A New Halloween Experience to Rival USS Halloween Horror Nights

I’ve been to every single Halloween Horror Night (HHN) since they started in 2010 and I’ve been telling people that that’s the best Halloween experience you can find in Singapore, hands down. This year however, there’s a new kid in town to rival the big daddy of Halloween horror for my money.

Taking place on Sentosa - or Pulau Blakang Mati as it is advertised - is a live action horror adventure called Kursed. 

When I first heard of Kursed from the director, Jonathan Lim, I had no idea what it was about. He was very secretive about it. The only clue I got was that Kursed doesn’t rely on jump scares. There is no need to wait in line for hours to enter a haunted house. This is going to be an experience for the true horror fan.

Kursed preview with Amanda, Vivian, Eugene and Mia.

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When It comes to Halloween experiences,  it usually falls into one of two camps - Very scary or very campy. It’s hard to please everyone. 

When I arrived for my session today, I was quite apprehensive about the demographic of the other 11 participants I had to team up with: They seemed like the giggly sort. They were still giggling at the start of the session but five minutes later, the giggles turned to hushed whispers. The three girls on my team - Amanda, Vivian and Mia - who were initially complaining that the 45 minutes experience was too long, couldn’t stop deconstructing their experience after the show had ended. They even contemplated going a second round to see if they can get a different experience out of it. I think it's safe to say that each of us found something different about this experience that engaged us.

​As a fan of roleplaying games, I enjoyed the immersive storytelling aspect the most. I was in character pretty much the whole time, imagining myself as the scared reluctant protagonist of the story trying to help the narrator in his quest. Here’s a tip for those wanting to go for Kursed. Leave your bravado bullshit at home. There’s a story to Kursed and the actors try their darnest best to create the mood. If you are going to go there to show off how brave you are, save everyone the annoyance and just go for HHN instead; but if you can find it in yourself to follow the narrative and immerse yourself in the story, trust me, you will really enjoy this. 

In one of the scenes, a male participant in my team, whom I only just met this evening wrapped himself around my arm and said, “Don’t enter! Don’t enter!” To which I replied, “if we stay out here we are all going to die!” I swear, honest to goodness, he was literally contemplating my words. You could see the hesitation in his eyes. Then he nodded and the whole group stepped in together.

​It’s hilarious as i’m retelling it now, but that’s how immersive the experience can be when you allow yourself to get drawn into the story. 

That's my face when I pointed my flashlight towards the sound of rustling leaves.

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There were only just a couple of parts I felt could be better, but to be fair, we were the preview group and were pre-framed before hand that the organisers were still tweaking the show based on our feedback. For the most parts, I’m really impressed with the creative direction and the acting. I have so many favourite parts I want to talk about but I won't be doing anybody any favours with such spoilers.

Kursed is going to be the new benchmark of Halloween experience to beat.

Kursed is going to be the new benchmark of Halloween experience to beat. Good job to the organisers and special props to the actors who really, really, really brought the mood to the show. It’s hard to compare Kursed with any other existing Halloween show; it just stands in its own league. 
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You can get your tickets here. Show is on from 16th October till the 10th of November 2019. Use our passcode: Konfessions when you are booking your tickets to enjoy 10% off.

What some of the participants have to say about Kursed.