While many haunts will offer jump scarers, gore and bloody scenes, this downtown Los Angeles Halloween experience takes it a step further by making you one of the characters in a dark and disturbing story that has people walking, and sometimes running, deep into the layers of Dante’s Inferno.
“It’s like living inside a psychological mystery thriller horror and you’re playing your part in it. It’s basically a moving play,” said Jon Braver, creator of “Delusion: Harrowing of Hell,” which runs through Nov. 9.
“It’s really like being inside of a story. It’s narrative driven, it’s not a haunted house. It’s much more theatrical,” he added.
The immersive Halloween haunt is a theatrical experience that takes people into a supernatural cult that has taken the metaphors of Dante’s Inferno too far. They’re convinced that the circles of hell are a necessary preparation for the afterlife.
A Red Cloak looks out over the entrance lobby as part of the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Participants of the Delusion interactive experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles gather at the start of the horror walkthrough on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Participants of the Delusion interactive experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles gather at the start of the horror walkthrough on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A demon hangs over the entrance lobby as part of the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday Sept. 25, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Delusion is a theatrical Halloween experience that opens in downtown LA this week. Visitors will walk through several scenes where they will interact with actors along the way and become part of the storyline. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) John Braver, creator and producer of the Delusion interactive horror walkthrough at the Variety Arts Theater in Downton Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A poster for the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Available merchandise for sale at the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Participants of the Delusion interactive experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles wait in the lobby before taking part in the horror walkthrough on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Bartender Daniel Vasquez prepares a drink for a participant of the Delusion horror walkthrough at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) John Braver, creator and producer of the Delusion interactive horror walkthrough at the Variety Arts Theater in Downton Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A demon hangs over the entrance lobby as part of the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday Sept. 25, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Participants of the Delusion interactive experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles wait in the lobby before taking part in the horror walkthrough on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A prop on display at the Delusion interactive experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) John Braver, creator and producer of the Delusion interactive horror walkthrough at the Variety Arts Theater in Downton Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Show Caption1 of 15A Red Cloak looks out over the entrance lobby as part of the Delusion interactive horror experience at the Variety Arts Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Expand“You’re going to see visual affects that will blow your mind with projection effects, some incredible acting,” he said. “You’ll see things you would expect in a movie but they’re happening in front of you,” Braver added.
Delusion is housed in the five-story Italian Renaissance-inspired Variety Arts Center, which was built in 1924. It offers a fitting home for the macabre storyline inspired by Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century poem.
It all begins as people walk down a set of stairs to a waiting elevator, which everyone assumes will lead them to the start of the haunt.
However, as people wait for the elevator they quickly realize that the haunt has already started as they see a woman completely dressed in white, with her face also covered in a white sheet. She warns guests what they’re about to experience before an elevator door opens and people see what appears to be a crying child, or some sort of creature sitting near the front.
From there they descend down into the levels of Dante’s Inferno where among various disturbing experiences they’ll be chased by a knife wielding nuns as other nuns’ bodies hang from ropes in a hallway. There’s a priest who tries to help the visitors and locks them in a room for their own safety just before he becomes possessed himself.
At another point people have to hide under beds for their own safety as a killer roams through a room. And things get physical at Delusion, too, as people have to swing from a rope to try to escape the cult. But one of the most frightening moments comes when visitors are chased by a sort of Medusa-like creature who appears to be floating in the air and no matter where you turn down hallways, she’s always seems to pop up in front of you.
“It’s definitely not for the faint of heart,” Braver said.
‘Delusion: Harrowing of Hell’
When: Select nights through Nov. 9
Where: Variety Arts Center, Theater, 940 S Figueroa St. Los Angeles
Cost: Tickets start at $112.99
Information: enterdelusion.com
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