Halloween is the best time of the year for ravers. We get to go all out on our outfits (not that we don’t already do that for other raves and festivals the rest of the year) and dance all night! This year, my friends and I decided to venture down from Washington and try out Escape: Psycho Circus for the first time. This was my first Insomniac Events massive in SoCal, so it was a lot of fun being able to try a new massive for Halloween. I have been to other Halloween massives and shows but I definitely feel like Escape blew those out of the water, especially since this was the largest Halloween massive I have been to. Here are five things that made Escape an amazing experience this year.

The Grimm
The production of the festival, especially the stages was something that really stuck out this year. Insomniac added a few new features to Escape, and one of them was a new megastructure in The Grimm, which was one of the mainstages. This megastructure was a large grim reaper looking over the mainstage, and I wad lucky enough to see several artists such as Said the Sky, Don Diablo, RL Grime, Timmy Trumpet,  and a few other producers. The Grimm also occasionally moved, which made it even more spooky and amazing.

 

Photo Credit: Escape/Insomniac Events

Crazy Town
Although many people were sad to hear that the famous haunted house was closing its doors this year, Crazy Town was an amazing new feature that Insomniac added to Escape, and it was a huge hit. For those of you that went to EDC Las Vegas, Crazy Town was very similar to Downtown EDC except with scarier places to visit. There was a silent disco at the Dance Macabre where you can dance in a graveyard, the Poison Ivy where you could purchase mysterious drinks, a fire breathing Organ that played haunting tunes,  and the Butcher Shop where you could visit the butcher. It was a fun place to explore if you needed a break from the music, but you definitely had to go at your own risk of being terrified!

 Photo Credit: Escape/Insomniac Events

Circus
Since the theme of Escape is, "psycho circus", it’s no surprise that a lot of amazing work was put into the circus area. This was a magical place to explore. There were tents with fortune-tellers and tarot card readers, spooky clowns and entertainers walking around and scaring people, and a circus show where burlesque dancers, contortionists, and dancers put on an amazing performance. I ended up spending a lot of time watching the circus shows, since it was a nice place to sit and relax whenever I needed a break.

  Photo Credit: Escape/Insomniac Events

The Lineup
There was a good mix of different genres on the lineup, which was something I really enjoyed. For those that like dubstep or hardstyle, Bassrush and Basscon were doing a takeover on the first day, so the Sanitarium and Psycho Circus stages were the places to be if you liked either of those genres. For the techno lovers, The Sewer District stage had beats to keep you dancing all night long, and there was some amazing house music on both days. Some of my favorite sets were Don Diablo, Said the Sky, Coone, and Gorgon City b2b Nora En Pure.

The Costumes
Everyone went all out with their costumes at Escape, it was fun to see what they came up with! From Disney group outfits to gory clown outfits, it was very obvious that people that dressed up in costumes for Escape really put a lot of thought and effort into it. I loved seeing some really creative outfits, and there were a lot of people who incorporated iHeartRaves into their outfits as well! I loved how people’s costumes were great conversation starters, it made the experience so much better!