Once inside our Vancouver escape room, you have 45 minutes to get out. You will need brains, guts, and nerves of steel to make it out - before it's too late.
There are few people out there who don’t know something about Alice in Wonderland. Even if you haven’t read the book or seen the classic 1951 Disney film or Tim Burton’s more recent live-action version, you at least know about Alice and her trip down the rabbit hole.
And what a strange trip it is. Though written as a children’s tale, there are some seriously sinister aspects to Lewis Carroll’s tale. Like Roald Dahl, with his great number of equally off-kilter children's stories, Carroll knew that kids don't want perfect shiny bubblegum stories.
This more realistic picture of childhood imagination is what gives Alice in Wonderland its staying power. In fact, the story has even reached beyond the realm of film and literature, into the real world.
First things first: that rabbit hole. Alice goes on and on about how her own ideal world would be a “wonderland.” It’s a nice thought, but then the next thing that happens is she stumbles into a rather terrifying free fall after innocently following a cute white rabbit.
It doesn’t take long for us to realize that Alice’s Wonderland isn’t going to be quite what we expected from its name.
Alice In Wonderland Syndrome
Next up, Alice has to go through an ordeal during which she’s required to drink unidentified potions and tonics that do strange things to her body: make her big, make her small, stretch her neck, and so on.
Turns out this sensation isn’t just confined to children’s novels. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a real neurological condition in which people feel like different parts of their body change size and shape. In fact, Lewis Carroll is said to have suffered from this condition himself.
Mad Hatter Disease
Another part of Alice in Wonderland that reaches into real life is the character of the Mad Hatter. Most likely based on an eccentric furniture dealer Carroll knew, the Hatter also displays symptoms of erethism, otherwise known as mercury poisoning or "mad hatter disease."
In the 19th century—when Alice was written—hat makers used mercury to help shape the chapeaus they made, leading, unfortunately, to hallucinations, excessive excitability, muscle spasms, and suicidal tendencies.
The Cheshire Cat
Equally parts frightening and friendly, one of the most memorable parts of Alice in Wonderland is the Cheshire Cat. Ostensibly her friend, the Cheshire Cat is still a bit too creepy to trust fully (what with that disappearing grin trick). The mixed feelings we all have about the Cheshire Cat offer an excellent lesson to children while offering up a few thrills.
Here at Krakit Escape Room, one of our favourite things in films and in our escape games is the jump scare. Why? Because it’s the best part of being a horror fan—it’s what we’re all waiting for and simultaneously what we’re all dreading.
The music starts to get all intense and screechy or, alternatively, everything drops dead silent. And then—WHAM. It’s got you. Because there are two essential parts to any good jump scare: the build up and the actual scare. One just can’t exist without the other.
Below we list our top five perfectly built up and perfectly executed jump scares. (Spoilers ahead!)
5. Alien (1979)—Dallas’s death in the air vents
In Alien, it’s the ping, ping, pinging of the motion tracker that builds much of the suspense the franchise is known for. And this scene is no exception. Nostromo captain Dallas crawls into the pitch-black vents in an attempt to force the xenomorph into the airlock, and then out into outer space. We watch, breathlessly, as the pings of his tracker getting ever more frequent.
Unfortunately, the alien has the upper hand in the dark, cramped space of the air vents, popping up out of the blackness to end it all for Dallas, in one of cinema’s classics jump scares.
4. It Follows (2014)—The bedroom scene
A primary reason It Follows has been named one of the best horror films in recent years is it’s perfect use of music to build up tension. It uses a classic screeching horror score in combination with dead silence to pull off some masterful scare jumps. This scene, where a tall man suddenly enters Jay’s bedroom, is one of the film’s best.
3. Mulholland Drive (2001)—Diner dream scene
Though more of a thriller than a horror, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive has one of the most perfectly controlled jump scares out there. The very simple yet incredibly eerie build up—during which a man tells another man of a strange dream he had about the very diner they’re sitting in—is what makes this one of the best.
The slow switch from reality to dream and the two men’s incredibly tense walk from the diner to the alleyway behind it—to see if the dream holds true—means that absolutely anything that awaited them at the end of that walk would have the audience jumping from their seats.
2. The Descent (2005)—The night vision scene
The Descent doesn’t just have a few choice jump scares, but actually employs the jump scare formula throughout the entire film. The “atmosphere” comes courtesy of the labyrinthine and claustrophobic cave chain the protagonists are stuck in, and the “scare” comes courtesy of the creatures that are down there with them, just waiting to pop out.
The creatures’ first appearance, in the night vision scene, is just the cherry on top of a perfectly nerve-wracking film with several acutely scary moments.
1. The Shining (1980)—Danny’s tricycle ride
This granddaddy of all jump scares has an incredibly long build up and a flawless payoff.
We watch little Danny Torrance take the most terrifying bicycle ride in history, with every corner he turns becoming more and more stressful. With one major false start at the middle that makes the audience drop its guard too early, the scene’s grand finale—the sudden appearance of the Grady twins—is almost more than a viewer can take.
