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From serving time behind bars, to out-of-this-world journey to other planets, London has no shortage of great immersive cocktail experiences. Here's our pick of the best on offer in the capital this year. Being immersed is often thirsty work... so we recently set ourselves the challenge of trying out some of the biggest and best immersive cocktail experiences that London has to offer. It goes without saying that this was a very rigorous undertaking, and the fifteen or so cocktails we've had over the last few weeks were purely for research purposes. We took no pleasure in drinking them, even if they were all delicious... Hexmoor: Immersive Wizarding Prison Photo: Inventive Productions Having opened in September 2025, Hexmoor is the latest experience from Inventive Productions. Already the city's foremost immersive cocktail experience creators, this new production is their most ambitious yet, and invites guests to don jumpsuits and serve their time behind bars in a wizarding prison. Upon entering, guests will be met by Cordelia Constance-Xanthe, a powerful sorceress and the Head of Hexmoor Penitentiary, who will introduce the inmates to their new life behind bars. As the immersive experience unfolds, inmates will enjoy three magical cocktails crafted by a team of mixologists, or more appropriately, hexologists. Intended to dampen abilities, with the right hex, these potions will enhance your time behind bars and may well aid in your escape. Expect to cross paths and collude with the wizard prisoners of Hexmoor and the guards who contain them, discover secret areas and travel through an ethereal portal, hidden within a fireplace in Hexmoor, to a real working Wand Shop. Combining immersive theatre, film-like set design, magical special effects and world-class cocktails, Hexmoor will transport you to a world full of dark magic and alchemy, and is one of the most exciting additions to London's immersive cocktail scene in recent years. Photo: Inventive Productions Your magical misdeeds have led you to a previously unknown wizarding prison. Will you play by the rules and see the light of day again, or descend into darker depths? Explore Hexmoor and you will find out soon enough. Experience a world of mysticism and alchemy at Hexmoor, the world’s first immersive, wizarding prison bar. Don your official jumpsuit and rub shoulders with the notorious dark arts wizards who call Hexmoor home. Combining immersive theatre, film-like set design, magical special effects and world-class cocktails, Hexmoor will transport you to a world you can only imagine. Photos: Inventive Productions 📍 Hoxton 💰 From £53.95 (includes 3x cocktails) 🕒 Ongoing 🎟️ Book via hexmoor.co.uk Avora: A New World Immersive Experience Photo: Avora Also from Inventive Productions, Avora invites guests to travel off-world to another planet inhabited by alien creatures and bioluminous foliage. Located in Hoxton, this 105-minute-long experience is the most visually stunning of Inventive's shows. Set across three main spaces in their basement venue, it's taken a healthy amount of inspiration from the Avatar film series, and is the closest thing you can get to visiting Pandora this side of the Atlantic. Guests are all given a jumpsuit upon arrival that's embroidered with the logo of Roscorp - a tech conglomerate they'll be acting on behalf of during their journey. We'll leave it up to you to decide if Roscorp's true intentions for exploring far-off planets are noble or nefarious (spoilers: they're not good..), but at least you're there in good faith, acting as scientists on a fact-finding expedition. Starting in the Roscorp laboratory, there's a bit of hands-on mixology as you mix various test tube liquids to create your first cocktail, which billows smoke once combined. Later in the experience, you come face-to-face with the native Avorans who take a real interest in your lives back on Earth. Intent on learning all they can from their new human visitors, you may find yourself trying to explain the most basic of human concepts to them with mixed results. These interactions are all infused with humour and playfulness, and are the stand-out part of the show. Without spoiling what unfolds in the latter half of Avora, the new equilibrium with the Avorans and Humans being on good terms is short-lived, and you're soon confronted with Roscorp's true reasoning behind these expeditions to the luminous planet. Photo: Avora Avora is a first of its kind cocktail adventure where guests can discover a brand-new world engulfed in mystery and wonder, brought to life through awe-inspiring theatrical sets, unique cocktails and a cast of talented actors. Step through the newly discovered gateway into the magical world of Avora! Meet with locals and explore the world to discover three extraordinary cocktails you will enjoy. Watch in awe as the world turns from day to night, and witness the mysterious and magical beauty of the lush new land. Be prepared, things are not what they seem, and you will have to make a decision on the fate of the world! Will you look to exploit it or will you help protect Avora! Photos: Avora 📍 Hoxton 💰 From £40.50 (includes 3x cocktails) 🕒 Ongoing 🎟️ Book via feverup.com Moonshine Saloon: Immersive Wild West Experience Photo: Moonshine Saloon It's 1904 in the town of Coldwater. The sun is setting on the glory days of the Wild West, and everyone's attention has turned to what is next for those trying to achieve the American Dream. Within the confines of Moonshine Saloon, tensions are high between the Cassidy family and the local law enforcement. It's a year to the day since the Saloon's previous owner was gunned down in cold blood, and the Cassidy family are still looking for answers. You've been invited by Clyde Cassidy, who is looking to expand their moonshine business nationwide. Though their wife isn't best pleased with the fact Clyde has been operating this clandestine operation out the back of the bar, business appears to be booming, and you're there to ink a deal and get in on the action. Across this 1 hour 45 minute experience, numerous scenes play out both in the main Saloon and several hidden spaces within the Saloon. It's the classic story of the outlaw and local law enforcement butting heads, complete with shootouts and plenty of raised voices. Guests are kitted out with cowboy hats and ponchos upon entering, and their choice of spirits (which need to be brought with them to the venue) is incorporated into four cocktails across the show. Those looking to be slightly more involved in the narrative can purchase option character add-ons, including becoming The Mayor, Deputy Sheriff or Brothel Keeper. Ideal for the outgoing types, they'll be called on throughout the show to add an extra layer of interaction. For our visit, the Mayor had to deliver a series of campaign pledges to ensure their re-election. Photo: Moonshine Saloon Howdy, y’all! Behind the swinging doors of the Moonshine Saloon, new outlaws can rub shoulders with the locals, try their luck at cards or dice games and enjoy a barrel load of illicit drinks. Just be sure to keep yourself quiet if the Sheriff is in town and asks any questions… he’s come close to catching Cassidy before! Photos: Moonshine Saloon 📍 Liverpool Street 💰 From £35.99 (includes 3x BYOB cocktails) 🕒 Ongoing 🎟️ Book via feverup.com Alcotraz: Immersive Prison Cocktail Bar Photo: Alcotraz Likely the most well-known of Inventive Production's immersive cocktail experiences, Alcotraz has been a mainstay of the London immersive experience scene since 2017. Guests are invited to don orange jumpsuits before serving them time in this underground prison-themed bar, which will see them play a part in a rebellion against the venue's Warden, who has a firm dislike for all things alcoholic. Upon entering, you're placed in a holding cell while you await processing. Soon, you're led through a metal detector and handed your orange jumpsuit - a staple of the experience since its inception. Alcotraz operates as a BYOB venue, so your first task is sneaking your spirits into the cells without arousing suspicion - something that's made a lot easier thanks to the hollowed-out Bible you're handed by one of the prison's crooked guards. Once inside your cell, there are 4 cocktails prepared for you with the spirits you smuggled in across the 1-hour 45-minute long experience. The wider story that plays out around you is a power struggle between Cassidy, one of the inmates whose parole has just been denied, and the Warden, who is hell-bent on maintaining order within Alcotraz. There's a good amount of interaction with Cassidy, the Warden and the guards throughout the experience, who will all keep you occupied with a variety of tasks. We found ourselves folding laundry at one point, which led to us finding a blueprint inside one of the jumpsuits. There are also a couple of short excursions outside your cell, including getting your mugshot taken and, for us, a visit to Cassidy after they're locked in solitary confinement. A potential visit to the Warden's office is also on the cards to plead your innocence or guilt. Photo: Alcotraz Following a life of crime, the law eventually caught up with Mr Clyde Cassidy and his gang of moonshiners and bootleggers. After a decade of running America’s most notorious liquor smuggling empire, their criminal activity eventually led them to life behind bars at the newly established Alcotraz Penitentiary. Most of the details of the Penitentiary remain only in the knowledge of a select few Government Officials, however, what is known is that there are a collection of secret Cell Blocks dotted all over the country, which serve as home to the worst of the worst. Sometimes incarceration can’t change bad habits and the Cassidy gang have managed to turn the Guards of Alcotraz crooked, bribing them to help newly convicted inmates successfully smuggle in liquor past the Warden. Will you join the gang and smuggle liquor behind bars? Photos: Alcotraz 📍 Hoxton 💰 From £48.50 (includes 4x BYOB cocktails) 🕒 Ongoing 🎟️ Book via alcotraz.co.uk Phantom Peak's Cocktail Trail Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak is an immersive experience we've covered extensively on Immersive Rumours over the past three years. With four brand-new seasons on offer each year, it's a show that's constantly developing and changing. Guests can explore the 30,000 sq feet town of Phantom Peak for up to 4 hours at a time, jumping into any of the ten different storylines on offer at their own pace. With a large cast of actors scattered around town, guests can easily end up speaking to a dozen of Phantom Peak's townsfolk in one visit and only scratch the surface of what's on offer here. Alongside the ten main storylines available each season, Phantom Peak also offers a cocktail trail for those willing to put in the steps for their drink. The storyline of these cocktail trails changes each season, but typically they have guests exploring the town to uncover which ingredients make up the final reward for their hard work. Just like with every other storyline at Phantom Peak, these cocktail trails are wonderfully written, irreverent, and with a stellar cast of actors across the town, hugely engaging. Considering the cocktails at Phantom Peak will run you anywhere from £9.50 to £11 each, and with an exclusive cocktail only available to those who take part in the trail, it's good value if you want to indulge in one of them anyway. For the avid Phantom Peak card collectors, there's also a trail card included for those who take part. Photos: Alistair Veryard A brand new cocktail experience, courtesy of JONACO. Explore the town to discover a new story each season, before meeting back at the Thirsty Frontier Saloon to make your own cocktail (or mocktail) to enjoy. 