Delusion Interactive Theatre

Halloween 2024: Delusion Interactive Theatre moves to a new location to present this year’s interactive haunted play, Delusion: The Red Castle.

Dates: September 20-22, 24-29; October 1-6, 8-13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29-31; November 1-3.

Hours: Sessions start at 10-minute intervals from 7pm to 9:50pm on weeknights, with late evening sessions to 11:50pm on weekends and peak nights.

Tickets: Prices start at $109.99 for General Admission and $144.99 for Ward D: VIP Experience, with higher prices on weekends. The Ward D pass grants access to the private VIP Lounge filled hidden surprises and performers.

Location: The Stimson House at 2345 Figueroa Way in Los Angeles, 90007.

Website: enterdelusion.com

More Information: Set in the mid-20th Century, The Red Castle centers on psychologist Dr. Frederick Lowell and his unusual patients, played by the audience. Plagued by the memory of his late wife, Lowell believes his patients special abilities will help bring her back to life. This year’s participants can choose paths that alter the story they experience as they work with Dr. Lowell to unlock their hidden abilities and achieve his goal.

Updates: Read reviews and interviews about Delusion Interactive Theatre below…

About Delusion Interactive Theatre

This impressive combination of storytelling, stunts, and special effects sets the bar by which all other Halloween haunts in Los Angeles are measured. By infusing the traditional walk-through haunted house experience with interactive drama, Delusion turned its audience into vicarious participants, experiencing the horror first-hand – a unique combo that others have imitated but never equaled.

History of Delusion Interactive Theatre

With its 2011 debut, simply billed as Delusion, the “haunted play” immediately established itself as one of the best Halloween events in Los Angeles. Created by writer-director Jon Braver (a Hollywood stunt coordinator), Delusion took audiences on a forty-minute tour through a turn-of-the-century mansion, with, the story unfolding around you in the rooms of the 106-year-old house.

The 2012 version, titled Delusion: The Blood Rite (originally announced as “Delusion: The Crimson Queen”), was co-produced by actor Neil Patrick Harris. This was a direct sequel to its predecessor, taking place years later but in the same location, still haunted by the ghosts of the past.

In 2013, Braver offered an all-new variation of his interactive Halloween attraction, entitled Delusion: Masque of Mortality. The play took its audience back to the year 1931, as they sought refuge from a plague. Unfortunately, Delusion: Masque of Mortality was plagued by permit problems at its new location, which resulted in cancelled performances. (Reviewed here.)

In 2014, Delusion Lies Within returned to the West Adams area, near where the first two incarnations of Delusion were performed (in 2011 and 2012). This fine return to form included some of the most amazing effects ever achieved in a live Halloween event – and by “effect” we mean not just virtuoso technique but dramatic impact. (Reviewed here.)

Delusion went on hiatus for 2015, returning in 2016 with Delusion: His Crimson Queen (reviewed here). 2017 was another hiatus, followed by a return in 2018 with Delusion: The Blue Blade, which ran during the Halloween season, then returned for a brief run the following Spring. Halloween 2019 saw a scaled-down production from Delusion, titled Alt Delete, which was billed as a chapter in The Blue Blade saga.

In 2021, Delusion creator Jon Braver partnered with 13th Floor Entertainment to present Delusion: Reaper’s Remorse at a new location, the Phillips Mansion in Pomona, followed by Delusion: Valley of Hollows in 2022. The former introduced an open-world element, allowing visitors to explore the mansion’s interior, where haunted objects would speak, revealing aspects of the story presented in the play. 2023’s Nocturnes and Nightmares was presented as the final chapter in the original Delusion Interactive Theatre Universe. The story was based on the concept of a mysterious Author who had apparently penned every Delusion story and was tying them together into a frightful climax. This was Delusion’s last year at the Phillips Mansion.

2024 saw Delusion launching a era, beginning with Delusion: The Red Castle set within the Stimson House in Los Angeles.