Griffith Park’s Old Zoo Comes Alive with Augmented Reality Ghost Story, “Ghosts in the Machine”
A haunting new interactive experience blends the history of Griffith Park with cutting-edge augmented reality, inviting visitors to confront themes of grief and memory within the abandoned walls of the former Los Angeles Zoo.
The remnants of the original Griffith Park Zoo, with its forgotten animal pens, decaying cages, and stony backdrops, provide a uniquely evocative setting for a spectral narrative. “Ghost in the Machine: The Old Zoo” capitalizes on this atmosphere, transforming mobile phones into portals to another realm—a liminal space between the living world and the afterlife. The experience, created by immersive designer Koryn Wicks, is being remounted this Friday and Sunday afternoons, coinciding with its recognition as a finalist for an award from IndieCade, the independent game festival.
The project operates as a testing phase app, necessitating an event-like approach to allow guests to experience it firsthand. Wicks will be on-site to assist with downloads and answer questions about the self-guided tour. Participants, once equipped with the app and positioned near the old zoo—which first opened in 1912 with a mere 15 animals before closing in 1966 to make way for the current animal park—will receive a call from a medium named Phoebe.
Phoebe, described as being trapped between worlds and at risk of losing her memory, enlists the player’s help. Activating the phone’s camera initiates an augmented reality overlay, transforming the landscape into a fragile vision obscured by blue and green hues and static. Players are then guided by a map to explore “abnormalities” around the zoo, encountering apparitions and uncovering fragments of a story that shifts from a traditional haunt to a poignant exploration of loss.
“I wanted to do sort of a haunted location,” explains Wicks, 36, a trained dancer and choreographer with a background in theme park entertainment. “I’m a big nerd for horror stuff. I really like it. I really like the idea of ghosts. I read this book called ‘Ghostland’ and it looked at ghost stories throughout American history and the way they’re practiced and who gets cast as a ghost versus who gets haunted.” Initially, Wicks’s scripts were more conceptual, examining the broader themes of ghost stories before evolving into a character-driven narrative.
The story ultimately centers on familial bonds and the complexities of grief. The experience, designed to be completed in under an hour, moves from initial tension to a more melancholic contemplation of forgotten promises, lost loved ones, and the lingering echoes of unresolved sorrow. As one participant noted, the game is “built for contemplation.”
The setting itself is integral to the experience. Participants will traverse stairs, pathways, and deserted enclosures, attempting to liberate a spirit from purgatory while gathering fragments of memories scattered throughout Griffith Park. The park, Phoebe reveals, is a “beacon for spiritual phenomenon,” with stories of mistreated animals and the devastating 1933 Griffith Park fire adding to the sense of unease. The location also holds personal significance for Wicks, as it’s where her husband proposed.
However, “Ghosts in the Machine” also draws from Wicks’s own painful memories, exploring the difficult process of reconciling positive and complicated recollections during times of grief. “It can be so painful to engage with memory when we’re going through grief, and it can also be really complicated,” Wicks shares. “Because there are good memories and there are also complicated memories. How do you hold space for both? That was something I was thinking of a lot at the time.”
Born during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project began as an idea for a smartphone-guided dance performance before morphing into its current ghostly form. Despite its conceptual success, Wicks acknowledges the challenges of maintaining the app and securing the resources needed for a full release. The map function, for example, required a complete rebuild for this weekend’s pop-up events.
“I think we like to talk about technology as having a permanence to it, but there is no permanence to it,” Wicks observes. “Very few people still have their cassettes. Records are still around, but technology phases out.” While she remains open to future development and institutional support, Wicks has yet to find a sustainable solution. In the meantime, she is focusing on a new project that blends dance with tarot themes.
Ultimately, “Ghosts in the Machine: The Old Zoo” offers a unique and ephemeral experience, utilizing modern augmented reality to explore timeless themes of loss, memory, and the enduring power of the past—a fitting tribute to a location steeped in history and, perhaps, something more.
