EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods

Feel free to share any interactions here (unless told otherwise!)

Okay yall, here’s what has happened to me so far.

I commented under the Exiled instagram post with the ending “if you want our attention, comment below.”

They reached out and asked me a few questions: one being, “what was the worst thing you have done to someone you cared about?”

I said lying and stealing.

They asked me if I was sure, and then I said yes.

They asked for my email and phone, so I gave it to them.

I then got a phone call and email from “Mr. Nobody”.

The phone call said (although I don’t remember specifics) something along the lines of:

Mr. Nobody: are you Cammie?

Me: this is she

Mr. N: meet at shawnee at 7:30

Me: okay

Mr. N: I will send an email with a waiver. You must sign and accept it within an hour.

Me: okay

Mr. N: do you understand?

Me: yes

- end communication -

I then got a waiver that I signed and returned. I asked about the safe word and they gave me that as well.

VERY EXCITED. Will write a follow up post when I get back from tonight’s events

can’t waaaaait to hear (or see) what happens tonight!!! good luck, friend!

You are appreciated, Blondie. Thank you for herding chickens.

Once activity is scorching, this thread and others like it will prove invaluable to those without a map. Do let people get a little lost though, we all find ourselves when we must also find our way.

Sometimes, it is only then that one truly looks up.

Blessings.

opulens wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 3:32 pm You are appreciated, Blondie. Thank you for herding chickens.

Once activity is scorching, this thread and others like it will prove invaluable to those without a map. Do let people get a little lost though, we all find ourselves when we must also find our way.

Sometimes, it is only then that one truly looks up.

Blessings.

Noted. Thank you for understanding and for guiding me so kindly

Someone named Dan has reached out to contact me on Instagram, after I “won” a contest from a now deleted post, but I have yet to hear from him after providing my phone number. I will update here as soon as I hear back! I wonder if the other winners have been contacted as well?

Cannot wait to hear what happens! Break all the legs in anything you do but, you know, don't...ACTUALLY break a leg. :)

I’ll be meeting Mr. Nobody tonight at 9. Stay tuned.

kassidy.exe wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 3:41 pm Someone named Dan has reached out to contact me on Instagram, after I “won” a contest from a now deleted post, but I have yet to hear from him after providing my phone number. I will update here as soon as I hear back! I wonder if the other winners have been contacted as well?

UPDATE: should’ve kept my mouth shut because I was contacted, on a day I could not make it out.
Of course, my conversation was cut short when I replied “No” to if I could come tonight. Besides my karaoke contest (which I have been called out on) I wouldn’t have even made it in time as I live nearly 3 hours out. But I will be sure to keep my nights clear moving forward.

someguyinKC wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 5:02 pm I’ll be meeting Mr. Nobody tonight at 9. Stay tuned.

So excited for you! We would be so happy if you recorded your interaction or posted about it here so we can participate vicariously through you!

CAMPBELL'S FIRST INTERACTION

Okay y'all. To preface, anything I'm not sure about will be posted with a (?) in advance. This basically means that the statement after the (?) includes details that were blurry, something I forgot, something I'm not sure about, etc. Anything that comes after the (?) means It might not be true, could be something my brain added afterward.

Let's begin.

So I arrive at the location. It wasn't pinpointed to a specific building, so I kinda just showed up in the general area and parked where I thought they would be able to see me best. I messaged the account where I was. They said they would meet me at the area.

So I wait, and a black (?) Mercedes pulls up. This is when it all started getting real for me.

The driver parks and gets out. He's dressed in a white long sleeved dress shirt, and a (?) black tie. I was recording on instagram live at this moment, but he asked for my phone and turned it off and said he would hold onto it. Okay, I'm cool with that. ALSO, HE HAD NO SHOES ON. He leads me to the back of the car, opens the door and I get in. There is a guy sitting there in a black suit, white dress shirt, and a (?) black tie. He's holding a video camera (not a phone. an actual camera.) with the flash on and pointing it at me. He's smiling and chewing gum.

I get into the car and the driver shuts the door. (Keep in mind up to this point, both of the characters have a slight hint of white face paint on their face.) For reference, I will call the driver Actor 1 and the man talking to me Actor 2 just to keep things easy.

Actor 2 is just smiling at me not blinking. He does this for a while. I try to talk to him but he doesn't respond. I say something awkward like "I'm guessing seatbelts on?" and put my seatbelt on. He asks me my name, and I tell him. I ask him his name and he shakes his head. He asks me my age. I tell him 20. He sighs for a moment, and tells the driver "We can go."

This whole time we are driving, Actor 1/The driver does not speak. At all. I don't think he said a single word until the very end. But we start driving. I don't say anything because I'm awkward lol.

After we get to driving for a few minutes, Actor 2 asks me a question; "When you go to the store, do you buy name brand or store brand?" I tell him I buy whatever is convenient. If I have money for name brand, I'll do that. If not, then store brand it is. He says "Thank you Campbell.", and that is the end of that interaction.