📍 Canada Water 💰 From £30.00 (Show Admission) + £19.99 (Cocktail Experience Add-On) 🕒 Ongoing 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com For the latest news and updates on all things immersive in London, follow us on Instagram .

Peter Broughton's adaptation of Frankenstein, which plays out for an audience of one each performance, is one of this year's most exciting new immersive productions. Image: Creature/Peter Broughton This review contains descriptions of some events within Creature. Written and directed by Peter Broughton (best known for playing Dionysus in the original Crypt and Hoxton Hall runs of Sleepwalk's Bacchanalia ), Creature is an intimate, immersive production for a single audience member. It blends puppetry, binaural audio and immersive performance to create an experience that feels equal parts immersive show and theme park dark ride. Inspired by Mary Shelley's 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein , this 20-minute-long show places its sole audience member into the role of Victor Frankenstein, kidnapped on his wedding night by the vengeful creature he abandoned. Each performance's single audience member sits in a wheelchair and is pushed and pulled through the space by a masked Igor (Jessica Southwood) while wearing headphones, through which the majority of the show's dialogue and atmospheric soundtrack (created by Hanna Gardner) is delivered. Alongside the pre-recorded audio is a series of striking visual sequences that see the audience, amongst other things, thrown across the space, looking into the past, and engulfed in flames. The show's centrepiece is an arresting life-sized puppet of the creature (played by Peter Broughton), which is hellbent on exacting its revenge on Victor, and narrates the show in between menacing growls and snarls, commanding every moment of the audience's attention. In the best way possible, Creature is a hard show to categorise. While it's unequivocally a piece of immersive theatre, it refuses to fit neatly into any of the typical immersive boxes, offering very little agency, no influence over the show's narrative, and no freedom to move around the space as they wish. However, what the audience gives up in autonomy is made up for tenfold thanks to the show's meticulously timed, cinematic approach to storytelling, which is unlike anything else we've ever experienced in an immersive production. To sit down in the wheelchair is to give yourself over to becoming the focus of a terrifying, gothic-infused fever dream. Photo: Creature/Peter Broughton The show's initial run, which took place in the Boat Tunnel at COLAB Tower (a venue fast emerging as the de facto home for new immersive work in London) as part of COLAB's inaugural Invitational Theatre Festival , sold out almost instantly. While a scarcity of tickets is often the case with buzzy one-audience-member shows like Creature, this first run at COLAB Tower sold out before the show had even been officially publicised on its social media channels - likely off the back of Broughton's name and die-hard immersive fans' familiarity with their previous work on Sleepwalk's Bacchanalia. When we sat down with  Peter ahead of the show's opening, they cited the work of Jim Henson as the catalyst for their lifelong love of puppetry. While what they've created in Creature is a far cry from the kinds of puppets Henson produced throughout his career and a departure from the style of puppetry audiences might recall from Bacchanalia, Broughton's passion for the form is evident long before the creature's terrifying design is fully revealed. While we're not going to divulge any specifics about the puppet (which was hand-made by Broughton with additional textile work by Audrey Rodriguez), we can share that when you're sitting in the wheelchair, it towers over you and feels like it could swallow you whole. In the rare moments where its focus isn't on you, and the creature isn't hunched over to meet you at eye level, its head comes perilously close to scraping the ceiling of the show's venue. It's a sight to behold, and when it's looking directly at you, it's incredibly unnerving. One of Creature's most interesting elements (looming, terrifying puppet aside) is how the audience's attention and field of view are managed while they're sitting in the wheelchair. Throughout the show, every movement is choreographed down to the second, with the show's cast working in tandem to manually shine torches, getting into position for upcoming scenes, and triggering smoke machines and video elements, all in time with the show's evocative pre-recorded audio. From slow creeps forward to rapid 360-degree circles around the creature as it writhes on the floor, there are very few moments where you're not being moved through the space, and at all times, your field of vision and focus are dictated by those movements and position in the space. Alongside delivering a cinematic, movie-like experience, in which the audience is always perfectly placed for the unfolding scene, the audience's ever-changing sightlines also allow the show's five-strong team to perform some really impactful sleight of hand within the space, swapping out elements of the set when your back is turned, keeping audiences on the backfoot, constantly questioning what else could be happening around them when they're not looking. Photo: Creature/Peter Broughton Pre-recorded video content, at times, plays out through TV screens and projections, offering some wider context for both the creature's actions and the show's wider world. Those who attended Sleepwalk's Bacchanalia will spot a familiar face in Elizabeth (Maya McQueen), alongside an unmasked Broughton, who makes a short cameo as a newsreader. The rest of the show's video cast is made up of Mei Mei MacLeod as a second newsreader, Charles Stagg as William and Ben Mallett as the pre-recorded version of Victor. In immersive theatre, the one-on-one has always been highly sought after. Whether it be self-contained shows like The Manikins  or Undersigned , or fleeting, private moments within larger immersive worlds from the likes of Punchdrunk, their impact on those who experience them is long-lasting. Alongside making that one audience member the focus of the performer's attention and placing them at the centre of the experience, below the surface, there's a recognition that everything being performed, regardless of how complex the show is, is for the benefit of one person. It's a humbling position for an audience member to exist in, and the exchanges within these moments, however big or small, often hold more weight purely because it's just for them. Within Creature, there's an extraordinary amount of effort being exerted for the benefit of that one audience member. None of the show's lighting is pre-programmed - it's all done by torchlight at the hands of the cast. None of the movement and environmental changes are mechanical - they're all done by manually. None of what they experience would exist without the show's cast (made up of Peter Broughton, Jessica Southwood, Alice Elsie Thomas, Elena Sirett and Puck) pulling off every element of the show, in the moment and in unison, just for them. To do all of that, flawlessly, for a single person's applause and appreciation may be somewhat of a thankless task, especially when the team are all masked and it's nigh-on impossible to tell who is doing what in the moment, but the collective impact of that work on the audience's experience can't be understated. As is often the case with experiences for just one audience member, the ticket price for Creature is high, costing anywhere from £90 to £100 per performance. Despite being a short piece (clocking in at a little over 20 minutes from beginning to end), it's clear that the show's price is a necessity, especially given the cast size, which is nearly twice as big as that of shows like Undersigned and The Manikins. Photo: Creature/Peter Broughton Creature is one of the most exciting new immersive productions to have opened in London this year. Much like during Sleepwalk's first run of Bacchanalia at Crypt, Creature's debut outing feels like it has the potential to go on to become a much larger experience if the stars align. While there's no way of knowing what the future holds for Creature, in its current form it's a perfectly realised, fiercely original experience that's unlike anything else out there. If you can secure a ticket, count yourself lucky, because it's one hell of a ride. ★★★★★ Creature will run at COLAB Tower from 30th October to 1st November 2025. Tickets are currently sold out, but you can stay up to date on future performances via @creature.immersive on Instagram. For more reviews of immersive productions like Creature, check out our recent Immersive Reviews . Stay up to date on the latest immersive theatre news by following Immersive Rumours on Instagram .

