Fun introduction to the world of the Order of Bileth.
Experienced: July 30, 2017
Location: Midsummer Scream 2017
Address: Long Beach Convention Center
Price: Free (with Midsummer Scream 2017 admission)
Audience Size: 1-4
Runtime: 15-20 minutes
More Information: Order of Bileth Site, Instagram, Twitter
Up until this point I hadn’t experienced any Bileth related events. I had heard about their ongoing ARG and I also knew it was related to the serialized audio drama podcast Return Home.
Their experience at Midsummer Scream played out like a scavenger hunt across the showroom floor and nearby areas interspersed with character interactions.
It started with checking in at their booth to be taken behind a curtained off area behind their booth. I was told about Bileth, paint was drawn on my forehead, and I was given a task to find a woman with a red umbrella. I walked around the showroom floor and beyond looking for the woman with the umbrella.
Eventually I found the woman with the umbrella she was in an inconspicuous spot almost hidden beside a staircase. I let her know I was told to find her and she gave more information with a story complete with us closing our eyes, walking around us, lightly touching us on the back, and at one point hugging me all in sync with her monologue. She mentioned in vague terms what the next steps were. I couldn’t tell if I was supposed to find a room and step into it, outside it, face it, or what. My hunch was to step outside it and sure enough when I did I saw a short message and a phone number written in yellow chalk.
After calling the phone number I was instructed to find a booth, step up to the podium, and ask to receive Bileth’s blessing. The booth was not the same as the original booth I started in so I was very curious where I was being led to. Did the Order of Bileth have two booths at Midsummer Scream? Why would there be a podium at a booth?
It led to the HorrorBuzz booth and sure enough there was a podium there. I was given a parchment with unintelligible writing in another language. I’m not sure what the font was but I was told to hand it to someone at or near the Screaming Room (a HorrorBuzz sponsored screening room of spooky movies).
I handed the parchment to the person waiting at the door of the Screaming Room. He looked long and hard at both sides of my paper and I was sure he was part of the experience. He then went to ask someone else and told me who he thought I should talk to about it. I’m pretty sure he didn’t know what I was talking about at all. This was the only snag as there appeared to be a backup of people waiting but what followed was a pretty lengthy and satisfying finale to the experience.
There was a group of 4 of us waiting and a gentleman took the parchment and appeared to be very pleased. He said that this was an incantation that would help them capture a creature and asked if we would help him perform this ritual. Of course we obliged. He thanked us profusely and walked with us to a hallway in a relatively quiet area of the convention.
He walked us behind a curtain and there was a circle on the ground drawn with salt as well as some candles. He asked one of us to volunteer to be bait for this creature. The rules of what were to happen were strange and exciting. Our volunteer would have blood drawn on her head as she would be led out to lure the creature to the spot we were in. She was to run through the salted circle and the creature, following, would get stuck inside the circle. The incantation would be spoken and we would have helped the Order out.
As our volunteer left we waited for a bit. The wait was longer than I expected and then seemingly out of nowhere our bait came running at full speed like a bat out of hell with a demon-like creature right behind. It was exhilarating as we all held hands around the circle as this creature kept trying to break through it. The acting of this creature was phenomenal our group was completely immersed in this tense moment. The incantation was spoken and the struggle subsided. It seemed to have worked.
I can tell a lot of thought was put into this experience and while it did borrow a couple of elements from Alone Experience’s past con showings (paint on the forehead and a woman with an umbrella) this experience was totally different as it was very story and script driven.
I had a great time going through this experience. At one point in the finale a random con participant peeked behind the curtain and the actor played it off like a champ telling him casually that we were performing a ritual. The guy just said “oh OK sorry” as if it was a normal thing to accidentally stumble into. Only at Midsummer Scream.
I look forward to joining the Remembrance Day event to partake in “Casual Cocktail Hour, Rituals, Ceremony, & More”.