Saskatchewan

New haunted escape rooms test logic and courage

Escape rooms have become a popular pastime in Regina, but a new business has put a unique spin on the traditional escape room set up. The horror themed rooms follow a single storyline to solve the house's mystery.

New Regina business opens with horror-themed rooms to solve a haunted house's mystery

The set of escape rooms at Mystery Mansion Regina work together to solve the Cathien family mystery. (CBC)

Escape rooms have become a popular pastime in Regina, but a new business has put a unique spin on the traditional escape room set up.

Mystery Mansion Regina is a set of escape rooms in an old and eerie house next door to Speers Funeral Home. The rooms not only tests your puzzle solving skills, but also your nerve. 

Mystery Mansion Regina has guests escape rooms and solve a mystery. (CBC)

Mitch Bresciani and his family, along with Dale D'Silva, owner of Escape Club Regina, were the master minds of the horror-themed escape rooms. 

"We wanted to try something a little bit different," said Jamie Bresciani, Mitch's father. "What we decided to do was to take a house and build a story that encompasses the whole house."

All rooms follow single storyline

The rooms are all connected to the story of the Carthien family, who found misfortune in the house. The goal of each room is not only to escape, but to solve a piece of the mystery to eventually find out what happened to that family.

One room is open now with plans of eventually having four rooms, which will solve the Carthien family mystery. There are plans for a fifth room which will allow guests to remedy the haunting of the house. 

Mitch Bresciani and his family built the Carthien Family story to encompass the entire house. (CBC)

"We're trying to build up the suspense and build up the tension and ratchet up the fear factor a little bit as we go along," said Bresciani.

'Haunted Hunt' for Halloween

The Halloween season will be a big one for the Mystery Mansion.

Mitch Bresciani has run The Dead Zone, a haunted maze in Regina for the past two years. This year the maze will not open but the Mystery Mansion will take its place, becoming home to a "Haunted Hunt" which will have guests searching for clues to escape the haunted house.

"It will be a scavenger hunt where we will open up most of the house and have people going through with flashlights and having to solve and find things going through the house," said Bresciani.

Mystery Mansion has one escape room open to the public. The cost of the experience is $25 per person.

One room is open to the public to solve the death and disappearance of Joseph Carson. (CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christy Climenhaga

Former CBC Meteorologist

Christy Climenhaga is a meteorologist and was CBC Edmonton's climate reporter, covering the impacts of climate change for the Prairies. She worked as a CBC on-air meteorologist for more than 10 years, in the North and Saskatchewan.