MIT Students Host Annual Haunted Escape Room

The Next Haunt event returns to the basement of Next House with a challenging new puzzle-based theme.

Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in College Life

Screen-print poster illustration of an antique key and geometric puzzle cube, evoking a mysterious academic escape room challenge. — MIT students are hosting their annual 'Next Haunt' event in the basement of the Next House dormitory, featuring an immersive escape room challenge. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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MIT students are hosting their annual haunted escape room experience, known as Next Haunt, in the basement of the Next House dormitory. This year, participants navigate the theme Where the Light Ends in teams of four to six while encountering student actors portraying zombies.

Why it matters

The event provides students with a vital break from academic pressure while fostering community and developing leadership skills in complex project management. Participants gain experience in time management and task delegation through the immersive collaborative challenge.

Last year, the event hosted 73 teams, with the fastest group solving the challenges in under 15 minutes. The current iteration features an executive team of 18 members who manage six-and-a-half hours of nightly operations over two weekends.

The players

MIT Campus Construction

This department oversees campus development and ensures that student-led installations meet university safety standards.

Next House

Next House is a residence hall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that serves as the host site for the annual haunted event.

The details

To successfully navigate the rooms, participants must solve puzzles and word challenges to obtain codes while avoiding zombies who can paralyze them upon contact. The entire construction process requires students to complete formal tool training and undergo safety inspections by MIT Campus Construction and Environment, Health, and Safety offices.

Next Haunt has been held annually since 2014.
The 2026 event takes place over two weekends in October.
A future build is planned for 2027.

Culture Shift

The 2026 installation marks the latest continuation of the Next Haunt annual tradition that has been held since 2014. This event serves as a recurring campus milestone, reflecting a broader trend of students using immersive theater to foster community outside traditional coursework.

MIT students can participate in the escape room at no cost as a way to engage with the campus community. Attendees should be prepared for potential paralysis from student actors during the immersive puzzles.

The takeaway

Organizing this event allows students to gain practical experience in leadership and delegation within a high-pressure, time-sensitive environment. Readers can draw inspiration from this model to implement collaborative team-building projects in their own organizations.