Hoxton Hall, London, October/November 2017

This autumn you can step back in time to witness a hive of vampires performing a ritual that will let them become day-walkers in a new, immersive theatre experience by Hammer, the masters of gothic horror. 

The Grade-II listed Victorian Hoxton Music Hall in the East End of London could tell a tale or two since opening in 1863, and that tale is currently one of the undead. Typically used as a performing arts centre in the Hipster beard centre of the capital, it has gone back to its good old days roots to host some old school entertainment to nightly crowds of thrill-seeking visitors.

Once inside this dark domain, and following a briefing where it’s made clear that we’re only observers and won’t be acknowledged (or approached) by any of the performers, we’re off on a two-hour experience that’s shaped by our own choices.

Imagine a Hammer Horror ‘Choose your own adventure’ book made real, and this will help you understand the concept. If you want to see what happens to Laura, go through the left door, or if you’d prefer to see where simpleton Dimi is going, follow him to the graveyard. I’d guess there’s around a hundred different scenes played out across the half-dozen rooms, and you’re free to wander in and out as you choose. And because we are wearing our Harry Potter-style invisibility cloaks/capes (we collectively looked like the new intake at Hogwarts) we prowl the location without being challenged.

This is a different experience to the audience-participation dramatics of a Secret Cinema where the actors talk to you and expect you to interact, and arguably because you feel safe that you won’t be pounced upon by a creature of the night, this lessens the tension. If jump scares or horror houses are more your thing, there’s other entertainments elsewhere to satisfy your bloodlust – the emphasis here is more on entertaining you than terrifying you.

The lead vampire is Carmilla Karnstein, with whom Hammer has its own legacy with The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire, but the trappings here are equally reminiscent of the studio’s Hands of the Ripper. The vampire queen is joined by thirteen undead followers and four humans and I’d guess there’s around 200 spectators in the house, though split up across the rooms from cellar to rafters.

What’s impressive is the way that each of the characters has a distinctive character trait or selling point, meaning that they don’t come across as faceless (and soulless) drones of the Queen. There’s the Nosferatu/Uncle Fester-like Brother Gorgo or the dashing Cassian, and Kate Sissons has a great time putting the vamp in vampire with her seductive but deadly Carmilla, delivering the fruity dialogue in a splendid scarlet frock.

There’s a bar where you can buy a customised  Carmilla bottle of Jägermeister, though I think they missed a trick by not having a promotion on jugs of Bloody Mary or carafes of claret. Photos aren’t allowed once you’re in play, which is right, because no-one wants the experience ruined by the less-engaged taking vampire selfies or filming the scenes. In any event, there’s plenty of opportunity to take your photo in your cape at the beginning.

The rooms are beautifully dressed with velvet curtains, candelabras and other Victorian ephemera. Each has its own identity, with multiple entrances and hosting the many different character meet-ups. One strategy is to follow a single character as they wind their way around the venue, or you can sit in one room and wait for the vampires to come to you… or do a combination of both. And as you make your travails you hear ethereal whispers from hidden speakers.

Hammer previously produced stage versions of The Turn of the Screw and The Haunting of Hill House, but this is their first live immersive theatre experience, and I’m guessing that based on the extension of the run into November (and many dates already being sold out) that it’s onto a winner.

It’s not a cheap night out, with the cheapest ticket just shy of £50, and the 18+ might be a little harsh when considering what you get to see in a 15 certificate movie nowadays. I suspect it’s more to do with licensing restrictions than the amount of blood spilt, and besides, this sort of retro fun is wasted in the kids.

Verdict: The perfect, immersive, adult night out for nocturnal voyeurs and lurkers, this is as much Anne Rice as Ingrid Pitt, reminding the Twilight generation of the true origin of vampires as being sexy, tragic and intoxicating. Maybe it’s just me… but I’ve been looking very pale recently and these puncture marks in my neck just aren’t clearing up… 8/10

 

 

You can visit the Soulless Ones until 4 November. More information and tickets from www.hammerhouseofhorror.com or www.hoxtonhall.co.uk