At Krakit, we employ live actors to spice up our eerie atmospheres with a right good scare. But remember, the jumps you get at Krakit Vancouver Escape Room are all in good fun! There’s never any real danger.
The path to cracking an escape room is to use your wits, employing logic to figure out passwords and codes and locks. This is what will take you down the breadcrumb trail to escape game success. But out in the real world, sometimes beating a series of locks needs a much more physical approach. That’s where safecrackers come in.
Though a staple character in heist movies, safecrackers aren’t always necessarily bad guys. Sometimes people just forget the combinations to their super high-security safes—and someone needs to rescue those precious jewels from an eternity spent in a little metal box. But, it’s true: a safecracker, otherwise known as a peterman, is often up to no good.
Then there’s the peculiar case of Johnny Ramensky, perhaps the most famous safecracker that's ever lived. He even has his own folk song:
Ramensky was a Scottish safecracker who used his skills for both good and not-so-good. Born in 1905 and raised in a rough area of Glasgow, Scotland, the young Ramensky’s first work experience came as a coal miner—which is when he first came into contact with dynamite.
Explosives would be a key component to Ramensky’s future career: cat burglar. Using his knowledge of dynamite in combination with some serious ninja-like dexterity, Ramensky quickly became known as an expert safecracker. He also became known as a non-violent gentleman thief, who also never robbed individuals but only businesses, earning him the nickname “Gentle Johnny.”
His life of crime led to many years spent in prison—which he broke out of no less than five times, thanks to his skill at lock picking
However, when World War II arose, the use of Ramensky’s particular set of skills changed.
In 1943, after being released from prison, he joined the army, where he turned his abilities into an asset for the Allies. Over the remaining years of the war, Ramensky acted as a safecracking commando, who would often parachute behind enemy lines to retrieve vital documents. Now, in addition to being known as one of the best safecrackers in history, Ramensky is also a legendary Scottish war hero.
Not bad for one lifetime.
Following the end of the war, Ramensky returned to his life of crime, leading to a total of 45 years spent behind bars. He died in Perth Prison in 1972.
Though we don’t have any explosives or stethoscopes for you to use, you can get a taste of the safecracker life by taking on the challenge of one of Krait’s four Vancouver escape rooms. Book here.
It’s a riddle kids will almost always get correct and many adults will struggle over. Why? Simply because adult and kid brains function differently. Children don’t have as many years of experience to guide their judgment—and it also isn’t clouded by experience, which can lead adults off on completely misguided tangents.
That’s why playing an escape game with a kid can be full of surprises. The adults on the team may get seriously stuck on a clue, while the youngest of the group solves it in no time flat. Sometimes it just takes a different point of view to see the answer clearly.
Below, we pay tribute to some of the cleverest kid detectives on the block. They’d definitely have our escape rooms cracked.
10. The Bobbsey Twins
They may be a pair of mostly boring goody-two-shoes, but they can’t be left off the list. With their first mystery adventure published in 1913, the Bobbseys are the godfathers of kid detectives.
9. The Ghostwriter Crew
The adolescent gang from this 1990s TV series never failed to impress (and seemed so hip!). However, their mystery solving abilities were greatly aided by a ghost who pointed them in the right direction... So they definitely don’t deserve to top the list.
8. Hardy Boys
Though they’re the straight-laced, muscle-bound counterpart to Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys haven’t had as much cultural staying power. However, they’re also part of the original gang of kid detectives—with their first mystery published in 1927—so there’s no forgetting them either.
7. Nancy Drew
She has a name as synonymous with mystery as Sherlock. However, despite spending her spare time doing something super cool—solving crimes—she just seems so boring. (Although, being born in 1930, we have to forgive her propriety.)
6. Shirley Holmes
She’s the great-grandniece of Sherlock Holmes and her series The Adventures of Shirley Holmes was pure CanCon gold—and even had a few Ryan Gosling cameos. What else is there to say?
5. The Goonies
The Goonies never meant to be sleuths—it was a role thrust upon them. But they nevertheless solve the mystery of One-Eyed Willy’s hidden treasure with aplomb and save the day through teamwork. Well done, lads!
4. Veronica Mars
To be a truly great private investigator, you need a great deal of sass. Veronica Mars, though still a teenager, has a great deal of sass. And determination, and stealth, and wit. A model all kid detectives should aspire to.
3. Harriet “the Spy” Welsch
Harriet the Spy: the archetypal weirdo outsider who just wants to see the world for what it really is—and maybe collect some much needed intelligence along the way. She just records it like she see it, folks. She’s definitely now working for the CIA.
2. Encyclopedia Brown
Detail-oriented and methodical Encyclopedia has solved literally dozens of crimes and hasn’t aged a day past ten. Plus he gives a chance for his readers to figure out the solutions themselves. What a guy!
1. Penny from Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget’s pigtailed niece is an incredibly overlooked kid detective. The classic '80s cartoon was probably such a hit among kids because it was always Penny and her dog Brain—not her uncle—who solved each episode’s mystery.
