DETROIT (AP) - An interactive theater show offered in more than a dozen cities across the U.S. encourages participants to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes in an end-of-the-world team game-building exercise.
It wouldn't hurt if they had a little Rick Grimes from "The Walking Dead" in them, either.
"Trapped in a Room With a Zombie" is a "room-escape" experience, versions of which are offered in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and other cities.
A version that recently opened in Detroit works like this: Up to a dozen people are ushered into a room at a downtown high-rise and locked inside for an hour alongside a bloodthirsty zombie (or at least an actor portraying one) who is chained to a wall. Every five minutes, a buzzer sounds, and the zombie is given another foot of chain, allowing the undead creature to scamper closer to its next meal.
If participants don't solve a series of puzzles and riddles, the zombie "eats" everyone.
Rick Broida, the Detroit show's executive producer, said it's "more "fun scary,' than "scary fun.'"
"The zombie is there to add an adrenaline rush. Cannibalism has been outlawed in this country for a little while, so legally speaking, the zombie's not allowed to eat you or consume any portion of you," Broida said just before Audrey Poe and seven pals enter the room and do their best to avoid becoming zombie fodder.