Prism Haunt presents MiCRO Lab Madness: 2022 Review

Westminster Mall, Westminster, CA

Today's update is part of a doubleheader to highlight two separate Orange County haunts located in the same building, but operating as two separate but cooperating entities. The site is the Westminster Mall, which readers last year may remember was the headquarters for a longtime home haunt just turned pro, Hauntington Beach Manor. Well, HBM is back this year, and they've brought another home haunter friend with them, Prism Haunted House! Together, they occupy the first floor of the old Sears building of the mall, facing the I-405 freeway, with access from the parking outside and proximity to a Halloween carnival and pumpkin patch set up in said parking lot just a few dozen yards away.

This year, Prism takes guests on a mission to save the world from a super dangerous virus that has gone airborne. Don’t worry, this is not inspired by true events at all.

Part one of our coverage focuses on Prism Haunt. We've been frequenting this home haunt in Mission Viejo for the past three years, from their sophomore offering in 2019 to their pandemic-altered haunted show in 2020 to their walkthrough return that was unfortunately truncated due to complications with the city last year. That last experience was understandably frustrating for creator David Fefferman and his team, and at the end of the season, he was already looking into alternative platforms from which to really unleash his unencumbered vision, without hassle from pesky, Halloween-unfriendly neighbors.

It just so happens that David is good friends with Jay Horskey, the owner and creator of Hauntington Beach Manor. And when the two got to talking, and Jay suggested that Prism join HBM at the Westminster Mall, David jumped at the opportunity. The result: this year is Prism's biggest year yet! The fifth iteration of Prism Haunt, MiCRO Lab Madness, presents the grandest and most extravagant execution of the Prism story to date, and it's even better that it is part of an excellent one-two haunt combo that brings more welcome quality independent haunts to the OC scene!

Prism’s recognizable nuclear waste green lighting and theming elements can be found inside the MiCRO Lab.

Readers who have visited Prism Haunt in past years will find the story and setting of this year's haunt familiar. Dr. Sanguine has set up shop in a new laboratory, performing new experiments with chemical compounds that inevitably go wrong and start turning those exposed to the tests into horrid, mutated monsters. This time around, the contagion is threatening to leak out of the new professional facilities (I suppose when you're in an old mall...). It's up to guests to find the antigen to deactivate this dangerous compound and save the day for the unknowing residents of Westminster--and beyond!

There are unpretty horrid creatures lurking inside.

The mission-style nature of this year's Prism puts guests in the position of playing an active role in the storyline itself. This isn't Delusion, and it isn't Special Ops: Infected either, but it is a fun premise that immediately ups the stakes and has guests more engaged from the start.

That start begins with a nice photo op before guests properly engage their mission. Afterwards, they are sent to the armory for their briefing, where the aforementioned premise is explained to them. With wry humor, the supervising military officer impresses the rules of the haunt in stern character and makes sure to equip guests with something valuable to they aren't sent off to this potential suicide mission empty-handed. Is that a weapon or shield or suit of some sort?

No. It's a satchel.

What exactly have they been doing in this lab anyway??

Armed with the Handbag of Heroism, guests proceed into the MiCRO Lab facilities, where it seems the mutated creatures have already broken loose. Beautiful, glowing sets full of technology-laden details (and apparently multiple barrels of radioactive-looking chemicals) showcase an advanced lab that has gone haywire because of this contagion. Fortunately, the lab's artificial intelligence system is present and helps guests along the way toward their ultimate task of finding the antigen and neutralizing the threat.

The ensuing series of spaces will be recognizable to those who've gone through Prism's walkthrough mazes before, but they've been executed in a grander, more sprawling fashion, with larger set pieces, more rooms, and more detail. Monsters lurk in the shadows and behind the fog, grabbing at guests and trying to stop them from their mission, popping out of countless hidden crevices and corners. Lights blink and move and strobe. As the course moves from the storage spaces to the laboratory facilities to wrecked back access passages, the sense of urgency increases, with blaring sirens and blood-curdling screams seeming to grow more frequent and intense.

The finale of the maze brings the sequence of events to a head, as guests have the chance to use the acquired antidote to save the workers in the lab and the rest of humanity. But in Prism's typical, ironic fashion, an unforeseen twist ensures that this haunted house will not necessarily send guests off with a happy finale. In fact, they're lucky just to make it out at all!

Prism Haunt's professional debut is a stellar production, showcasing the range of David Fefferman's vision with photogenic visuals, sudden scares, sophisticated incorporation of theatrical lighting, sound, and effects, and good, campy sci-fi horror. The experience is a pretty lengthy one, lasting seven to eight minutes, with the maze portion itself rivaling the lengths of full haunts at Knott's Scary Farm or Halloween Horror Nights. The talent also demonstrates a healthy (or unhealthy, if you consider they're lab assistants who've been mutated by this horrible virus) amount of energy and keeps the suspense and anticipation up through the end. Prism's level of quality, which was always high for a home haunt to begin with, is right at home on a professional level as well.

The craziest thing about all of this is that MiCRO Lab Madness hasn't even reached David's actual full vision. Ever the creative haunter, David has future stories and more extravagant sets and expanses in mind. And partnered with such a high-caliber neighbor as Hauntingon Beach Manor (especially their offering this year), Prism can undoubtedly have many more successful productions in the future. Kudos to Prism for a terrific haunted house experience that mixes story, scenic, scares, and frightful fun, all in one. It's exactly the integration we love to see, and it's a creation that's definitely worth visiting this Halloween season!

And Dr. Sanguine keeps on pressing his experiments, even though they seem to inevitably always go wrong.

Prism Haunt is located at 2110 Westminster Mall, Westminster, CA 92683 and runs select evenings the rest of this month, through Halloween night. Guests should purchase tickets in advance online. Tickets for Prism range from $22 to $30 per person depending on the night, or combo tickets to both Prism and Hauntington Beach Manor run $40 to $56 per person depending on the night. Front of line Fastpass upgrades are also available for an extra $5 per attraction. Entrance to Prism is to the right of the entrance to Hauntington Beach Manor at the old Sears building.