Delusion: Nocturnes & Nightmares 2023 in Los Angeles

0:08 Delusion, Nocturns and Nightmares has been extended through November nineteenth. We'll hear all about it. That's coming up on today's show from the Haunted Attraction Network. I'm Philip and this is our sixty one day Hauntedthon, where we're counting down to Halloween by celebrating haunted houses daily via videos, podcasts, and VIP in person experiences. This podcast is just one part of this year's Hauntedon and the best way to follow everything is by subscribing to our newsletter or by checking our website at Haunted Attractionnetwork dot com. And remember, the best way you can support us as Halloween season is by sharing our Hauntathon with someone you think we'll enjoy it. Today, we're sitting down with John Braver, the creator of Delusion, to learn more about this year's show, and Manny from our team has the interview without further ado. Here's Mammy and John. Hi. I'm John Brave, the creator of Delusion. Delusion Noctrines and Nightmares is a culmination of all the previous stories brought into this one through line, this one narrative where the author of the Delusion series is missing and all of her stories have come to life and you've got to track her down and uncover their dark agenda.

1:18 It's an interactive play where you play your part in a story. It's very narrative driven, with professional actors and stunt people and sound design. It's like you're inside of a movie. How do you think about something new every single year? What is that process? Like? I'm like a delusion fan anyway. I think about myself as what are some new things I'd like to see? What's a new way to experience the same type of venue? Because we've been at this venue for three years, but it still feels very new, and I think people have been here for the last two years will still feel lost in this world. But in terms of coming up with new ideas, I just say there's plenty of them, but they don't always fit in a story. To me, it's everything revolves around the story. It's very narrative driven and it has to make sense, even though a lot of it sometimes doesn't make sense to be honestly, even as I'm writing it. But the ideas come from especially the last three years, have come from this esther Phillips character, from this mansion. So this is the one hundred and forty year old mansion. Esther and Louis Phillips lived here, and I wanted to take their just their names and build a whole new story around them. So it starts off with the logistics of how you're going to move a group through a story, and then I have a book of stories that I'd like to pull from, and sometimes they fit in certain years and sometimes they don't.

2:42 I have a bunch of ideas, but they just they have to work, they have to fit, and the ideas come from wherever. They come from, dreams, they come from video games. It was one of my favorite games. It's called Little Nightmares, which is incredible, and that was a big inspiration for some of the things, like the tall l in this story. So I'll like get ideas from that and then just things will just come to me at random moments. But it has to be a cohesive story. So I think the idea of especially for this year, the idea of an author creating all the delusion stories was super cool to me. It was very meta, and it was the idea that, like I have, it's painful to write these things, and so for her, the idea was that it's painful. It's not only painful for her to write these stories, but it's such a curse that it just drives her completely mad. And then I try to think of what's a way to give more an emotional tug to the story.

3:38 So the idea of her writing these entire series just to get her daughter back to life was a really gripping, gripping tale. So is a dark story, which is the world that I live in anyway, But it's super fun. It's just but there are stories come from the ideas, come from anywhere. But there is a foundational through line for all the Delusion stories, and it culminated with this one. And in that same vein talking about all these different stories, when you're making the decisions on what to pick and choose from the various years that went into this, when sane culmination, what is the mindset? Is it more what it's the most practical? What do you think is just the most badass? Or what got the most fan reaction?

4:24 Yeah, those three the fan reactions. I don't I'm I'd make sure that, Like when it comes to something like stunts, we don't do anything for shock value. It's more does it fit, is it practical, does it serve the story properly? So I'll have a list of things from all the past and gags from all the past, and storylines and characters, and then I just pull them into this thread. It's a tapestry of story that is just I can pull them into a single thread that carries through and what fits. But it has to also be engaging and exciting. So for example, I don't I cannot spoil it, but we did something this year we've never done before with a group and it turned out to be a pretty badass experience.

5:06 To your point, it's what's a badass moment? Action sequences? Right? Every year we do action sequences, and this year opens up with a big action sequence. So can you say anything along the lines of the VIP experience. As a VIP guest, you get to actually take this step further with play your parts and you get to play a zombie and an actual sequence of the show where you get to scare other guests. And so I know we talked about it briefly, but can you talk about one what's next for you? And then two what's next for Delusion? I think Delusion will always be with me. They are slightly different paths, but delusion is always a part of me. So for me personally, I need to start taking all these characters, these over fifty characters and nine stories, and start pulling them into the film the world because I have a daughter's fourteen now for me, is about legacy stuff, and these shows are great and she can come and see them, but they don't once they're done, and so I need to start making the films and making the TV series based on these She and all the rest of the Braver family can go back in and see their dad's work.

