By: Daiyu Tang
The Descent is the latest in a line of Volkoff Productions to grace Hathian. Thankfully we don’t have to wait 27 years for the Main ‘Derry’ Attraction, but with the Haunt on a hiatus last year, we’re blessed to have it return, bigger and better on land down in Delphine.
So reader, just like in 2022… come with me as I brave a sneak peek and tell you, whether you should run a mile, or run into the arms of the ghosts and ghoulies that reside…

Before we get into the actual review, a little bit of ademinstration first!
The Haunt Opening Event is on the 5th October from 12pm SLT (Details: HERE).
Taxis can take you for your VIP Tour, or for the main opening event HERE and I was delighted to be informed that DJ Poppy is opening the event with the production company.
So not only can you scare yourself silly, you can dance yourself silly. It sounds like it will be a frightfully good time, but let’s get into it!
On Location
The first thing one notices as you step out into the street in Delphine is that there are actually two entrances to a wide strip of land that the Haunt Production crew has taken over. On the right as you face away from the Hathian Museum is a rotunda and what appears to be event space and on the left is a low warehouse building with booths and the main ‘Descent’ logo. Speaking to the organising company this is broadly correct; the concert and partying will happen on the right, while the warehouse conceals a carefully constructed Haunt attraction filled with staff designed to make your stay scary. Of course there is a gift shop and various sponsor booths as well… see below and do click to expand!




Meeting the Actors & Getting Ready to Enter
So, a Haunt cannot work with just scary design and mazes and tricks. It has to have fright actors, or rather it has to have actors so frightening that if you saw them in the street out of costume you’d probably still feel your hair prickle and your fight or flight response kicking in.
We won’t spoil them all and they assure the Observer that their costumes are changeable, but here are three of the possible characters you might meet during your Descent…
The Nurse


Don’t think she’s here to give you a check-up… whatever exam she might give you is final…
The Chained


He’s here to keep you wrapped up inside the Haunt… If Pinhead had been designed by Geiger….
There are many more staff to discover and even I, due to the Museum’s sponsorship might be in costume to try and give you a scare (at least at the entrance jokingly!).
Descending
You enter and are confronted with tunnels. Tunnels that might lead anywhere… perhaps there are actors waiting already to scare you… perhaps there are traps, or secrets to find? Certainly there are different routes to explore and perhaps on one ‘Haunt’ you won’t find everything….
The lighting, smoke machines and everything combines into one dark and scary place.
((Be sure to use the Windlight that is given when you enter the parcel!))


The caves extend in different directions, punctuated at odd junctures by objects that slowly reach a theme crescendo.
Readers will have their views on what is being ‘got at’ (besides their health and sanity!) but in my mind it talks to the descent into different states of consciousness and mind.
Certainly, the inclusion of a corridor with memorabilia from the Stillwater’s Asylum gives credence to the starting idea of someone at the cusp of a mental breakdown.
Falling

My camera was starting to suffer in the dark, it is low light conditions, so looking through the lens was even more terrifying and I have to confess readers I might have rushed through some rooms. Obviously I survived, but I was told I had missed at least three or four places… eep! You can see some of the others I did come across below…. Click to expand as usual!





It’s fair to say reader that as we progressed I was, like in 2022 somewhat afear for my life. The actors did a great job, but perhaps even too much and once again I was stumbling like a mad woman towards any relief I could find… always deeper and always further down. But perhaps this was the point? I was descending through the Haunt, finding myself in new layers and increasingly unable to think straight. I needed my medicine…
It’s a good thing they have a nurse right?

Overall
Well, it’s quite an experience reader, but I must say I am also looking forward to the party. DJ Poppy can spin some wicked Halloween Tunes and hopefully music will wash away the feeling I’ve got that I went down a rabbit hole and haven’t quite got out again…