Cliftons quietly reopens with plans to become an immersive, Meow Wolf-inspired megaspace

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Set us as preferred At Clifton’s in downtown Los Angeles, a Halloween wedding is taking place, a courtship between a woman and a demon lord.Modantus is his name, his head a skull, with brassy adornments ascending like a satellite dish.

He doesn’t talk so much as click, growl and grunt as if clinging to life.Before dinner is served, a masked man approaches people in the crowd — half in costumes, half in formalwear — in Clifton’s second-story ballroom, once a swing dancing haven.

He’s in a vested suit, his mask, a sort of triangular sundial, reflecting light off of the candles at a head table.1 2 3 4 5 1.

Patrons arrive to to attend “The Dark Wedding.” 2.The Clifton’s tiki bar at its Halloween event.

3.The Clifton’s facade.

4.Neil Biondich, center, backstage prior to the show with the cast getting ready for “The Dark Wedding.” 5.

Cast members perform and interact withe guests.“I’m collecting fears,” the man says, as a singer nearby performs a Gothic rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” Nightmare creatures from the netherworld feast on the worries of mere mortals, he explains, and so he invites guests to unload some of their own.

Clifton’s, the famed institution that dates to 1935, once a Depression-era oasis designed to look like a woodsy, Northern California lodge, has quietly started operating again after years of post-pandemic fits and starts.Its new operators, Neil Biondich and Alex McCullough, are ramping up events to activate the myriad spaces inside the building, all five stories of forest-themed kitschy wonder.

That means magic shows in a mystical basement, karaoke in a lavish tiki bar, and live immersive theater parties in the main room, like its Halloween weekend event “The Dark Weekend.” And for those who miss Clifton’s as a casual ha...