Eighty-two years ago a peculiar and malicious magician performed at the Variety Arts Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, astonishing audiences with his dark arts. One evening, the owner’s wife, Sadie, asked to be the magician’s assistant; the magician agreed and lead her into his notorious vanishing box, from which she never returned.

This October the legend of the magician’s assistant—crafted by experts in terror—plays out again in downtown Los Angeles.

Jason Blum, producer of horror films Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister, rented out the decrepit theater and spun the magician’s tale to give rise to the Blumhouse of Horrors, a four-story, 40-minute haunted house tour complete with 50 cast members hidden throughout, trained to terrify and unhinge guests.

Blum’s production company Blumhouse Productions, decided to branch out from films with the live haunted house to grow their brand and reach new fans.

As visitors tiptoe through the labyrinth of dark, eerie passageways caked with bloodied threats, they see 1930’s telephones off the hook, cracked mirrors, ripped chiffon drapes and dusty framed ads for a sinister-looking magician. The theatre’s decor resembles an episode of TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive, except with vintage, busted relics from the 1930’s mixed in with faux blood and guts.

Ghostlike, hypnotic ushers shepherd small clusters of guests from one room to the next, where a different scene of the legend plays out in each. Hidden characters lunge at unsuspecting participants, coming within inches of their face and body.

Blum’s producer instincts are evident by the intermittent storytelling throughout the tour, bringing his legend to life.

Blumhouse of Horrors runs October 4th through November 3rd at the Variety Arts Theatre (940 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles). Tickets are $35 at the door.

Reach Staff Reporter Kat Ostrowski here.