3AM Visitors have been running near Barcelona for a few years now, but for a variety of reasons I’d never been able to make it to them whenever I was over in Barcelona. 3AM Visitor’s ‘Red Extreme’ is unusual for this level of intensity of immersive horror as it can run year round, so it makes it more accessible. It can also be done solo, or as a pair, so may appeal to those seeking to try out something more extreme than traditional hands-on scare events.
The cast were great, it had some interesting and fun sets, with some nicely different elements and effects, as well as feeling perfectly safe and responsive throughout. The cast were honestly great in this regard. The narrative whilst taking its cues from films like Hostel has you being terrorised for the whims of a wealthy ‘elite’ on the dark web. Whilst this type of story could be played dead seriously, 3AM Visitors have really leant into the more humorous and at times bizarre side of storytelling and have ended up producing a really fun, safe and different show.
As always we try to avoid spoilers as much as possible and won’t be reciting a list of all the individual scenes that we went through. There are parts in the rest of the review that may reveal a bit more about the experience and as always with these types of shows if you are contemplating doing it, it’s always best to go in blind. That said if you are in or around Barcelona and fancy trying out a more extreme immersive horror experience definitely check out 3AM Visitors.
So potential spoilers from here on out. The pre-show process is an interesting one. After you’ve signed up and sorted out a date and time for the show you’ll receive the usual waiver about all the elements that may happen to you in the show, and also a very lengthy and detailed questionnaire where you can pick a pain / intensity level, elements you absolutely don’t want to happen (but only a few), etc.. 3AM will also contact you on WhatsApp for a few interactions on the run up to the show. The actual location of the show is quite a way from central Barcelona. 3AM Visitors offer an optional ‘taxi’ service from Sabadell and honestly it’s worth doing this as it just adds to the experience and from speaking to multiple participants we all got very different, but entertaining rides to the location.
Once at the location then the show begins in earnest, there are obviously a number of potentially uncomfortable and painful elements that you will experience, but I felt that this was at a level that should be perfectly manageable to first timers trying something more extreme. It’s certainly nowhere near as intense or painful that more traditional extreme immersive shows, but they did a great job of ramping up the anticipation beforehand, so until you get into the show proper you’re always expecting that it will be way worse than it actually is, and that’s about the biggest spoiler I’ll give in this review, but it was a nice subversion of expectations.
This coupled with the reasonably light hearted narrative with great and bizarre characters is what sets 3AM Visitors apart, and given the year round nature of the event is well worth checking out. For more seasoned extreme immersive horror show fans you might want to go for the max level of intensity. If I ever did it again, that’s what I’d happily pick. It’s a long experience as well, but doesn’t feel like it. From pick up to drop off it probably took us about 3.5 hours, but that includes the quite lengthy taxi service to and from the actual location. You could do it without this optional extra, but you’d need a car to get there.
Myself and my friend who did it as their first ever extreme show absolutely loved it and whilst we understood why there was the element of expectation subversion with the intensity level of the show, in hindsight we’d both have chosen the most intense version available. However it’s also great that they have the show at this level as it genuinely offers something a bit different that a wider section of the public would be fine with attending. But they might not ever realise that. An interesting conundrum.
The total cost for both of us and the ‘taxi’ service was 240 Euros and we felt it represented decent value for that length of show. Hats off to 3AM Visitors and we look forward to seeing whatever comes next for them in future chapters.