6:15 So that's a big part of it for me. But delusion has a special place in a lot of people's hearts, and I don't want to end that. The idea of bringing back some of the old shows would be a wonderful option as well too. I don't want it to end, but I feel like we've if it did. This is a nice sort of wrap up to that and allows me to focus on the film properties. Yeah, you mentioned legacy, and I thought that's interesting. How much would you say that you act with the mentality that you would love to leave a lasting legacy, Like how important is that in every decision you've been making, especially with the show, it's becoming more and more important. Mortality sets in for me, like after my mom died in twenty fifteen, everything after that was about mortality.

7:00 It was like everything's finite and it can end at any moment. And I'm proud of what we've done with Delusion and the fact that we actually have really exceptional fans of the show, people who care very much about it. I think that in itself is a wonderful legacy. But it still needs to be recorded on film. I still feel we need to go back. You can go back and look at this trailer for this stuff's actually go back and see a story, a complete story, whether it be again, maybe it's film, maybe it's a novel. There's a lot of options to go, but something physical and sustainable and revisitable. Is that a word? Yeah, Sure, we're making worries, John, you made delusion. It don't matter.

7:44 We're delusional here, right exactly, that's right, that's right. So you've been doing this for so long and you do want to pivot if you were to take a step back from Delusion, like a much bigger step than your thinking to say, the films do super well and you don't even have time to think about this. What would you like to see happen to delusion? I think if you can, you can make this a financially viable thing. Even though it's okay, it's still with the low numbers, it's still hard to sustain it. I would like to see it. I would like to see it. I like to see people have the opportunity to live in these stories every year. I would like that to continue. And maybe it continues with again maybe it's maybe it's me, but probably not. Maybe it's my assistant director Victor, who's the GM of Haunted a Ride now like he's and he does all the sound design for this, but he's the one that knows he shows best. So if there was somebody to pass us on to would be him. It's time to pass that on. And either it's the old shows or it's something new within under the delusion banner, then I would be totally down for that kind of stuff. Just as long as I think it's really important that these experiences remain and that people can actually connect and put their phones away and have a tangible experience. It's super important. I think these are more these live experiences, especially post pandemic is like more important than ever. Yeah, so it's a bit of a mission statement to keep it going. But both in the live and the filmed realm is we can do both. Yeah, I think that's just gonna happen. Yeah, going back

9:16 to the fact that you have someone currently running hay Ride, You've been working with Thirteenth Floor for a while, but you've during your tenure, you've had I still can't believe Patrick Neil Patrick Harris is a part of this at one point, right, But how has overall that journey treated you? What has been I guess those check mark moments where you felt like, Okay, this is the next step. Now, this is the next step. Now this is the next step. Yeah, that's a good question. I think it's the I've always I've wanted to make next steps into, as I said, the more film properties. But it's delusion is such a beast of a show that it occupies so much time that it takes a lot of my focus away.

9:56 So I see the next step, but then they get wrapped into the world of creating the live shows that I lose time to do the other things. So I think, and to be totally honest, like that. The next steps have been delayed because of the live show. Wo they need to That's why I need to step back. But that's why I joined thirteenth Floor. I'm my title is director of Immersive Entertainment. It's not creative delusion. It's so the idea is to let's we can continue this and let's do this. But just like I have a guy on a friend of mine at Netflix who does live experiences and he oversees it. He's not writing them. I need to be in that position when I'm just like overseeing it. All right, Victor, you got delusion? Cool, all right, let's do a show in Chicago. All right, somebody else, you go and run it.

10:46 Let's run his Crimson Queen. Let's find a place over there and let's run it over there. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go shoot the movie of this. So there's multiple things need to happen. We haven't been able to do that because this is because I'm so heavily involved this. Yeah, so next steps have been delayed. But at the same time, it's I'm not I'm not regrets over it. It's just there's a time for everything, and the time has come to make to just force myself into that next now. Today's episode was produced and edited by me Philip Hernandez, with post production by David Swape and original music composed by Chris Thomas. We're counting down to Halloween with daily podcasts, videos, and events in our sixty one day Hauntathon. Follow along at the link in our show notes. Our Hauntathon is made possible through generous support from Gantum, light Y and Controls. Gantum illuminates attractions worldwide with the world's smallest intelligent spotlights. See what you're missing with a free demo.

11:39 Sign up at dantum dot com slash demo. That's Gantum dot com slash demo. Our Hauntathon team includes Daryl Plunky, Emily Luis Rua, Megan Spells, Gavin Burns and Omni Adventures, and our content partners for this year include Attractions Magazine, Creepy Kingdom, Freaks of Ajjen On Topic Radio, Kevin Heimbach News TV, On The Adventures, Scare Track, Sharp Productions, That Halloween Podcast, The Horror of Being, Emily The Scare Factor, and This Weekend with Nick Peliocchini. The best way you can support us this Halloween season is by sharing our haunted on with someone you think we'll enjoy it, and to follow along to our honted on, sign up for our weekly newsletter at hant Attraction Network dot com. We'll catch you back here tomorrow and every day until Halloween.

12:28 Until next time, stay scary. This is a Haunted Attraction Network production.