Image: Peter Broughton Immersive Rumours: Hi Peter, thanks for speaking with us today. Do you mind introducing yourself and telling us a bit about where people would know you from? Peter Broughton: I'm Peter Broughton. I'm an actor, puppeteer, and immersive theatre maker. People probably best know me from Bacchanalia, which I co-created and assistant-directed, and also performed in as Dionysus. I’ve also been in shows like Phantom Peak and The West with COLAB Theatre, and last year I was Paddington Bear in Paddington Lo-Comotion in Oxford. IR: How long have you been working in the immersive world for? PB: At the tail end of the pandemic, I got a job at Doctor Who: Time Fracture and moved to London. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, so I was stoked to be involved in any way. Soon after, I also started working at The Great Gatsby immersive show, which was upstairs in the same building, so I’d be running up and down between the two, meeting people and networking as I went. It was a really magical time, and I developed a nose for who was interested in making work and who I could collaborate with. In traditional theatre, if you’re at the box office, you can’t stop a huge TV executive who happens to be passing through and say, 'Hi, here’s why I’m perfect for your next project', but in immersive, you’re already within the performative space. Photo supplied by Peter Broughton IR: At the end of September, you’re debuting Creature as part of COLAB Invitational Theatre Festival. Can you tell us a bit about the show and what people can expect? PB: Absolutely. Creature is a one-audience-member experience. In the show, you’re Victor Frankenstein, kidnapped on your wedding night, and physically moved through the space in a wheelchair. The story is told by the creature, who keeps reminding you, 'I told you I’d be here. You knew this was coming.' It’s about rejection and abandonment, told through immersive techniques, puppetry, and binaural audio. It’s intense but relatively short. IR: As you just mentioned, Creature is only for one audience member at a time. What is it about that format that’s so interesting to you as a creator? PB:  With large-scale, free-roaming immersive shows, storytelling can get lost. Scaling everything down and making it clearer is the way to go. With my work as part of Sleepwalk, I was adamant that all the key bits of plot were visible and that all the key story moments happened when everyone came together. Seeing The Manikins: a work in progress made me realise that creating a one-audience-member show was achievable for me. I also noticed just how popular one-on-ones are at Punchdrunk, when fans rush to get into them. They really want that exclusive private moment, and it showed me the level of demand for this kind of experience. IR: What drew you to Frankenstein as the source material for the show? PB: This show is a very unfaithful adaptation. It's not so much about a man playing god; it’s about the creature itself. It explores how it feels to be created only to be discarded. My biological father left when I was very young. That raw feeling of 'You brought me into the world - step up!' is huge for me. In the show, the creature feels the same sense of abandonment. He’s one of a kind, completely alone, needing his creator’s support, and he’s not shy about letting you know when he’s angry, confused, or about to do something really unpleasant. I resonate with that energy, and it’s at the heart of the piece. Photo: Alex Walton IR: And where did the decision to have the audience sit in a wheelchair for the duration of the show come from? PB: Accessibility. Too often, shows advertise wheelchair access, then surprise you with stairs. Here, the wheelchair is built into the show. My parents have mobility issues and struggled to see past shows, so it made sense to design it this way. I’ve also found the movement of the chair a useful creative tool: in this show, the set, the lights, the characters, and even your seat are puppeteered. IR: Speaking of puppets, within the show, you’re going to be puppeting the creature. Who else is involved in this run at COLAB Tower? PB: I’ve been working on the audio with Hanna Gardner, my best mate from university. She’s an amazing musician, and the binaural audio is one of the most important elements of the show and really shapes the audience’s experience. My other pals, Jessica Southwood plays Igor, Elena Sirett is handling lighting and stage management, and Alice Thomas has a secret role. The show’s textile and graphic design is by my beautiful partner, Audrey Rodriguez. We recently recorded some of the audio at Hanna’s flat, and I was screaming into a mic while her cats looked at me like, 'What is happening?' Moments like that are why I love immersive theatre: it’s unpredictable and a bit weird. IR: You’ve had opportunities to do puppetry previously, most notably in Bacchanalia and Paddington Lo-Comotion, but is Creature the first time you’ve had total control over the use of puppetry? PB: Yeah. Thanks to the Kickstarter, I’ve been full-time on this project for a couple of months. It’s a huge privilege. Stressful? Absolutely. But creatively, it’s been incredible. I’ve learned new skills and had the chance to make something with friends I trust. I'm excited to be able to work on my craft in both puppetry and immersive theatre. Peter Broughton in Bacchanalia (2023) Photo: Ivy Corbin IR: How have you found designing and creating the life-size puppet for the show? That must be quite the task. PB: Yeah, it’s a challenge. I had to find the right level of creepiness. Inspired by Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, we're mixing familiar children’s TV aesthetics with horror. It’s a full-body puppet designed to be operated the same way as Big Bird from Sesame Street. I love making puppetry for adults: people often assume it’s kids’ stuff, but after a little while, the audience starts connecting with the puppet and forgetting about the puppeteer. Big puppets like in [the West End version of] Totoro or the ones in Spirited Away help immerse you in the world, and kids do it naturally because they’ve not been told to stop imagining yet. IR: And where do you think your love of puppetry came from? PB: VHS tapes of the old Muppet movies. Jim Henson’s work is magical: his characters balanced chaos and gentleness, like Gonzo firing himself out of a cannon one second and singing a heartfelt song the next. I recently saw some of Henson’s puppets in New York, and it was a very emotional experience for me (ask my girlfriend). Seeing his full-body puppets in the same room, like Big Bird from Sesame Street, helped me understand how it functions. I also saw Kermit and completely lost it. My girlfriend was like, 'Aw, honey, why are you crying over these puppets?' IR: I think I would have the same reaction to be fair… PB: I was like, 'It’s Kermit! What do you want me to do?!' Growing up with that, it really shaped how I think about puppetry, and now working in immersive theatre, it seemed like a no-brainer to merge my passions and create something for people like me - who cry at puppets. Photos supplied by Peter Broughton IR: What do you think is next for Creature after the performances at COLAB Invitational Theatre? PB: Hopefully, festivals or wherever there are available spaces around London. I’ve been in talks to stage it at Vaulty Towers’ basement, or maybe even in the Vaults in Waterloo. Camden Fringe? The show can scale up or down depending on the space and opportunity. That’s the way I designed it. I’ll take anywhere that will have me. IR: Finally, where is the puppet going to go after this? PB: Honestly, I've got no idea. Right now, my flat has been taken over by the bloody thing. Hopefully, it’ll be brought out again, but in the meantime, it might have to live in my grandma’s garage. She’ll be really happy about that, I’m sure. Peter Broughton's Creature is at COLAB Invitational Theatre Festival  at COLAB Tower on the 26th and 27th September 2025. Tickets are sold out. To stay up to date on Creature, follow @creature.immersive  on Instagram. You can also follow Peter's work at @peterbroughtonactor on Instagram, and via peterbroughtoncreative.com

