SDCC 2016: The ‘American Horror Story: Fearless VR’ Is One Of The Scariest VR Experiences Yet!

Briefly: Shane already shared just what you’re in store for if you visit the fantastic FXHibition art installations outside of the Hilton Bayfront at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

This morning, we returned to the now familiar territory to experience the one attraction that we missed out on yesterday, and it was definitely worth the wait.

We’re talking about the American Horror Story: Fearless VR, an intimate experience that FX didn’t really detail in the press release, didn’t allow us to take photos of, and an experience that was encompassed in a foreboding, plain black silo. Creepy, creepy stuff.

If you’re looking to experience the AHS: Fearless VR without spoilers, just know that it’s totally cool, extremely well done, and quite freaking terrifying. I attended the experience with our own Shane O’Hare, and upon completion of the VR, Shane noted that what he had witnessed terrified him, gave him intense feelings of claustrophobia, and that he would not go through it again… after also stating that it was one of the best VR demos he’d experienced thus far.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!

Alright, now that we’ve got that spoiler warning out of the way, let’s talk about just how cool this experience was.

Six people enter the silo at a time, and the experience takes five or six minutes to enter and exit (so you can gauge your place in the sure-to-be-long line). Inside the silo, it’d be hard not to notice the sleek, white walls and semi-translucent ceiling, which all marks a start contrast from the smooth, black ‘bed’ that those in attendance will lay on.

The FX ‘doctors’ cover you with a white sheet, help you put on your VR headset and headphones, help you become oriented, and once everyone is set up, the experience begins.

Everything is pitch black when an ominous voice warns you that you’re about to experience some of your deepest, darkest fears. The image fades in, you’re looking down towards your feet and laying on a gurney, and at that point it’s painfully obvious that you’re a corpse in some sort of gruesome morgue.

You spend a moment looking around and almost everything is off. The corpse on the gurney beside you has no head, you can see a body on the floor, everything is a Silent Hill level of dirty, you hear flies flying around you. Nothing about this is comfortable, and you quickly feel your skin begin to crawl.

A door opens in front of you, and a silhouette begins to approach. After a moment, she comes in to focus, and it’s the terrifying American Horror Story nun walking towards you, coming inches away from your face before beginning to push your gurney. You’ll notice heads and other body parts in jars as she pushes you down the hallway, and if you turn your head, something that you just saw may no longer be there. The gurney begins to move faster and faster, and you feel your stomach become unsettled due to the high-speed that your brain thinks that you’re moving at.

At this point, things become a little foggy, and I’m not quite sure what order the events take place in.

The nun continues pushing you, and eventually places you in a tiny, claustrophobic as hell cold chamber. It’s extremely dark, and turning your head will only let you see just how enclosed you are. After a moment of extreme silence, your perspective begins to shift and the gurney is suddenly falling into a foggy forest. You hear wildlife calling out, and it’s not long before three hooded figures appear from the fog, and as they approach you it becomes clear that they’re not walking, but floating ever closer.

The figures lift you up with some sort of telekinesis, and then literally burn you at the stake.

A hard cut, and a terrifying clown is standing stationary, just staring at you. It gets closer and closer before finally snapping. He then throws several dangerous objects at you, which are nearly impossible to not attempt to dodge.

The third object hits you in the face, another hard cut, and your gurney is again moving (on its own this time around). You’re now travelling through the halls of the Hotel Cortez. After a moment the ominous voice returns, warning you not to look down. An instant later, and the gurney enters, and begins to fall, down one of the hotel’s many elevator shafts. Though you’re stationary, you feel your stomach churn as you freefall down the shaft, gurney turning and flipping as it hits the walls.

You think that this must be it, but then the elevator races towards you. It stops just long enough for you to see the sharp, metal spikes protruding from its bottom, before it crushes you underneath it.

The ominous voice returns, letting you know that ‘The experience is now over. Please remember that everything you have seen was just a simulation.”

Then the nun comes back for one final jump scare, and the experience ends.

Holy hell that was freaky.

The FXHibition can be found across from the Hilton Bayfront, and is open Friday 10AM – 6PM, Saturday 10AM – 6PM, Sunday 10AM – 4PM.