A few minutes go by and Actor 2 says another question, "Would you rather give gifts or receive them?" I told him I would rather give them because I like seeing the emotions and the look on people's faces. I can't remember if he nods or says thank you, but then he reaches down and hands me a black box a little smaller than a shoebox. I ask him if I can open it and take the items out. He nods.

I open it. On top is a black cloth, which he takes from my hands. In the box are headphones and a tape recorder. I ask him if I am supposed to put them on and he nods. So I put them on. I ask if he wants me to press play. He shakes his head no.

After I get everything on, he hands me the black cloth, which I find out is a hood. He gestures/tells me to put the hood on, and I do. We keep driving.

At this point, he plays the tape recorder. To summarize this whole spiel and prevent me from adding unnecessary text, the only thing playing in these headphones were bible stories and songs. Sounded like it was from a children's show. Told the story of Daniel and the Lions den, Samson, Shadrach, Mescach and Abednego, David and Goliath. Those were all the stories that I got through, I might have missed something. Imagine veggietales but not veggietales. Every time he asked me a question he would pause the music, then play it when I was done.

After driving for another few minutes, another question: "Do you think trauma can be inherited?" I said yes, because people inherit trauma from their parents all the time. He then asks (?) "Do you think trauma can be inherited further?" I ask him to clarify. He says, "Just further". I respond, "yeah, probably". I'm not sure if he meant by location, or down the generational line, or some other option. But I just went with what I assumed was a good answer.

We keep driving. After another few minutes, he asks; "What was something you bought that you thought would make you happy but it didn't?" I responded makeup. He asked why, so I said because I thought it would cover up my blemishes and it didn't. He goes, "blemishes?" with a confused tone in his voice. So I clarified and said "like redness." He said thank you and then we kept driving.

Another question: (?) "Did your parents teach you to be good with money?" I told him yes, my dad did. He says, "Your mom didn't?" I just responded that my dad has had more conversations with me about money than my mom. He asks: "Is your mom good with money?" I told him that yes, my parents were very well established. He said thank you and we keep driving.

At this point, he pauses the music and turns to me. Keep in mind, because I couldn't look at my watch and had no clue where we were going and I couldn't see the road very well, we could have been driving anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Maybe even longer. But he turns to me and gives me a set of instructions:

(?) "When the car stops, do not move or make a sound. When I get out and come to you, you will take off the hood, the headphones, and put everything in the box." (I put the (?) because I'm not sure exactly how he worded it.)

He asked me to repeat this set of instructions to him later, just to make sure I understood.

Somewhere between that set of instructions and the arrival to the destination, the music stopped. I didn't speak to either Actors 1 or 2 because I didn't wanna say anything stupid and I was kinda just enjoying the creep.

So we get to the destination. I can kinda see a yellow bus through the hood. The area is surrounded by tall trees and there is NOBODY around except for us. There's a big bright light in front of the car about 30 feet away. The car stops, and I freeze. I listen as Actor 2 steps out and opens my door. I take everything off and hurriedly shove it in the box and hand it to him. He tells me to get out.

This part is kinda funny, I turn to him and he has his camera out. He tells me to walk towards the light, so I walk towards his camera flash (lol.). He corrects me and tells me to walk to the lights behind me. I turn around embarrassed, and start walking towards the lights. These are REALLY bright stage lights. I didn't see what I was walking towards until I got close enough.

In front of me was a man holding a polaroid camera. To my left and right are people holding cameras/lights, and to my immediate left are what I think to be staff. IDK. Behind me is Actor 2, still holding his camera.

The man with the polaroid camera says nothing and takes my picture with flash. I take this time while nobody is speaking to kinda look around at everything. He waves the camera for a moment and steps back. (Keep in mind, everyone besides the staff were wearing some form of a suit/cocktail dress. Very fancy but still able to move.)

A woman walks out from behind the lights and to the front of me. She asks me a question, the same one I used to get admittance to this event; "What is the worst thing you have done to someone you consider a friend?" I used my same answer, stolen and lied to them. She walks around me and sniffs my hair. Next question: "What is one thing you believe you can control in your life?" I said my decisions. (I wasn't answering this way to play smart or because I was shy, these were my genuine answers lol. Honest to God.) After that, she steps back in front of me.

"Show them what they've earned." she says to me. I look at her confused. Me, show them? I had nothing with me except for my keys and wallet. So I asked her, "show them what THEY'VE earned?" She repeats herself.

At this point I'm super confused until she yells "DAN!" (yes, THE Dan. At least I hope so.) Some guy in very much NOT a suit walks up and (?) throws a bubble wrapped back on the ground and kicks it to me. I put the (?) cause I wasn't sure if it was Dan or the lady that did it. Anyway, I ask her if I can pick it up and she says to pick it up. I open it and inside are two T-shirts, three stickers, and what I think might be a tube top....? IDK looks like a gaiter but I have no clue so I'll take it. Dan walks to my left and leans against a tree, looking very embarrassed.

