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elise-gallagher
7th October 2015

Manchester’s House of the Dead

Manchester’s House of Dead opens its doors to the public on Saturday 3rd October… do you dare to enter?
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TLDR

Back in August, House of the Dead Ltd brought their new interactive and immersive horror escape room, ‘Trapped Up North’, to Manchester’s Great Northern Warehouse. During the summer months, hundreds flocked to try out the escape room experience for themselves.

The concept is a simple one: try to escape within the hour. There are three rooms from which to choose: Jigsaw, Quarantine and Cabin Fever.

‘Jigsaw’ resembles a scene from the ‘Saw’ franchise, complete with handcuffs and scattered hidden clues. The player’s challenge is to escape from the dreaded ‘Judge’—an escaped prolific serial killer who subjects his victims to his ‘purity test’.

‘Quarantine’ allows you to imagine yourself as a Government agent trying to track down an antidote to a deadly virus…with dire consequences. Entering the contamination zone, your mission is to retrieve the antidote and to get out without becoming yourself contaminated.

Finally, ‘Cabin Fever’ places you miles away from civilization, attacked by barely-human lunatics who have a particular disliking for pitching tourists. After losing your friend and searching for them, you come across a cabin; you become convinced that your friend, and the only way to safety, are trapped inside. You must make it back without being caught.

The escape room experience is open from August until December, with a special Christmas surprise to be announced soon. Teams are made up of a minimum of three people to a maximum of six. Prices vary from £16 per head for a team of three to £13 per head for a team of six.

However, now that October is upon, us the team have created what they call ‘the most immersive, terrifying and utterly unique horror experience the UK has to offer.’ It took the team six months to plan the experience in meticulous detail, with an army of craftsmen taking a total of two months to bring their illustrations to life ahead of the horror experience opening it’s doors to the public on the 3rd October.

With a total cast of 30 actors, the walk-through experience boasts a plethora of horror film set ups spread across 6,200 square feet and two floors. It will take around 40 minutes to walk through…if participants make it that far. The House of the Dead will be open for the rest of October and Hallowe’en season; however, it is advised that thrill seekers book in advance.

Scare attractions are fast becoming one of the UK’s biggest entertainment sectors. The industry has undertaken major innovations in the past ten years to keep attractions appealing to the general public, not just during the Hallowe’en period. The beauty of these attractions and what makes them work is the element of surprise. Not knowing what to expect, and the literal fear of the unknown has proved successful in the past and still continues to do so.

Differing from scare attractions most of us have experienced, House of the Dead Ltd have latched onto what is dubbed as ‘interactive/immersive theatre’, to the extent that you might find yourself forgetting that it isn’t actually real. The actors remained in terrifying character throughout, and weren’t the usual desultory, predictable personalities you usually find yourself paying for. It was clear that they were getting as much as a kick out of it as you were.

It goes without saying that the experience isn’t recommended to those who are claustrophobic/faint of heart.

Ticket prices range from £18 between 9th-22nd of October, and £20 between the Hallowe’en festive period (23rd October-1st November). To book tickets, you can either contact Quay Tickets on their website: www.quaytickets.com or ring them on 08432 208 0500

 

House of the Dead Ltd. are offering you the chance to try out Manchester’s Number 1 scare attraction! With two pairs of tickets up for grabs your nightmare experience will take place on Friday the 9th of October.

For a chance for you and a friend to win, simply e-mail your name, course and year, along with your best Halloween joke, to [email protected].

Entries close at 1pm on Thursday the 8th of October. Winners will be notified by e-mail by 5pm the same day.

Good luck!


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