Delusion - Reaper's Remorse: 2021 Review

Phillips Mansion, Pomona, CA

Five years. That's how long Delusionals have had to wait for another horror-based installation of the most superb immersive and interactive haunted theater in Southern California. 2016 was the last time Jon Braver delved into the abyss of the gothic and the haunting, and though 2018's The Blue Blade and 2019's Alt Delete productions provided thrilling adventures with a glint of sci-fi and fantasy, there's just something about Delusion and the macabre that go together so satisfyingly well.

This year, Delusion: Reaper's Remorse weaves real life history with Jon Braver's vivid and morbid imagination to provide striking and sprawling immersive, theatrical experience set on the fallow grounds of the genuinely historic Phillips Mansion, in Pomona, California. This is Delusion's first venture outside the confines of the City of Los Angeles proper, but they couldn't have found a more beautiful and fitting site.

The Phillips Mansion has been transformed into the home of this fall’s Delusion.

The Phillips Mansion is an anachronism trapped in its own bubble, outside of the industrial business district of its current neighborhood. The home of rancher and land manager Louis Phillips (reportedly the richest man in Los Angeles at one point in the latter 1800s) and his wife, Esther, this stately manor was the genesis for the city of Pomona, helping spur development in this sleepy rancho outside of L.A. to eventual city incorporation. A part of the National Registrar of Historic Places today, this Second Empire style home has stood over the decades in quiet decay, managed by the Historical Society of Pomona Valley, which has slowly attempted to restore and rehabilitate it over the years.

Guests can explore the various rooms of the mansion when they arrive.

Historically, Louis Phillips was the famous figure in L.A. circles. His wife, Esther, stood in the background--as most women were positioned at the time--focused more on the activities of being a socialite and supporter of her husband's breadwinning. But in the lore of Delusion, Esther has been revealed in a darker and more manipulative light, moving to the front seat of this year's sordid and decrepit tale as a suspiciously sinister puppeteer pulling the strings of the lives of those who cross into her circle.

You see, with the wealth and connections forged by her husband's business successes, Esther has developed a fondness for collecting things. And that fondness also extends to people. She runs what she calls a "halfway house," taking in guests and boarders who may be down on their luck or needing assistance and taking care of them. But when they want to leave, well... that's when things get complicated.

In the “Open World” environment before or after the show, guests can find some of Esther’s artifacts, as well as some of her writings.

The story of Reaper's Remorse picks up as guests arrive at the Phillips Mansion, here to view Esther's eclectic and supposedly mystic collection. In the downstairs setting of the historic house itself, they can explore the "Open World" of artifacts, clues, and Easter eggs laid out to supplement and enhance the Phillips story. A salon, a study, and a dining room (with a convenient bar) contain a variety of objects from Esther's artifacts. Dolls, games, knickknacks, jewelry boxes, instruments... there are a variety of items that Esther has acquired over the years that are ripe for investigation.

There are also notes scattered about--diary entries, it seems--detailing various experiences and occurrences in Esther's life and the peoples she cares for. Keep reading, though, and the notes get darker and more ominous. A storybook marriage with husband Louis may not be so picture-perfect as it seems. And the guests that stay at the halfway house may be staying still, albeit in another form.

The rooms are richly furnished, but there is more than meets the eye—or ear!

The exploration isn't limited to the visual senses. Keep an attentive ear out as well. Audio from a nearby radio playing ambient music from the 1940s may suddenly cut in with a message seemingly from the beyond. Some of the relics in the rooms may literally speak out with ghostly nervousness and despair. It seems that all is not well inside this home. And if those hints aren't enough to persuade the case of a more malevolent conspiracy at work, head outside to the right side, where an open cellar door--bathed in Delusion blue--beckons with a completely with an aura of spooky intrigue.

This doesn’t look suspicious at all…

Guests who have purchased a special VIP upgrade to the evening's soiree can also go upstairs, where additional rooms with their own artifacts and clues await. A Dark Arts Private Bar & Lounge provides libations for guest who've developed a thirst climbing up the creaky stairs. There's also a strange guest, Nicholas, who appears to have a certain unsettling fondness for Mrs. Phillips, as well as a penchant for enchanting entertainment and intimate, close-up illusion.

V.I.P. guests can go upstairs for further experiences.

Nicholas has a penchant for magic… and for Esther.

Her Private Collection provides a unique and special experience—one that varies for different guests!

There's also a door to the right of the top of the stairs that sports a mysteriously plain description: Her Private Collection. Flanked by a red and green light above, this portal beckons groups of up to four people at a time into a deeper interactive experience that complements the main play. It's one that guests can take before or after their tour with Esther--or both before and after even--and the experience is shrouded in disturbing secrecy. Some may have noticed a figure in the window on the right upstairs bedroom prior to coming in. Perhaps an encounter with said occupant is in the cards? Only those who engage the VIP experience can know. But it most certainly enriches and deeps the story and immersive experience of Reaper's Remorse on a most visceral and confidential manner.

Whether guests explore the Open World and/or the upstairs VIP addition before or after their tour with Esther isn't important. There is no order in which to take in the detail that spans this year's epic Delusion production. But once their reservation time is ready after they check in, it's time to begin the formal haunted theater experience.

The dining room has a bar off-frame to the left and is where guests gather before the show begins.