Lady tells me that the shirts are supposed to be very high quality, which I'm sure was sarcasm because to her, Dan's gift sucks. She then looks at me and opens her purse that he had been carrying (the photo of me went into this purse too). She pulls out a roll of money, like dollar bills and all that. In my head I'm like, "holy cow is she giving me this entire roll???". Unfortunately no, but she did hand Dan, who crumpled it up and threw it on the ground for me to pick up, what I counted to be $250. She tells me I can either buy a burger or maybe tickets when they go on sale. I'm trying really hard to not smile like an idiot at that moment.

I can't remember anything else they said to me after that until Actor 2 tells me to walk back towards the car and get in. I grab all my stuff like a clumsy idiot trying not to drop things and get in. The entire ride back is silent. No bag over my head, no tape with me listening to bible stories.

10-30 minute drive in silence.

We get back and park across the street where my car is. Actor 1 gets out. I get out, trying not to drop my stuff.

He hands me my phone, gets back in the car, and that is it. I am standing next to this black mercedes holding my stuff trying not to lose it in the wind. I make the awkward walk back to my car as I try not to drop anything, continuously looking over my shoulder. They are still parked in the parking lot.

I finally cross the street and get into my car trying to process what just happened. They do not drive away, even as I drive away.

And that is the end.

NOTES:

I wanna first say that the dread and anxiety I felt going into this was RIDICULOUS. But it seriously made the experience ten times better. Secondly, the interactivity and level at which I felt connected with the story and what was happening was AMAZING. I felt scared and creeped out the entire time, and that's what made it stand out. I was legitimately getting kidnapped. Third, I'm trying to process all the bits of the story here, namely:

- Why the Bible stories? Why KIDS bible stories?
- Why the suits and dresses?
- Why the specific questions?
- WHY WAS THE DRIVER BAREFOOT?

Even if this has no relevance to the official story, you can bet I'm still gonna be thinking about it. I cannot wait for the next event. I am ready.
THIS WAS AMAZING AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT!!!

For something that had you that tense, you did a great job telling the story!

that’s so sick!! I’m souped

So interesting themes going on here, we have what seems to be questions related to Trauma/ Family Trauma, Money/Money Problems and Religion. I wonder how that’s going to factor in how the participants are interacted with and how it will impact the story. These really hit home for me to be honest so it’s gonna be interesting to see how these develop later on possibly for Cammie and others.

There’s also an interesting dynamic between the actors too especially with the last lady and Dan.

Yeah, Dan seems to be anything BUT in charge, which is interesting given how much the promotions before made it sound like this was a joint venture between multiple groups.

Instead, we have some woman talking smack directly in front of him, Dan seeming cowed in some way and a bunch of people dressed unusually (both in clothing and in LACK of clothing like shoes.)

Although the lack of shoes could connect to the religious themes. It is a long held trope of those who take their religion seriously to be without shoes in order to be humble. There is literally the first 21st century saint who is about to be confirmed by the Catholic Church who was known to only ever have one pair of shoes at a time in order to spend as much money as possible on those in need.

And yet the bankroll weirdly conflicts with that idea.

Initial spitballing - biblical stories, sins of the father/inherited trauma. Mr. Nobody (from initial contact) reminds me of the film by that name, about the universe resetting eventually, and humans evolving beyond death.
Sensing an overall theme but it’s still being written, to be drawn together as we move on.

Candleking wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 11:11 pm So interesting themes going on here, we have what seems to be questions related to Trauma/ Family Trauma, Money/Money Problems and Religion. I wonder how that’s going to factor in how the participants are interacted with and how it will impact the story. These really hit home for me to be honest so it’s gonna be interesting to see how these develop later on possibly for Cammie and others.

Agreed!!! Family trauma is (unfortunately) one of my specialties, so I’m incredibly intrigued.

Beautifully written. Absolute masterpiece of a story. I cannot wait to see where this takes you.

So in the original advertisement you hear a story: "There once was a family who lived in the woods, plotting and scheming and up to no good...". Families don't, necessarily, have to be blood related. A cult could be a family.

If you're superstitious... there may be significance in everything.
edit: like the number 250, or the fancy dresses, or the cameras, or the questions, et cetera

Why would Dan be so upset? I think it's worth thinking about this for the next few days. Hopefully someone might actually even get to talk to Dan and ask him.

Like, is he mad because he's being forced to do things with his haunt he didn't want to because of the joint venture?

Is he just having growth issues with sharing creative control? I know for a fact THAT happens.

He seemed, according to Campbell, to be irritated. So he probably isn't AFRAID of these new creative influences. So it seems most likely to be some sort of creative issue or some sort of power dynamic that is rubbing him wrong.

If anyone has a chance to speak to Dan, might be worth trying to get an answer from him. Could tell us a lot about why things went the way they did.

I'm glad you appreciated Dan's gifts, campbellstruts. His t-shirts and Cracker Barrel gift cards maybe aren't as fancy as $250 cash, but he tried to make people happy. This woman threw money at you and didn't care what you did with it, she didn't want your happiness, she just wanted your attention.