You call the shots in Neil Patrick Harris’s haunted house on Facebook Live
This isn’t your average haunted house — and Neil Patrick Harris is making sure of that.
The actor-singer-author-magician is adding yet another hyphen to his list of titles, taking on the role of master of tricks at Reese’s interactive Halloween experience, It’s A LIVE. The haunted house will be broadcast on Facebook Live on October 24 at 9pm ET.
The first-of-its-kind trick or treat experience will allow viewers to choose guests’ paths through a haunted house. Throughout the month of October, fans have cast their votes on Neil Patrick Harris’s Facebook and Instagram handles to decide what tricks and treats will appear — but it is Harris himself who will be behind the scenes during the entire event, calling the shots.
“This partnership for me has been an exciting opportunity to see this beta test, just to be the first person, the first team to do something of this nature,” Harris explains to Yahoo Entertainment.
“I’ll be in an adjacent room asking viewers what should happen next and then cackling and laughing at the reactions.”
It’s no surprise that the actor would take on the role of Ringmaster for such a spooky scene. Harris and his husband of five years, David Burtka, have long delighted their social media followers with elaborate holiday-themed photo shoots. The couple’s two children, 9-year-old twins Gideon and Harper, always accompany their famous parents in acting out the various themes.
“Our kids really have no choice but to get in on the spirit,” Harris jokes. The actor explained that Halloween isn’t just a one-day celebration in the Burtka-Harris household, but usually spans the entire month.
The family’s epic list of past costumes includes circus freaks, old Hollywood icons, Star Wars characters and the Haunted Mansion ghosts. What can fans expect from this year’s Halloween shoot?
“I am starting to get a little stressed when it all becomes comparative,” admits Harris. Now that his children are older, he explains, they are more opinionated when it comes to the ideation process behind the family’s joint costumes. Third-graders Gideon and Harper are more interested in “reading and education and less into stabbing,” which explains why this year’s theme is going in an “artsy” direction.
It’s A LIVE isn’t all scary, however. The invited guests who successfully maneuver Harris’s tricks will be rewarded in the interactive’s “Treat Suite,” featuring Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. “We want to make sure it’s not just frightening, so it plays to more than one demographic,” Harris explains.
Viewers can watch and vote on what tricks and treats will befall the It’s A LIVE guests on October 24 at 9pm ET on Facebook Live.
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