A Murderous Victorian Halloween
Working on the Freelands events are some of the best projects I have ever had the joy to work on. With such fantastic clients that share my love for terrifying their guests and creating memorable experiences, every part of the project was full of giggles and enthusiasm.
Freelands is a beautiful Victorian house, a perfect setting for a spooky Halloween. We decided to use the house, it’s quirky architecture and creeky floorboards to provide us with the setting of a haunted house.
We kept to a simple but effective theme of ‘Victorian London’ mixing both fiction and fact to create a different world for our guest to walk into.
It starts with a long walk up the driveway, escorted by ghosts, ghouls and the screams of fear, to a dimly lit entrance that looks like a giant face with blood red eyes. Entering past the rusty gates that cry when opened you’re welcomed by a towering front door and a booming door knocker. Slowly opened by a candle lit Lurch, coats were taken and guests directed with a deathly stare and a heavily pointed finger up the cobweb ridden stairs into the labyrinth of smoke, mirrors and ghosts.
With an unremarkable walk up the stairs, the odd scary face in the window over-sized spiders an eerie silence helps build the suspense as each guest knows that this is too easy! A little trick with mirrors and lights allows us to create a glimpse of a hanging figure in the dark stairwell before they move up to the landing surrounded by the stillness of the old house.
Moving forward to the nursery the quiet mumbles of a crying baby and the creek of a rocking chair where with only a few candles shedding light on the room we find a nanny facing the window rocking ever so slightly too quickly back and forth in her rocking chair. Turning her head quickly to see the intruders, with Woman in Black inspired stealth, she slithers onto the floors and crawls towards the guests, grabbing and snatching at them as they run in fear.
With their adrenalin high, they move to the next room, passing a live statue, who’s eyes follow any unsuspecting guest and creep up, grabbing a distracted shoulder as attention is drawn to the bathroom where a dead woman, lies lifeless in a pool of blood.
Signs to Sweeny Todd’s Barber shop act as reassurance that it’s soon to be over, you hurry towards the stairs trying not to look down the narrow corridor to your right where a screaming ghoul lurks in the dark.
A sign of relief as you walk down the stairs, following the light into a brightly lit kitchen. Hearing the thuds of a clever on wood and the sound of meat being chopped … how far would they go to re-create Sweeny Todd’s Barber shop
Met by the Host, the walk is over and are offered a welcoming winter warmer and ushered through to the marquee to compare notes with the other guests.
The Marquee supported the theme with the tables designed as the tube lines on which their character was based. With Jack the Ripper on the red central line at Whitechapple, Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street on the Bakerloo line, Sweeney Todd on Fleet street on the Circle line the table runners were colour coordinated with tube stop signs as each place setting. Props relevant to each character were placed on each table and facts and quotes about them for guests to learn about the character’s history.
A giant silhouette skyline of London covered the far wall with street lamps and road signs supporting cobwebs and crows with a photo booth area in the style of a prison line up to capture the guests as they came in … after they had recovered from the haunted house walk!
