What is creepier: Aliens coming to earth or the people who invite them?
Harrison Farmer, writer-director at The Haunting of Breck Theatre, believes the two are almost equally chilling.
“Aliens are an interest of mine. I just find it so fascinating and scary to think, ‘What if you really encounter these things?’” Farmer asks. “But what’s even scarier is people who truly believe in something like that, and you have to come face to face with them and pretend that you also believe. That’s the core of what this is about.”
This year’s haunted house follows an earth-bound cult on a crash course with aliens. There’s a garden that might not be what it seems and a group of true believers you won’t soon forget.
Farmer was inspired by real cults, particularly Heaven’s Gate and its infamous mass suicide in 1997.
“You’re in the midst of this cult, you’re hearing all sorts of crazy things, and you have to walk through and say, ‘Yes, that’s totally plausible,’” Farmer says. “We ask a lot of our audience.”
The Haunting of Breck Theatre is the only interactive haunted house in Summit. As you move from room to room, diving deeper into the alien mystery, you might have to follow clues or answer questions from actors.
Not only is Farmer the mastermind of this original eerie tale – he plays the cult leader.
“I’m David Anderson,” Farmer says, getting into character for a split second before snapping back out. “This isn’t just sitting back and watching a play. You are moving through a dark space, you’re being looked at in the eye. It is super interactive and fun.”
Farmer won’t give away the end of this story. But he guarantees it will stick with you long after the lights come up.
“I get chills,” Farmer says of his cast. “That is the biggest thing about scaring people. It’s not going to scare them if it doesn’t scare me. If it freaks me out, it’s going to work.”
The Haunting of Breck Theatre runs Wednesday through Saturdays, Oct. 9 to Oct. 25, at Backstage Theatre in Breck. It takes 20-30 minutes for a group of 4-6 to navigate the haunted house. But stick around! There are games, crafts, drinks and a Halloween storyteller in the lobby.