When I was reading Andrew, Harry, and Amelia’s pages on SNM, I noticed that one thing that they all mentioned was that one of the things make SNM special was the contrast from the world that we regularly experience. Amelia mentioned that one of the things that made it scary was the use of familiar symbols. There are references and music that harken back to Alfred Hitchcock horror films which made her feel the same sense of unease that she got from the movie, but there were also religious symbols that invoked the same feeling for the contrast that they provided in comparison to the characters’ actions.

           Andrew mentions that the masks and characters give the audience connections to the environment. They make the traveler part of the cast. This proves Harry’s commentary on SNM’s very successful attempt to give us a Virtual Reality of this 1930’s Macbeth world in order to completely immerse the audience in the experience.

           From every little detail it seems that the atmosphere of SNM has been meticulously planned to keep the audience member as fully immersed in the second world as possible. The discomfort that we feel from being in the dark heightens the senses and encourages us to look for clues and meaning to this somewhat meaningless atmosphere.

           SNM uses things that we are familiar with to lead us to understanding the unfamiliar symbols that they have scattered all over the hotel. They used popular horror films so that the audience would be able to connect the unease that they felt when hearing it in the movie with the unease they feel wandering around in a dark hotel looking for clues and murderers. Amelia mentioned that they used the 1930’s time period to give the audience more of a personal connection to the period than they would have to Scotland in the 16th century. However, this also gives a certain atmosphere of secrecy and distrust that was prevalent in the 30s.

           Overall, SNM counts on the audience to be trying to make connections between what they see and hear and what they are used to seeing and hearing. It use the similarities and differences to create an atmosphere where following around a murderer, or looking though someone’s drawer an okay, if not encouraged, decision. It takes what the audience is used to and twists it to create the underworld that is the show.