Within Our Walls: 2022 Review

Glendale, CA

For half his life, Sam Kellman has produced haunted attractions during the Halloween season and hosted them under the banner of the Opechee Haunt at his family residence in Glendale and at Halloween conventions like Midsummer Scream. He even found a way to do a COVID-friendly ghostly [driving] experience in the form of TOUR in 2020, when most iterations of Halloween were limited to haunted yard displays. That streak ended last year, however, when he spent this first in-person college year out in Georgia at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

With Sam well on his path through higher education, one might think that this is the last of the Opechee Haunt we’ve seen for a while, and that is technically correct. But ever the creative and aspirer, Sam has shifted his endeavors to suit his schedule and used the summer time to launch his first ever foray into the world of immersive theater and professional haunts via an outfit separate from Opechee Haunt. Inside the Box Productions is a creative team focused on crafting immersive, theatrical experiences, and their first creation premiered this past Thursday in the form of Within Our Walls.

Within Our Walls is a brooding and intrusive look at a family in the throes of a horrendous loss.

Those who have followed Opechee Haunt through the years know that Sam has always challenged himself to produce a different type of experience just about each year. He’s gone from a traditional haunted house to an app-driven spooky scavenger hunt to an intellectual property-based maze to a family-friendly haunted show. It’s natural, then, that Sam’s next haunted attraction would want to tackle yet another format—all while incorporating the technological and storytelling lessons he’s learned over the years.

Within Our Walls is an immersive (but not interactive) exhibition of haunted theatrical storytelling. Groups up to ten to twelve guests are invited into the intimate confines of the Pierce residence, where they find a grieving family mourning over the tragic passing of their youngest member. Allen and Jane are the suburban parents whose own relationship has suffered strains as they face the challenges of raising their family. Archer, their oldest, wallows in the throws of teenage angst and anguished emotions, spending his days cooped up in his room watching dark, cult movies and penning morbid displays of artwork to reflect his inner strife. Cheryl, Jane’s mother, is the family matriarch—though mostly in title. The elderly lady spends her days hooked up to a breathing device and communicating to her family via a voice-box, gazing toward the television in a near-catatonic stupor of daily existence.

Jane and Allen are the parents.

Archer is the older child, whose sister, Mia, died under tragic and unsolved circumstances.

The secret tribulations of what might seem to be a typical idyllic family have always presented an intriguing study of characters. Everyone has been on both sides of the perspective where the perception of how life is going and how it is truly manifesting can be two very different experience. The concept of the home containing a family’s deepest, darkest secrets is the premise that drives Within Our Walls’ twenty minute, one-act play.

What makes Inside the Box Production’s first creation unique is the format in which the audience views the story as it progresses. Mixing in the spatial sensibilities of a haunted house set, guests are invited to gaze upon the Pierce family from within the walls of their own home as their sorrow slowly breaks down their grips on the tranquility of their most personal domain. Through cracks and crevices and openings through the walls across three different spaces, guests can witness an unsettling, voyeuristic insight into the Pierces. The ability for guests to move around “within [their] walls” and shift their attention from one scene to another and follow various details that interest them presents a dynamic element to the show. Guests can choose to keep with one character the entire time or move from character to character. In doing so, they become the role of an invisible intruder, bearing witness to the uncomfortable suffering that Allen, Jane, and Archer play out.

The death of Mia Pierce haunts the family.

Peeking in on Grandma Cheryl.

The play does start out uneventfully enough with the family working through the logistics of the arrangements made following the passing of their daughter, but focus on the right room, and there are immediate instances of encroachment of privacy that set the tone for the entire show. Indeed, the ambiance is tense from the start. Jane and Allen seem to harbor resentment and guilt over their parental responsibilities, while Archer is lost in mist of psychological detachment from his real life horrors. Cheryl, ever-motionless, chimes in from time to time for menial requests, but otherwise seems fixated on whatever is running on the television, seeming to exist in a form of living death.

The show encourages movement within the walls to gain different perspectives.

In a twisted, perverse way, the experience of Within Our Walls almost feels like making the audience Bruno from Encanto, if only he was witnessing something from Donnie Darko instead. The connection to the cult hit is appropriate, since not only was this the IP that Sam explored in Opechee Haunt’s 2018 production, it’s also directly referenced in the this production’s set furnishings and show beats. As guests look on through the walls, the story begins to incorporate elements of psychological and supernatural horror, but it also feels a bit like a murky dream, where each character’s grip on reality seems to erode by the minute.

If this review is being vague, it’s intentional, of course. The climax of Within Our Walls ends in shocking an disturbing twist that blends theatrics and haunted house effects that echoes shows like Delusion—another clear influence on Sam’s work here—and practically urges a skittering exit.

Don’t worry, Tom Cruise is not in there.

The audience ends up where it began, in “The Attic” entrance foyer of the soundstage space where the play is housed. Those who have retained their senses can peruse this quasi open-world extension to enjoy visual Easter eggs from past Opechee Haunt productions as well as browse horror-inspired artwork and crafts produced by local artists. Sam has partnered with Howl-O-World, an Etsy-like Halloween marketplace, to feature some fun, spooky mementos both related and unrelated to Within Our Walls. Fittingly enough, Howl-O-World is also the entrepreneurial start-up of another young haunter we’ve appreciated, Cameron from Insane Haunt Productions.

The Attic is a gift shop of artisan wares and works for guests to peruse.

It also sets the ambiance and provides some fun Opechee Haunt Easter eggs!

Creepy doll? Yes, creepy doll.

Within Our Walls is a captivating immersive theater experience that inserts guests as the prying eyes inside the gloomy house of a family morose with mourning and keeps them disconcertingly watching as their secrets are dug up like a grave being unearthed. It is the first of what Sam plans to be a series of immersive theater experiences under the Inside the Box banner—not always related to horror—but always exploring a story or idea in a creative way that has been informed by Sam’s experience in crafting horror. Unsurprisingly, despite being another venture into something new, Sam has helped produce an exquisite experience that is disquieting yet arresting. The riveting performances by all of the actors, the targeted use of jump scares, and the progression of the unfolding storyline make for a terrific twenty minute show, and it’s a great way to kickstart the fall Halloween season a little early with some extra spooks.

Come catch Within Our Walls this month, before it’s too late!

Within Our Walls is located at 636 Irving Ave, Glendale, CA 91201 and runs Thursday through Sunday evenings for the remainder of July, except for Sunday, July 31st. Tickets range from $30 - $45 per person plus service fees, depending on General or VIP admission and which day of the week. That might be a tad pricey for a 20-minute experience, but we can perhaps chalk it up as another consequence of inflation. As a full disclosure for anyone motivated to go this weekend upon reading this review, the air conditioning at the space where this performance is being run was broken when we visited on Friday, so dress appropriately, as it can become a little stuffy (which also sort of adds to the atmosphere of discomfort). Inside the Box Productions has a great first hit on its hands, and haunt fans should definitely feel encouraged to check out this gripping, new show!