Guests step into a war-ravaged world and take control of their own digital avatar in DARKFIELD's latest immersive audio experience, Arcade. Photo: Kate Edwards After only a few months away from the capital, DARKFIELD has returned with a short residency at Shoreditch Town Hall. Their takeover of the Town Hall basement venue, The Ditch, is made up of three in-person debuts for DOUBLE, VISITORS and ETERNAL, which all previously premiered under the company's digital DARKFIELD Radio banner, and their latest show ARCADE, serves as the 'headliner' of the event. DARKFIELD is best known for creating 360-degree sound experiences delivered through headphones such as FLIGHT, COMA and S É ANCE, which use binaural audio, intricate sound design, sensory effects and complete darkness to immerse guests in intense audio-based shows that typically take place in their trademark shipping containers. Photo: Kate Edwards For the first time in a DARKFIELD experience, guests now have the agency to decide how their story unfolds. Taking control of Milk, an amnesic avatar dropped into the middle of an ongoing war between the North Block and South Block, guests respond to questions and prompts by pressing the single button on the panel of their individual arcade machine to answer 'Yes', with no response signalling 'No'. In addition, there's a coin slot and return tray to facilitate 'paying' for items such as guns and access to areas that are otherwise off-limits. They're all pretty limited ways of interacting with the story as it develops, but for something so basic, the paths it leads you down are branching and varied. Within ARCADE, these 'Yes' or 'No' decisions can have drastic consequences. A wrong answer can result in your avatar being killed at a moment's notice (something we found out less than a minute into our playthrough), and the trajectory of your story can veer off in a wildly different direction from what other guests are experiencing without you even realising how it happened. Photo: Kate Edwards Violence is near enough guaranteed within the world of ARCADE, regardless of whether you try to be a pacifist or mercenary, and with every bullet fired comes some practical effects built into the arcade machine that remove the barrier between what you hear and what you feel. There's a tension and anxiety built into the show's sound design that only amplifies as you get deeper into the experience, and every decision begins to carry more weight. Across the board, the voice acting is well done - Milk's emotionless, simple replies raise questions around just how desensitised they've become to the world around them, despite only just spawning in, and the wide range of creepy and opportunistic characters Milk meets along the way all carry an off-putting air to them. Photo: Kate Edwards It'd be redundant of us to give details on exactly what happened to our avatar during our time with ARCADE, as everyone's experience will differ greatly, but it's worth noting that the tone of this experience is much darker than any of DARKFIELD's previous work. Offhandedly, characters will offer up activities or new paths that'd turn heads and have the police called if said outside the confines of your headphones. The show's setting - a dystopian world in which the lives of people hold little value - goes some way to explaining why the characters Milk encounters are so void of empathy or compassion, but it's nonetheless surprising to hear people talk about shooting animals and children in the same way we'd suggest grabbing a coffee. Photo: Kate Edwards For completionists who want to explore every narrative diversion and unlock every possible situation, ARCADE might present a challenge with its limited run-time and expansive list of branching storylines. If you're happy to let your coins fall where they may and not stress too much about what you've missed out on, ARCADE is a unique and unsettling half-hour in a dystopian nightmare. Time will tell if DARKFIELD chooses to continue offering guests the same level of agency available in ARCADE, but if the choice were presented to us, we'd be tapping the button on our arcade machine. ★★★★ ARCADE is playing at Shoreditch Town Hall alongside three other DARKFIELD audio experiences until 17th April 2025. To book and find out more info, visit shoreditchtownhall.com For more reviews of experiences like DARKFIELD's ARCADE, check out our recent Reviews .

Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Sitting upon a single pillow inside individual laundry roll cages, EULOGY has audience members exploring the endless corridors and rooms of a labyrinthine hotel. As always in a DARKFIELD show, they're in total darkness and wearing headphones, but the show's opening moments offer up a mechanic not present in either COMA or FLIGHT - the ability to respond to questions with simple answers, picked up through a microphone on each audience member's headphones. Accompanying each audience member on their audio-based journey is their assigned Companion, who both 'moves' them through the space and offers reassurances and guidance throughout (all delivered through whispers). In typical DARKFIELD fashion, exactly what's going on within the hotel is never made explicitly clear. All of the hotel's companions appear to be racing each other to get to the hotel's deeper levels as quickly as possible, but exactly what's required and involved remains elusive throughout. Try as you might to wrap your head around what's going on, you're always on the back foot, even though you're meant to be in control of your journey. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic On a technical level, EULOGY does an incredible job of immersing you in the show's imaginary world. As you descend deeper and deeper into the subterranean hotel, your laundry cage gently vibrates, and the sound of lift doors opening is accompanied by a gust of air, signifying your arrival in another part of the hotel. While comments from your companion and other hotel staff about how the air gets thicker the deeper you go, thankfully, aren't recreated, the cumulative effect of the binaural audio and pre-recorded performances certainly makes it feel like it is. The mind's a crazy thing... ★★★ ½ This review of EULOGY is from DARKFIELD's London residency at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in October 2025. For more information on DARKFIELD and their upcoming shows, visit darkfield.org

Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Set within a cross-section of a commercial aeroplane cabin, complete with a laminated safety card, working seatbelts, tray tables and overhead luggage compartments, FLIGHT invites audiences to experience two parallel realities at once. Taking inspiration from the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment (in which an animal inside a closed box is both dead and alive until observed), it places the audience into the role of the metaphorical cat, as both their death and survival play out in parallel, unobserved by everyone outside of the plane. Depending on your resolve, the above description is either going to be appealing or a terrifying proposition – and out of all the shows DARKFIELD has on offer during this London residency, FLIGHT is easily the most intense, helped in large part by having the most impactful motion effects. There's a persistent rumble of engines during take-off; moments of turbulence cause the cabin to jolt around, and of course, as the reality in which audiences don't survive plays out, the intensity of these effects ramps up considerably. While the show takes place in complete darkness, fleeting flashes of light through the aeroplane's windows help sell the illusion of flight even further, illuminating both the cabin and its seated passengers. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic FLIGHT's use of binaural audio is perhaps the strongest of this residency's four shows, as the moments in which the chaos and carnage of the plane's destruction envelop its captive audience are rendered in terrifyingly realistic detail, with the sound of the fuselage ripping apart and the cabin being pummelled by the outside air becoming almost deafening. Even during FLIGHT's calmer moments, there's still plenty to raise the heart rate, including a chorus of crying babies (arguably worse than death), problematic passengers, and some pretty terse flight attendants whispering in your ear - all delivered through the show's excellent binaural soundscape. While the odds of being in a real-life plane crash are incredibly low, FLIGHT is a vivid reminder that every time we fly, we're placing our trust in people and things beyond our control. There's very little we can do to ensure our safety, besides making sure our tray tables are in their upright position and obeying the fasten seatbelt sign. ★★★★ This review of FLIGHT is from DARKFIELD's London residency at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in October 2025. For more information on DARKFIELD and their upcoming shows, visit darkfield.org

Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic COMA, which first premiered in 2019, invites guests to enter a collective dream as part of a collective medical experiment. Lying in a whitewashed bunk bed, barely big enough to stretch out in, each participant is prompted to ingest a white pill laid out by their bed and slip away into a state of unconsciousness. A male voice slowly counts down from 10 and asks us to focus on remembering the details of the space, as the lights fade and total darkness takes over. Easily the most claustrophobic of DARKFIELD's offerings, thanks to the tight sleeping arrangements, COMA takes great delight in toying with its audience, keeping them on edge throughout. Through headphones, the voice of the Doctor, which acts as the driving force throughout the experiences, constantly moves around the space. At first, it appears they're in the far corners of the room before moments later appearing alongside you, seemingly bending down to whisper into your ear. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic In the background, hushed conversations from the other patients and staff members imply there's movement happening throughout the space, despite everyone being confined to their bunks. Nurses open and close curtains around you, offering little in the way of privacy and protection against whatever forces are at play within the facility. Alongside mention of people's perfumes, or the broken coffee machine, come matching smells, pumped directly into the container, and a small sliding shutter beside your head seemingly opens and closes at regular intervals, as if you're being observed up close. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic While COMA encourages participants to enter into a meditative state, there's so much going on around you; you're never able to truly relax into your surroundings, and if anything, you're more on edge than when you first entered. By the show's climax, it's hard to tell if what you're experiencing has been curated as part of the show or was a figment of your imagination, as you lie immobilised. ★★★ This review of COMA is from DARKFIELD's London residency at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in October 2025. For more information on DARKFIELD and their upcoming shows, visit darkfield.org

Leading VR company Eclipso have announced its newest and boldest immersive experience to date -Colosseum: The Legendary Arena, giving you a front row seat to history’s most enticing show, opening October 24th. Following the success of Titanic: Echoes of the Past, Eclipso - known for their VR experiences in New York, Paris, and across the world - returns with a thrilling production that recreates the grandeur and glory of ancient Rome. The experience will transport visitors to the very centre of the action, combining the latest in VR technology with a gripping story of adventure.  Image: Eclipso In Colosseum, The Legendary Arena, the story begins in the bustling heart of ancient Rome. Through the eyes of Caius, guests will be guided through bustling markets and beyond the city’s walls to the looming Colosseum, presenting an opportunity for eternal glory. There, they will meet Flamma, a gladiator who will defy the promise of freedom for a chance at greatness. This journey is more than a glimpse into history, it’s a plunge into the emotion, grandeur and decadence of an empire that resonates in our minds today. Audiences will encounter Gods and citizens alike, experience life as a true citizen of Rome, and feel the intensity of a world where life and legends collide.  Image: Eclipso Perfect for history connoisseurs, families, and culture-seekers, Colosseum: The Legendary Arena transforms history into a living spectacle - one that offers an inspiring, interactive adventure inside the world’s most remembered empire. Created in collaboration with the award-winning Small Creative studio, this 45-minute experience uses cutting-edge VR technology to deliver a historically authentic recreation of the era of the Roman Empire at scale. By combining art, culture, and history with immersive storytelling, it offers a breathtaking and unforgettable journey for all ages. Founder and CEO Antoine Lieutaud says: This experience isn’t just a look back at ancient Rome - it’s a chance to step inside its beating heart. Eclipso’s Colosseum: The Legendary Arena is more than a battleground; it takes visitors on a stage where power, ambition, and sacrifice played out before the eyes of an empire. With this experience, we’ve brought that world to life in a way that lets people feel the energy of the crowds, the weight of a gladiator’s choice, and the grandeur of Rome itself. It’s an invitation to experience history not as something distant, but as something alive, emotional, and unforgettable. Karl Blake Garcia, London Venue Director, comments: From the moment visitors don their headsets, every detail has been crafted to transport visitors straight into history. It’ll feel like you’re stepping directly into the streets of ancient Rome, and will be swept away by the roar of the crowds in the arena. It’s incredible to see how technology, storytelling, and emotion come together to create something that is not just seen, but felt. With this experience, audiences aged 8+  will be able to witness Rome like never before - alive, dramatic, and truly unforgettable. Voyelle Acker, co-founder at Small Creative, adds: Bringing ancient Rome to life in Colosseum: The Legendary Arena has been an extraordinary challenge and thrill for our team. Using advanced free-roaming VR technology, visitors can walk the streets, explore hidden chambers, and step into the arena as if they were truly there. This project embodies Eclipso and Small Creative’s mission to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling, combining historical accuracy with cutting-edge tech to create experiences that are as educational as they are breathtaking. By merging innovation and artistry, we’ve crafted a journey that lets audiences feel, explore, and connect with Rome like never before. Colosseum: The Legendary Arena opens at Eclipso on Camden High Street on 24th October 2025. Tickets are priced from £23.00 per person, and can be booked via feverup.com

Image: Eclipso Colosseum: The Legendary Arena is the latest immersive VR production from French producers Eclipso and Small Creative . Running alongside the hugely successful  Titanic: Echos from the Past  at Eclipso's permanent Camden High Street venue, the 40-minute-long experience allows guests to explore virtual recreations of Ancient Rome and the infamous Colosseum alongside Caius, a teenager who idolises the arena's fighters, and Flamma, a Syrian-born gladiator who was one of the era's most famous warriors. Upon checking in at Eclipso and being called up in small groups, there's a brief explainer on how the VR headsets work and the usual health and safety warnings you'd expect from a free-roaming VR experience (don't run, don't walk into walls, don't try and sit down on a virtual chair as it doesn't exist, and you'll make a fool of yourself, etc.). Once you've settled into wearing the headset and waved goodbye to the real world, all that stands between you and Ancient Rome is a short virtual corridor. Opening virtual scenes have guests following Caius, a teenage ball of energy who dreams of one day becoming a fighter in the Colosseum. While he'd love nothing more than to enthusiastically wave his wooden sword around his family home and show off his skills all afternoon, he's soon told to head down to the local market by his mother, ushering him (and us) out the door and onto the streets of Rome after showing us the city's terracotta-washed skyline from their balcony. Within the market, there's the opportunity to eavesdrop on conversations between traders and local residents, pick up certain items from the stalls (which you can quickly discard and throw to the floor like a stroppy toddler), and soak in the atmosphere. Shortly after, standing in front of the Colosseum, Caius explains the story behind the Colossus of Nero, a 30-metre-tall bronze statue that sat outside the arena. While it towers over you on the ground, the rising platforms guests are on allow them to take in the finer details as they float higher and higher into the air above the city. Image: Eclipso Once inside the Colosseum, Caius explains the seating hierarchy, with politicians and wealthy Romans seated on the lower levels closer to the action, and the common folk restricted to the upper levels. It's in this scene that the scale of what's been produced for Colosseum becomes clear. With a crowd of 80,000 spectators, it's an awe-inspiring view from the upper levels, with people as far as the eye can see, and it offers the kind of spectacle only possible with VR. As great a view as it is, Caius isn't content with being relegated to such a distant view of his idol and ushers guests down a secret passage, saying he knows a shortcut to a better view. Emerging inside a hypogeum beneath the arena, which is home to imprisoned fighters, guests are soon introduced to Flamma, who's preparing for his upcoming fight. Once on the arena floor alongside Flamma, with crowds cheering him on, it's clear why he turned down freedom four times over his lifetime – the man was built for fighting and was committed to providing a good show for them, regardless of the cost. From here, there are several hugely impressive scenes on the arena floor depicting Flamma fighting opponents, from small one-on-one skirmishes to venationes (in which the fighters are pitted against everything from elephants to leopards) and full-blown naval battle recreations in a flooded arena aboard opposing ships. While guests never have to defend themselves and engage in these battles, for certain scenes, they'll find themselves equipped with