Darkfield

If you’ve wandered through Chinatown recently and stumbled across a conspicuous block of land with four 40ft shipping containers in it – you’d be right in wondering what the heck was going on. Each crate for Darkfield is marked with a simple title – FLIGHT, EULOGY, SÉANCE and COMA – and takes its risk takers through an immersive audio experience in complete darkness. Each one comes with the stark warning prior to entry – you can’t leave and anyone with underlying health conditions should just walk away now and go and have some wholesome dumplings.

We were lucky enough to nab a seat in EULOGY, a 30 minute immersive experience that keeps you in a prison-like cage with a headset and microphone. Unlike the others, EULOGY is interactive and the nature of your experience depends on the answers you give to certain questions from your headset. Plunged into total darkness, you are guided through a multi-layered hotel that grows stranger and stranger as you descend via an ominous elevator. While the plot is mysteriously vague until the end, EULOGY is a multi-sensory experience that thrives off your dread as it starts to feel more and more like a nightmare. The further the elevator goes, the harder it is to breathe. And by the end, that jolt to your system that feels like falling while you’re asleep drags on for eternity and you feel like you’ll never wake.

Darkfield originally launched as an app in 2020 – titled Darkfield Radio – and provided immersive audio experiences via your mobile phone. It might not have been the most relaxing way to spend the early days of the pandemic but to horror fanatics like myself, it was right up my pitch black alley. Two years later, it has grown into a nightmarish 360 degree surround sound experience that tickles your anxieties and leaves you curious, if not terrified, of what might come after this life.

If a rickety haunted hotel isn’t of interest, Darkfield offers some other spine-tingling options. What sounds like the most realistic of the four, FLIGHT simulates a plane crash and jolts passengers through two worlds – probably not advised if you’re about to embark on a Christmas holiday. SÉANCE asks audiences to put their trust in the hands of a medium and contact the spirit world. And COMA has you lie in a bed and slip into a collective dream state to explore the dark recesses of your mind.

Absolutely not for the faint of heart, Darkfield is a terrifyingly fun experience if you’re game enough. For the thick skin horror fans, it’s a new and creative way to get under your skin and it cannot be recommended enough. Maybe line up some drinks in Chinatown afterwards to un-tingle those spines though.

Darkfield
Chinatown – 138 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
Runs until February 5, 2023