At this point, you readers know that we do a LOT of Escape Rooms. Like, the past year or so, we’ve done more escape rooms than I could have ever possibly dreamed of ever doing. It usually takes a lot to impress us at this point, so when a new contender comes out swinging, and manages to excite us, it means a lot.

The latest to do so is Horror Escapes LA, a great room run located in a very interesting neighborhood in LA. Like many other escape room venues, Horror Escapes LA offers three different rooms for you and your friends to tackle to try to get out alive. However, Horror Escapes LA is the ONLY place in the US that does it in an Escape Battle format!

This simply means that not only are you racing against the clock to get out, but you are ALSO competing against the OTHER rooms to be the first team out of your room. That’s right, you are ALL racing against the same time, which makes for an incredibly interesting and competitive atmosphere.  

Horror Escapes LA is located in a nondescript warehouse, and everyone enters at the same time. Once all teams are in their rooms, the clock begins. The time is actually projected onto the ceiling, Hunger Games-style, so everyone can see it. In fact, being able to hear the other teams frantically trying to escape only adds to the tension, and is a great, subtle game play mechanic.

The rooms are all based around the story of Dr. X, a man who tried to save his wife from death using his own experimental research. Of course, he needs fresh meat in order to sustain her, and that is where you come in. You’ll be locked in either the Doctor’s Office, Zombie Lab, or the Captive Chamber. Team HorrorBuzz took on the Doctor’s Office, and loved it.

The puzzles were more than your garden variety, offering an interesting challenge and making us wrack our brains a bit. The room design was simple, but being an office, it didn’t need much. However, as the game progressed, things got more intriguing, as we were lead deeper and deeper into Dr. X’s lair. Of course, we escaped in the nick of time, and we all had a blast.

In addition to the room being a lot of fun, it makes it much better when the owners are into it as well. Rachel, the incredibly friendly and outgoing owner of Horror Escapes LA, is a MASSIVE fan of escape room. Her infectious attitude (no pun intended) and spunkiness made US more excited for the room before we got in. She was an incredibly gracious host, and from talking to her, you can tell of her love of great storytelling through escape rooms. She is definitely a person who got into this because she LOVES doing it, and wants to tell fun stories doing so.

Overall, Horror Escapes LA is a great new room to check out. They will be in their current location for the next few months, but Rachel told us her plans for a new game when they inevitably move, and it sounds AWESOME. This place is definitely one to keep an eye on.

You can find them online at: http://www.horrorescapesla.com