Horror fans know that October is typically filled with absolutely ghoulish delights. This year, one of the best scares comes care of Blumhouse and Peacock.
This past week, I attended Blumhouse and Peacock’s Overnightmare at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. While I had previously heard of the Stanley, which is the spooky hotel that inspired Stephen King’s The Shining (and is haunted) (I cannot stress enough that this hotel is haunted for real), I had no idea what could be in store for me in what was billed as an “immersive overnight experience” based on the films of Blumhouse.
Checking in
Upon arrival at the Stanley Hotel’s Lodge, I was greeted by what the event invitation referred to as a “conci-scare-ge”–and though I had initially assumed that this would be nothing more than a cute, thematic pun, it was clear that I had been gravely mistaken. (See? I can do puns too.)
Our conci-scare-ge was a person named Avery, who was wearing a blue plaid shirt, sweater vest, and glasses. Coincidentally, all of the other conci-scare-ges were also named Avery, and were also wearing blue plaid shirts, sweater vests, and glasses. Clearly they went out of their way to make something as simple as matching work uniforms as creepy as it can possibly be.
Avery promised they would help me “face my fears” while they led me to my guest room, which, if I’m going to be honest, wasn’t the most comforting thing I’ve ever been told while checking into a hotel.
The room
Each guest room had been decorated around one of four themes–Freaky, Happy Death Day, The Purge, and Insidious–and the rooms we were assigned depended on which scare experiences we chose to participate in. Upon arriving at my room, which was themed to the Insidious franchise, I was greeted by creepy drawings, books on astral projection, a metronome, a baby monitor, and other themed decor. The overall effect was decidedly spooky, making me wonder how well I was going to sleep that night. (Spoiler alert: I slept great. Travel is exhausting and the beds at the Stanley are comfy as hell.)
After I’d settled into my room, I went downstairs to explore the Hospitality Suite (extremely creepy) and the Blumhouse Bar (also extremely creepy, but at least they had drinks) before it was time for dinner–and, of course, my first scare experience.
The scares
There were four different scare experiences on offer, each themed around the same Blumhouse films that dictated the guest-room decor. For those who wanted the experience without being too scared, Freaky was a lower-level of terror, while Insidious was basically billed as the most horrifying experience of the stay. Wanting to capture the full spectrum of terror (for journalistic integrity reasons), I decided that those two would be the scares for me.
Each experience was approximately 15 minutes long and highly individualized. For the Freaky experience, there were only four total guests participating (me, my companion, and another party of two). Once I put the provided “Please DO Disturb” sign on my guest room door, I was brought to the third floor of the Lodge, where the Freaky experience began. For those who haven’t seen Freaky, it’s basically Freaky Friday, except it’s a teen girl and a male serial killer swapping bodies. Also, you should watch that movie. It’s a ton of fun. For the task at hand, we had to find Millie, who was played by Kathryn Newton in the film.
The area was made to look like a highschool house party–streamers, neon, red cups, the usual stuff. The big difference is the addition of a serial killer prowling the rooms and murdering guests. Though this was the least spooky experience, I definitely got taken by surprise a couple of times, and also endured the most terrifying part of the entire trip: learning a very basic dance. (No footage of this exists. Just assume I did really, really, really well.)
The next night, my companion and I embarked on the Insidious scare experience. As promised, this was significantly more terrifying than the Freaky offering. My companion and I were instructed to wait in my room until someone came for us, but while we were waiting, the baby monitor–which I’d until this point assumed was just decor–sprung to life, filling my room with the howling screams of what I can only assume was the World’s Most Upset Baby. A few anxious minutes of this passed, and finally, we heard a knock on the door. It was Avery, here to bring us to face our fears, as promised. They took us upstairs to a long hallway, lined with slightly ajar, glowing red doors. Of course, the “meeting” we were being summoned to was in the room at the very end of the hall. Once inside, we were taught how to astral project into the “Further” (a terrifying dimension stuffed full of demons and monsters) in order to save a young boy from being trapped there forever. Unfortunately, once we found ourselves on the astral plane, the only thing waiting for us was a demon, and we were forced to escape and save ourselves. Thanks, Avery.
It was a well-constructed experience and a top-tier scare. What’s more, I didn’t have to learn any dance moves.
The activities
The event also offered options for various activities to fill the days between scare experiences. I opted for a tour of the hotel themed around The Shining, as well as a second tour of the hotel that was more ghost-focused. Our guides were exceptionally knowledgeable and gave us a close look at areas of the hotel we wouldn’t otherwise be able to freely wander, like the Caretaker’s Cottage and the spooky underground tunnel system.
In the evenings, the event offered screenings in the resort’s Concert Hall. On night one, we were treated to Speak No Evil (2024), and on night two we got to enjoy the first two episodes of Peacock’s new horror series Teacup, which added an eerie context to the various props and theming we’d seen around the hotel.
Checking out
All in all, the Overnightmare experience was a ton of fun and great for fans of immersive horror experiences. My only regret is that I couldn’t do all four scare experiences–The Purgeone in particular sounded like a blast, as other attendees informed me that several other guests were secretly planted scare actors, whose role was, let’s just say,patriotic. Though there don’t appear to be plans to revive Overnightmare for a sequel, my hope is that it will be a recurring event. And, hey, maybe by the time it comes back, I’ll finally have learned how to do that dance.