swords and shields, inviting them to engage in mock combat with other attendees by waving their hands. Despite the countless litres of blood spilt within the real-life Colosseum, Eclipso's VR experience is family-friendly and wisely doesn't show any of the gory details crowds at the time were hungry for. Vanquished fighters evaporate in a cloud of gold dust as they fall to the floor, and while some of the fighting is highly choreographed, for better or worse, there's nothing within them that would invite you to really contemplate the giant loss of life that took place where you're standing. Rounding off the experience, with the fighting behind us in the training camp, Caius emerges and finally is able to meet his idol, Flamma, face-to-face. While Caius is keen to share that he wants to grow up and be just like Flamma, the Syrian gladiator gives him pause, explaining that being there for those who love him and not risking his life for the bloodthirsty crowd is just as noble a pursuit. Image: Eclipso While there is plenty of really interesting and engaging educational content on display throughout Colosseum, the free-roam setup within each scene does allow guests to step back from that and treat it as a virtual playground if they so wish. At one point, temptation got the better of us, and our inner arsonist came out when a flaming torch spawned into our hand, leading us to (unsuccessfully) try and light our virtual companions on fire, and we did spend a couple of minutes trying to build up the courage to walk off the edge of numerous high platforms without feeling like we were going to fall to our death. With impressive technology, a huge scale, and some really engaging content, Colosseum: The Legendary Arena is up there with some of the best VR we've ever experienced. Striking a balance between entertainment and education, it's a wonderful experience for families, those interested in Ancient Rome, and those keen to try out VR for the first time and discover what all the fuss is about. ★★★★ Colosseum: The Legendary Arena runs at Eclipso on Camden High Street daily. Tickets are priced from £23.00 per person and can be booked via feverup.com

Image: Fever/Exhibition Hub After welcoming over one million people at Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, a new immersive experience is taking over London’s Shoreditch: 7 Wonders of the World. Exhibition Hub, the curator, producer, and distributor of large exhibitions and family entertainment globally, including Bubble Planet, The Art of the Brick, Dinos Alive and many more groundbreaking productions, and Fever, the leading global live-entertainment discovery platform, are debuting their latest creation in the city this November. Image: Fever/Exhibition Hub This new edutainment experience reimagines the world’s most iconic monuments, documented over time as the most remarkable human-made creations of both the ancient and modern eras, all seven of which remain standing. Spread across three floors, the journey begins with a captivating introductory video before moving through themed rooms dedicated to each ancient wonder, such as the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Guests can enjoy interactive elements, replicas of artifacts, and unique features, blending scholarship with spectacle. To give attendees a real sense of what it’s like to be in these breathtaking places, an immersive room has been built featuring 360° and two-storey projections. An original soundtrack has been carefully developed to complement the visuals and create a complete storytelling experience. Image: Fever/Exhibition Hub Visitors will have the chance to explore the Seven Wonders of both worlds through engaging and interactive content, such as a Wonder Wall, where they can sketch or write messages inspired by the Seven Wonders, and an LED Pyramid, located in the Egypt room. Family-friendly activities like “Create Your Own Wonder” and “Build Your Own Pyramid” will encourage exploration for visitors of all ages. At the heart of the experience lies the idea of wonder itself: how civilisations across history have pushed beyond the ordinary to create the extraordinary. From the myths and mysteries of the Colossus of Rhodes to the astronomy of Chichén Itzá, each gallery combines dramatic visual storytelling with authentic interpretation – through interactive screens, VR journeys, and hands-on exhibits – allowing visitors to learn not only how these monuments were built, but also why they mattered to the societies that created them. Image: Fever/Exhibition Hub Additional photo opportunities include a monumental 3m lighthouse and the chair of Zeus with an infinite temple perspective. At the end of the journey, guests can also check out the gift shop and capture AI-generated memories at the iconic Seven Wonders. With an estimated duration of 70 minutes, the experience combines storytelling, technology, and interactivity to create an unforgettable cultural journey around the world. 7 Wonders of the World: An Immersive Experience will open at 106 Commercial Road (near Liverpool Street Station and Shoreditch High Street) on 29th November 2025. Tickets are priced from £16.90 per person, and can be booked via feverup.com

Image: DARKFIELD Following their residency at Shoreditch Town Hall earlier this year, DARKFIELD returns to London with a bumper line-up of four shipping container shows - ARCADE, FLIGHT, COMA and EULOGY. Taking over a corner of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park across October and early November, this collection of 360-degree sound experiences delivered through headphones in the pitch black invites guests to embrace the darkness and explore dream-like worlds that examine everything from free will to quantum mechanics. FLIGHT Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Set within a cross-section of a commercial aeroplane cabin, complete with a laminated safety card, working seatbelts, tray tables and overhead luggage compartments, FLIGHT invites audiences to experience two parallel realities at once. Taking inspiration from the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment (in which an animal inside a closed box is both dead and alive until observed), it places the audience into the role of the metaphorical cat, as both their death and survival play out in parallel, unobserved by everyone outside of the plane. Depending on your resolve, the above description is either going to be appealing or a terrifying proposition – and out of all the shows DARKFIELD has on offer during this London residency, FLIGHT is easily the most intense, helped in large part by having the most impactful motion effects. There's a persistent rumble of engines during take-off; moments of turbulence cause the cabin to jolt around, and of course, as the reality in which audiences don't survive plays out, the intensity of these effects ramps up considerably. While the show takes place in complete darkness, fleeting flashes of light through the aeroplane's windows help sell the illusion of flight even further, illuminating both the cabin and its seated passengers. FLIGHT's use of binaural audio is perhaps the strongest of this residency's four shows, as the moments in which the chaos and carnage of the plane's destruction envelop its captive audience are rendered in terrifyingly realistic detail, with the sound of the fuselage ripping apart and the cabin being pummelled by the outside air becoming almost deafening. Even during FLIGHT's calmer moments, there's still plenty to raise the heart rate, including a chorus of crying babies (arguably worse than death), problematic passengers, and some pretty terse flight attendants whispering in your ear - all delivered through the show's excellent binaural soundscape. While the odds of being in a real-life plane crash are incredibly low, FLIGHT is a vivid reminder that every time we fly, we're placing our trust in people and things beyond our control. There's very little we can do to ensure our safety, besides making sure our tray tables are in their upright position and obeying the fasten seatbelt sign. ★★★★ COMA Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic COMA, which first premiered in 2019, invites guests to enter a collective dream as part of a collective medical experiment. Lying in a whitewashed bunk bed, barely big enough to stretch out in, each participant is prompted to ingest a white pill laid out by their bed and slip away into a state of unconsciousness. A male voice slowly counts down from 10 and asks us to focus on remembering the details of the space, as the lights fade and total darkness takes over. Easily the most claustrophobic of DARKFIELD's offerings, thanks to the tight sleeping arrangements, COMA takes great delight in toying with its audience, keeping them on edge throughout. Through headphones, the voice of the Doctor - which acts as the driving force throughout the experiences - constantly moves around the space. At first, it appears they're in the far corners of the room before moments