Every year, the way in which people celebrate All Hallows’ Eve in the United Kingdom seems to be getting more and more Americanised. Whether it be the elaborate decorations that are put up outside people’s houses or the costumes worn by Trick or Treaters, things seem to be getting more and more exaggerated.
For Guildford residents, there is a new immersive experience coming to town that is sure to delight and terrify in equal measure, with Surrey Sports Park turning off the lights to plunge those inside into darkness, which may set the record for the most people to be in total darkness together.
What’s This All About?
On the first of November, the night after Halloween, people are being invited along to Surrey Sports Park, where the basketball court is being transformed into a state where fear can spread amongst those in attendance like wildfire. Whereas many Halloween-based experiences present those taking part with visuals to terrify them, the same isn’t true of what is being called ‘The Blackout’. Instead, it isn’t about what you can see that is designed to be so scary, but rather what you can’t. In darkness, your mind will create its own things to be terrified of, which might be the scariest thing of all.
It isn’t just about sitting there and imagining things unprompted, however. Instead, there will be sudden flashes of light, as well as haunting soundscapes that are introduced in order to terrify you out of your wits. On top of that, live performers will also pull you deeper and deeper into an unimaginable world that intends to act as some sort of disorientating journey. The entire experience will last for 50 minutes, giving adrenaline junkies the chance to join others in a record-setting attempt at total darkness, promising a terrifying experience that is immersive in nature.
Why Are We Scared of the Dark?
If this sounds like something that you think that you might enjoy, you might find yourself wondering why it is that so many of us are scared of the dark. The colour black has long been associated with the more morbid side of things in European and American culture, such as when people wear black clothing in order to attend a funeral. When Halloween comes around, you will often see people dressed as the Grim Reaper all in black, whilst black as a colour also takes centre stage in a witch’s outfit, to say nothing of black cats being considered bad luck to all.
When it comes to being scared of the dark, we all tend to fear what we can’t see. The idea of fear is that it is there in order to protect us from harm, so when the lights go out we tend to be more alert of our surroundings and on edge. In a prehistorical sense, the darkness is when predators were more likely to attack their prey, which remains at the back of our subconscious even now. When we lose our visual sense, unable to detect what might be near or close to us, we are naturally put on edge and tend to prepare for the worst, which is why so many of us dislike the dark.
The Blackout
The entire idea behind The Blackout was created by No Sheep Allowed, which is an independent company that is based in Surrey. The team is made up of various people who have previously worked in the theatre and other live events, as well as those with experience of sound design. They use human connection as the basis for all of their work, offering sensory-led projects that look to be both daring and unforgettable. The full title of what is taking place at Surrey Sports Park is ‘The Blackout – A Shared Fear You’ll Never Forget’, which tells you a lot about what to expect.
Of course, the success or otherwise of the experience is down to those in attendance. There will be steps taken in order to ensure that the project is carried out in the way that No Sheep Allowed intend it to be, but you will still be dependent on the others in the audience not getting their phone out, having a light-up watch or otherwise doing things that go against the grain of the point of The Blackout. Given the fact that it is an experience that you need to pay for in order to take part in, it would be fair to assume that everyone there will be hoping to get the most out of it.
A Sensory Experience Like No Other
You would be forgiven for thinking that The Blackout is going to be an experience in which you lose one of your senses, not least of all because that is the intention. However, No Sheep Allowed have labelled it as a ‘multi-sensory experience’, thanks to the fact that they will be pushing your buttons in numerous different ways during the 50-minute performance. There are two different time slots for the experience, so it is worth ensuring that you pick the one that is most suitable for you. Your other senses will take control as you are plunged into total darkness for nearly an hour.
The whole thing has been designed to take you into a new world, different to the one that we’re all used to experiencing when we are able to open our eyes and see everything around us. For that reason, it is limited to those aged 15 and over, sitting together in order to find out how quickly fear can spread when you can’t see what is real and what’s not. The audio and visual effects have been designed in order to provoke an emotional reaction from those taking part, so this isn’t the kind of thing that those who tend to scare easily are recommended to take part in, for obvious reasons.