Guests are instructed to meet with a lady in black (one of the Delusion crew members) in the dining room of the first floor to check any bags or items they don't want to carry with them on the tour. From there, the group is stationed in a waiting area in the adjacent hallway, where they wait approximately eight minutes (more than enough time to down any potables purchased at the bar) before entering a waiting room to meet their disquieting hostess. This year, guests are allowed to keep their phones (unlike in The Blue Blade, where all attendants were required to surrender their personal devices to be stored in Yondr pouches kept with the Delusion staff), but they absolutely must have them turned off. Any person caught using a phone (or being disruptive or marring the performance in any way) will immediately trigger show stoppage and removal.

The Caretaker peers into the waiting room.

Once guests are seated in the waiting room, Mrs. Phillips enters, and the story truly begins.

Esther Phillips has gathered everyone this evening to enjoy her collection, and she toasts everyone's presence. She then reveals her latest acquisition, a baneful and menacing sculpture filled with dark energy that even Esther cannot bear to be near, for she lacks the strength to handle it. This grim curio seems to have a certain supernatural ability, and she’s requested the group’s help to assist in controlling it. Guests are then led out of the waiting room, where their adventure begins in earnest.

The Phillips estate exists in a state of forlorn lavishness.

From here, we'll stay mum on the details, except to say that guests encounter other members of the Phillips family, find some of the past guests of Esther's halfway house, and run into haunting figures and ghouls who have had a haunting impact on the family over the years--characters who are hinted at in the Open World environment.

Through it all, Delusion maintains the same dramatic theatrical reveals, movement between frenetic pacing and slow moments of contemplation, and immersive, cinematic quality that guests have come to expect and love of this production. A complex system of synchronized audio soundtracks, lighting effects, projections, and practical stuntwork full plunge guests into a terrifying story of a hoarder gone sadistically wrong. Guests are sometimes separated from the group and sent on a side adventure, only to reunite later. And the show slowly builds toward its climactic reveal, threatening to trap the guests themselves within the true horror of the Phillips Mansion estate.

Read things. Listen to things. There are bonuses all throughout the Mansion that enhance the story.

A production of this magnitude takes an incredible amount of effort to pull off the intricate steps of this multi-scene dance. Like previous Delusions, there are actually multiple shows occuring at once through different parts of the ground at any particular moment, and the groups are passed along from actor to actor to be chaperoned through the elements and beats of the story. How Delusion manages to do this so seemingly seamlessly is pretty incredible, and although there were still minor timing kinks being worked out at the media night that we attended (hardly noticeable details like the timing and fluidity of audio and effect transitions and triggers), the overall show really seized the audience into their roles as active members of the play.

The experience reminded me of what I was hoping to get at the Haunting of Hill House maze at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Reaper's Remorse truly submerges guests into the ambiance and mood of the house, and even for a seasoned haunt enthusiast like myself who is always looking at the set details at the same time that I'm enjoying the show, it was incredibly difficult to tell where the production crew had dressed or themed a space, and where they had left the cracked walls, exposed structure, and junked furnishings in place. The dilapidated settings provided a memorably eerie experience that sold the uncomfortable atmosphere of the Phillips tragedy.

The show wasn't without its shock moments either. As much as I'd like to discuss them, I'll keep quiet, except to describe them in the vein of previous show moments that featured scenes like actors being pulled away by unseen forces or manifesting from unexpected locations. These brief instances of quiet or terrifying surprise highlight a show that definitely seeks to be the scariest Delusion yet. There are also encounters with what might best be described as spirits of the house that are jarring and frightful and feel very much like living a moment in cinema.

Esther’s diary entries reveal more about her than appears at first glance.

The entire experience adds up to a potential whole evening spent at the Phillips Mansion, experiencing the play and then accenting that with the Open World environment to unearth more details. With food available on site outside (including tacos, flatbread pizzas, a tasty short rib dish, charcuterie, and a shrimp cocktail item) and the bars inside the house, this year's Delusion really is designed to be an extended affair, and one could easily fall deep into the storyline. For those who have other plans or want to just see the show and leave, there's nothing preventing that either. Everything is flexible and at the behest of how each attendee wants to plot their course.

Suffice to say, another round of congratulations is order to Jon Braver, his talented cast, and expert technical crew, and the staff that have come together to create and run this extraordinary production. This includes Kevin Williams - Production Designer, Edina Hiser and Jarret Lantz - Art Director, Chellie Jones - Set Decorator, Ian Momii - Lighting Designer & Technical Supervisor, Cat Elrod - Costume Designer, Victor Mathieu - Sound Designer, Jesse Kirberger - Projection FX, and an enthralling cast of actors who wring the emotion of the Reaper’s Remorse story.

Delusion remains at the top of the immersive haunted theater game, and this year will undoubtedly ring in more unabashed success. It's also helpful that the industrial neighborhood will preclude any threats of shutdown by irritated residential neighbors who do not appreciate the later night noise disturbances that come with a commercial event, so the worries of getting shut down mid-run are mitigated (provided that COVID also cooperates; note that all guests are required to wear masks at the indoor settings of Delusion, and there are temperature checks upon entering the grounds). Plus, the stretch of Pomona Blvd offers ample parking (though it's all street parking, so some may have to park a few minutes away and walk back).

Easter eggs like this reference to The Blue Blade’s Evelyn Lowell provide little surprise gifts to repeat and longtime Delusion fans.

Delusion runs select nights now through Sunday, November 21st. Very limited tickets remain, and though the price tag is admittedly steep, the unique experience is worth it--especially with the Open World expansion. And keep an eye out on the site--you never know if Delusion may announce an extension to their run. And if they do, I'd certainly recommend grabbing tickets!