later appearing alongside you, seemingly bending down to whisper into your ear. In the background, hushed conversations from the other patients and staff members imply there's movement happening throughout the space, despite everyone being confined to their bunks. Nurses open and close curtains around you, offering little in the way of privacy and protection against whatever forces are at play within the facility. Alongside mention of people's perfumes, or the broken coffee machine, come matching smells, pumped directly into the container, and a small sliding shutter beside your head seemingly opens and closes at regular intervals, as if you're being observed up close. While COMA encourages participants to enter into a meditative state, there's so much going on around you; you're never able to truly relax into your surroundings, and if anything, you're more on edge than when you first entered. By the show's climax, it's hard to tell if what you're experiencing has been curated as part of the show or was a figment of your imagination, as you lie immobilised. ★★★ EULOGY Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Sitting upon a single pillow inside individual laundry roll cages, EULOGY has audience members exploring the endless corridors and rooms of a labyrinthine hotel. As always in a DARKFIELD show, they're in total darkness and wearing headphones, but the show's opening moments offer up a mechanic not present in either COMA or FLIGHT - the ability to respond to questions with simple answers, picked up through a microphone on each audience member's headphones. Accompanying each audience member on their audio-based journey is their assigned Companion, who both 'moves' them through the space and offers reassurances and guidance throughout (all delivered through whispers). In typical DARKFIELD fashion, exactly what's going on within the hotel is never made explicitly clear. All of the hotel's companions appear to be racing each other to get to the hotel's deeper levels as quickly as possible, but exactly what's required and involved remains elusive throughout. Try as you might to wrap your head around what's going on, you're always on the back foot, even though you're meant to be in control of your journey. On a technical level, EULOGY does an incredible job of immersing you in the show's imaginary world. As you descend deeper and deeper into the subterranean hotel, your laundry cage gently vibrates, and the sound of lift doors opening is accompanied by a gust of air, signifying your arrival in another part of the hotel. While comments from your companion and other hotel staff about how the air gets thicker the deeper you go, thankfully, aren't recreated, the cumulative effect of the binaural audio and pre-recorded performances certainly makes it feel like it is. The mind's a crazy thing... ★★★ ½ ARCADE Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic The latest DARKFIELD production, ARCADE, rounds off their London residency. We reviewed ARCADE earlier in the year during their Shoreditch Town Hall takeover. Read an extract below, with our full review linked underneath. "Taking control of Milk, an amnesic avatar dropped into the middle of an ongoing war between the North Block and South Block, guests respond to questions and prompts by pressing the single button on the panel of their individual arcade machine to answer 'Yes', with no response signalling 'No'. In addition, there's a coin slot and return tray to facilitate 'paying' for items such as guns and access to areas that are otherwise off-limits. They're all pretty limited ways of interacting with the story as it develops, but for something so basic, the paths it leads you down are branching and varied. Within ARCADE, these 'Yes' or 'No' decisions can have drastic consequences. A wrong answer can result in your avatar being killed at a moment's notice (something we found out less than a minute into our playthrough), and the trajectory of your story can veer off in a wildly different direction from what other guests are experiencing without you even realising how it happened. Violence is near enough guaranteed within the world of ARCADE, regardless of whether you try to be a pacifist or mercenary, and with every bullet fired comes some practical effects built into the arcade machine that remove the barrier between what you hear and what you feel. There's a tension and anxiety built into the show's sound design that only amplifies as you get deeper into the experience, and every decision begins to carry more weight." ★★★★ DARKFIELD's COMA, FLIGHT, EULOGY and ARCADE are at Mandeville Place in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park until 2nd November 2025. Tickets for each experience are priced from £13.50 per person, with discounts available if booking multiple shows at once. To find out more and book tickets, visit darkfield.org/london2025

From family-friendly frights and immersive walking tours to intense experiences that promise big scares, here are our recommendations for London's best immersive experiences this Halloween... Photos/Images: Ghost Newington/Alistair Veryard/ScreamWorks/Beavertown Brewery/Peter Broughton As always, London is looking to play host to a number of spooky immersive experiences this October. To help you make the most of the spooky season, we've gathered together all the information you need to make your next night out a great one. Below is our pick of the best experiences on offer across the month for those looking for various levels of frights. From family-friend spooks to intense experiences, there's something on offer for everyone's taste this Halloween, if you're brave enough... This guide will be updated as more experiences are announced. Check back later in the month for more recommendations. Phantom Peak - Hallowed Peak: THe Lunar Festival Video: Phantom Peak We've spoken at length previously about how good Phantom Peak is. In our opinion, this platypus-loving mining town is the most enjoyable immersive experience currently on offer in London. While it's open nearly year-round with regular updates and re-themes, Halloween is when the place comes into its own. For 2025, their Lunar Festival is back for a fourth year, with all three previous Hallowed Peak seasons having enjoyed multiple sold-out dates. For this year's edition of Hallowed Peak, there are 11 brand-new story trails available for guests to experience, which feature everything from hell-bent TV hosts and missing mummies to monster stag-dos. Phantom Peak is a family-friendly experience, and the free-roaming, experience-at-your-own-pace design of the show means you can take a break from the storylines at any time and pick them back up without missing anything. There's a string of other activities on offer, including carnival games, costume competitions and multiple Hallowed Peak-themed food and drink options. The show's creators describe Hallowed Peak as 'more spooky than scary', so it's an ideal experience for those seeking a Halloween experience that's not intense. Photos: Alistair Veryard Following last year’s sold-out success, Hallowed Peak returns with a brand new chapter in the award-winning immersive open-world experience. This time, the town of Phantom Peak faces its strangest mystery yet: the old Mayor Furbish, long presumed dead, has resurfaced. But is he really back... or is something more sinister at work? Prepare to explore the sprawling, open-world immersive adventure set in a richly detailed steampunk-inspired town, enjoy a drink by the waterfall, and uncover exciting new storylines woven throughout with elements of escape rooms, interactive theatre, and free-roam exploration.  📍 Canada Water 💰 From £35.00 👻 Scare Level: 1/5 🕒 19th September - 9th November 2025 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com Creature by Peter Broughton Image: Peter Broughton Fresh off a sold-out debut run at COLAB Invitational Theatre Festival, Peter Broughton’s Creature is one of the year’s most exciting immersive productions. With each performance for one audience member, it’s also one of the most exclusive. For Halloween weekend, the 20-minute-long show returns to COLAB Tower for a 3-day run, which we expect will sell out almost immediately. Fusing immersive theatre with puppetry and binaural audio, Creature explores themes of rejection and abandonment. Each performance’s single audience member takes their place in a wheelchair for the duration and assumes the role of a captive Victor Frankenstein as they come face-to-face with a life-sized puppet of their own creation. As one of the lucky few who’ve been able to experience it already, we can confirm that it’s an intense and overwhelming thrill ride that’s unlike any other immersive show out there. From Peter Broughton (Co-Creator and Associate Director of Bacchanalia) comes a fusion of puppetry and immersive theatre, inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Take a seat in a wheelchair, guided into darkness by a gas-masked figure, and don headphones that plunge you into a world of shadows, sound, and tension. Confront the phenomenal, towering puppet in an intimate, one-on-one encounter with the unknown. 