Check out Sinisterinn.com for more details on upcoming dates.
HEN: What kinds of opportunity do you see for VR in the horror community?
JM: I think there are limitless opportunities with the right creators and designers. VR can put the guest in any place and time, and make it all feel real. I’ve found that in developing Sinister Inn, we had to actually pull back a bit on the scares because it was too real for some guests.
TH: We plan on exploring even more on what kind of experience we can create, how to give guests something cool and innovative to look forward to, and how to make it available to a wider audience.
JM: I also think that with technology advancing as it is now, we could see a more affordable and immersive VR headset in the near future, all of this bodes well for horror in VR in my humble opinion.
HEN: Any plans for expansion?
JM: Yes! Sinister Inn is our very first haunted walkthrough, but we continue to test different methods of not only scares, narrative storytelling, and content, but also technical limitations. Our focus is location based entertainment like haunted houses and theme parks, but we are testing other methods to bring cool, spooky content to a greater audience.
TH: Our number one goal is accessibility, the number two goal is making it fun/scary. Whether we’re at a larger well-known amusement park, or your living room, we want everyone to be able to check in to the Sinister Inn.
HEN: Anything else you’d like to add?
JM: Yeah, if you are interested in partnering with us, we are looking into expanding our operations in both content and development. We’ve done some internal tests using Pennywise from It, and a Jurassic Park-like walkthrough, to see if those IP would resonate well in this model, and I can confirm they are indeed creepy and fun. We would love to partner with any IP holders, locations that would like to host us, or even if you are a fan and would love to contribute in other ways, we would love to hear from you. I can be reached at joe@thousandbit.com