📍 London Bridge 💰 From £98.00 👻 Scare Level: 3/5 🕒 30th October - 1st November 2025 🎟️ Book via eventbrite.co.uk Granny: The Horror Escape Game - Screamworks Image: ScreamWorks In recent years, ScreamWorks has earned a reputation for creating some of London's best immersive horror experiences. Their debut show, Bloodbath, launched in late 2022 and was unlike anything else on offer in the capital at the time. It pushed the boundaries and conventions of immersive theatre to an extreme and saw visitors being force-fed, tied up, undressed, and chased through an air vent on their hands and knees. 2023 saw them debut The Ghost Hunt - another exceptionally scary immersive horror experience that had guests make their way through a Victorian house illuminated only by torchlight, and 2024 saw the launch of Open House: The Escape Room, which combined horror and escape room elements and unlike traditional escape rooms, offered a huge amount of freedom, and very little in the way of help. For 2025, they return with a new experience - Granny. Billed as an open-world horror experience, Granny has been designed to 'create fear, paranoia and anxiety in its participants'. While for most companies, that could be taken as an empty threat used for marketing, ScreamWorks have a track record of upping the terror with each new show. You can expect Granny to be an intense experience that's not for the faint of heart. You have been warned. It starts as a Halloween dare: Break into the old lady’s house behind the abandoned bookshop. Everyone’s heard the rumours… She murdered her whole family and hid their bodies under the floorboards. She never leaves the house — and eats spiders and worms. Some say she’s over a hundred years old. Others say she’s immortal — and knows everything. Just stories… right? You keep telling yourself that —until the door slams shut behind you, and you realise you’re inside an elaborate trap. What started as a thrill becomes a game of survival. And while Granny may not see well, she hears everything —and moves like lightning. Run. Hide. Plot your escape. Just don’t let her catch you. Because once Granny’s got you in her arms…she’ll never let you go. Photos of previous ScreamWorks shows. 📍 Bethnal Green 💰 From £34.00 👻 Scare Level: 4/5 🕒 3rd October - 31st December 2025 🎟️ Book via screamworks.london Bridge Command - Halloween Missions Images: Bridge Command Across 28th October to 2nd November, Bridge Command - one of London's best immersive experiences - is suspending their usual rotation of intergalactic missions to provide two exclusive Halloween-themed experiences aboard the UCS Takanami and UCS Havock. Running for a limited time, these missions allow the usual group sizes (up to a crew of 14 on UCS Havock and 10 on UCS Takanami) to experience these brand new storylines with a spooky twist. While details of their contents remain under wraps for now, the below descriptions offer a teaser of what to expect. In addition, access to The Mess - Bridge Command's highly themed bar aboard the USC Warspite - remain available for just £10 per ticket, and include a free cocktail. Silo A UCN destroyer class ship has gone silent carrying confidential cargo. Dark corridors, empty bunks, no crew. But something else lingers aboard. Ghost In The Machine A Terra Novan spiritual leader and the UCN High Command demand the crew’s support to cleanse a forsaken Exodus battleground. But does the past want to stay buried? Photo: Alex Brenner 📍 Vauxhall 💰 From £45.00 👻 Scare Level: ?/5 🕒 28th October - 2nd November 2025 🎟️ Book via bridgecommand.space Alibi: Dead Air by Tom Black and Dean Rogers Image: Tom Black/Dean Rogers While they've gained huge popularity in China since first appearing in the late 2010's, with over 10,000 physical locations and millions of regular players, Jubensha games have (until recently) largely passed English-speaking audienes by. A 2024 video from People Makes Game diving into Jubensha introduced many to the genre for the first time, but it's only in the last six months that London audiences have had the chance to try them out for themselves, with several Jubensha-inspired experiences having debuted at Voidspace Live earlier this year. Debuting this Halloweek weekend, Alibi: Dead Air - created by Tom Black (Bridge Command, Crisis? What Crisis?, Jury Games) and Dean Rodgers (The Crystal Maze Live Experience, Secret Cinema) - provides another opportunity to try out this new kind of social deducation game, and find out why the genre's gained such a following overseas. Twelve suspects. One killer. And that killer could be YOU. A true crime podcast, with a murdered host. A serial killer on the loose. Alibi is an immersive murder mystery game where you play both suspect and detective. A game of social deduction, where you must solve the clues to uncover which one of your fellow players is the killer. In our first case: Dead Air, a true crime podcast host dies in a recording booth while hunting a serial killer. 📍 Liverpool Street/Aldgate 💰 From £25.00 👻 Scare Level: ?/5 🕒 29th October - 2nd November 2025 🎟️ Book via eventbrite.co.uk Ghost Newington - Halloween Walking Tour Photo: Ghost Newington Back after several years away, Ghost Newington - the much-loved immersive Halloween walking tour - makes its grand return to the streets of Stoke Newington for 2025. For the uninitiated, Ghost Newington has guests exploring the areas' winding backstreets and cobbled yards under nightfall alongside The Ghost Master (Paul Critoph) over two and a half hours. You can expect jump scares, unexpected encounters, macabre tales of local legend, and, of course, several stop-offs in local public houses. Previously, the team behind Ghost Newington have staged The House of Dust in Haggerston, which invited visitors to enjoy three supernatural cocktails as The Ghost Master took them on a twisted journey through the annals of time to a world where ghosts, murderers and ghouls were brought to life, and last year they moved south of the river to Brixton for Tales Of The Strange, a spooky soirée hosted by fictional horror writer, Jeffrey Thrillerman. As dusk falls, muster your courage at The Axe Pub, where the Mysterious Ghost Master and his Minions will meet you and take you on a journey to uncover the dark, the unusual, and the downright macabre stories of this strange little corner of London. Guard yourself against Bonkers Balloonists, walk the treacherous path of Edgar Allen Poe, discover the mystery behind Dusty Sally, and raise a toast to the Morbid Entity that lies deep beneath a car park.  This isn't just any old run-of-the-mill Ghost tour. No Ma'am! This is GHOST NEWINGTON. One of Stoke Newington's top two ghost walks! (We can call it that because, to our knowledge, there’s only one other).  📍 Stoke Newington 💰 From £25.00 👻 Scare Level: 2/5 🕒 23rd October - 1st November 2025 🎟️ Book via designmynight.com Beavertown Presents... The Lost Dimensions Image: Beavertown Brewery No strangers to a Halloween pop-up - having previously taken over The Prince Charles Cinema and Flat Iron Square for spook-filled events in years past - Beavertown Brewery are hosting an immersive experience at Kachette between Old Street and Shoreditch High Street across Halloween weekend for 2025. Titled 'The Lost Dimensions', the 90-minute-long experience will have guests travel through five distinct zones and push people out of their comfort zones in an effort to reward those who 'say yes to the strange, the bold, and the bizarre'. As you'd expect, there's also some free drinks thrown in for those who attend, which is something we'll always say 'Yes' to. The experience invites you to leave normality behind and enter the wonderfully weird, surreal journey where you ditch the fear of judgment and embrace the unexpected. Across five distinct worlds, you’ll be tempted, teased, and tipped out of your comfort zone through curious prompts, unexpected encounters and side quests that urge you to say yes to the strange, the bold, and the bizarre. Each space offers a fresh take on what it means to be Never Normal. Everything culminates in the Beavertown bar, the ultimate spot to swap stories, crack open cans and celebrate your truest, weirdest self. Within the bar, the clothing pop-up returns with the brand-new range, and to top it off, the space will come alive each day with sets from some of London’s most exciting DJs, including two secret headline performances. This isn’t a fright fest. It’s storytelling with a deliciously twisted edge. So, loosen your grip on reality, steel your nerves, and prepare for spine-tingles of the finest variety. Because life’s more fun when you stick your neck out. 📍 Old Street 💰 From £20.00 👻 Scare Level: ?/5 🕒 31st October - 2nd November 2025   🎟️ Book via beavertownbrewery.co.uk For the latest news and updates on all the best immersive Halloween experiences in London this October, follow us on Instagram  🎃