The Nightmare Realm - 2024
Now celebrating fifteen years of fear, The Nightmare Realm is back in the centre of Dublin with their new show Village of Fear. As in previous years, this year has seen five brand new mazes debut, as well as some more theming and entertainment around the site.
We have said it many times before but this location in Dublin works perfectly for the event, as it creates a kind of mini Halloween town all under one roof. The mazes, shops and food court all are accessible from the central high street that runs down the middle of the venue. This year the team have added even more fake shop fronts to heighten the effect, and they aren't just simple facades - these are fully formed 3D displays, which really highlight the attention to detail throughout this event.
This also extends to the maze facades with The House of Little Red having one of the most impressive facades we have ever seen at a scare attraction. Not bad seeing as this was originally built at their home location and transported here in pieces and rebuilt as a temporary structure. But the attention to detail and theming also extends to inside the mazes, which are all intricately designed with tons of props, effects and more.
Each of the five mazes had its own distinctive theme ranging from werewolves, to clowns, witches and crazed butchers, and although many of the sets and props are reused year on year, they are arranged differently to make each maze feel new and exciting for this year. The mazes themselves are also all quite long (with House of Little Red easily being the largest maze they have done) and are all filled with lively actors that provide an endless array of scares.
One of the things that always impressed us at The Nightmare Realm is just how intense the actors get at times, without resorting to touching guests. They get REALLY close (especially in Slappy's Birthday Bash), and as we did a couple of the mazes as just a group of one or two - we were totally intimidated by the actors.
Our favourite maze was easily The Last Gas Station on the Left. For what could have been a basic zombie maze, the actors were able to get scares from all directions and perform multiple attacks that left us screaming throughout.
We've also mentioned the secret rooms and routes before, and these were all put to good use throughout the night. You never quite know when you will be pulled into a secret room for a more personal experience. Even though we have visited these all before - they were still genuinely terrifying as they make a good use of full blackouts and VERY sudden actor appearances.
Talking of the secret rooms, if you get chance to talk to the undertaker in the street and he offers to measure you up for a coffin - then go! We cant say too much but what follows is a very claustrophobic coffin/burial experience that really needs to be experienced to be believed.
Alongside the main mazes, the high street is full of roaming characters including the inimitable Molly Mayhem, as well as other activities such as a merchandise shop, the museum of horrors, a temporary tattoo parlour and a fortune teller.
New for this year was an extremely energetic dance troupe who performed in the main food court. Their dancing and acrobatics were particularly impressive and the long 20 minute show saw them jumping on and off the stage as well as climbing all over the tables in the area.
All in, we had a fantastic time at this year's event, and cant wait to see what new scares the team come up with next year.
We have said it many times before but this location in Dublin works perfectly for the event, as it creates a kind of mini Halloween town all under one roof. The mazes, shops and food court all are accessible from the central high street that runs down the middle of the venue. This year the team have added even more fake shop fronts to heighten the effect, and they aren't just simple facades - these are fully formed 3D displays, which really highlight the attention to detail throughout this event.
This also extends to the maze facades with The House of Little Red having one of the most impressive facades we have ever seen at a scare attraction. Not bad seeing as this was originally built at their home location and transported here in pieces and rebuilt as a temporary structure. But the attention to detail and theming also extends to inside the mazes, which are all intricately designed with tons of props, effects and more.
Each of the five mazes had its own distinctive theme ranging from werewolves, to clowns, witches and crazed butchers, and although many of the sets and props are reused year on year, they are arranged differently to make each maze feel new and exciting for this year. The mazes themselves are also all quite long (with House of Little Red easily being the largest maze they have done) and are all filled with lively actors that provide an endless array of scares.
One of the things that always impressed us at The Nightmare Realm is just how intense the actors get at times, without resorting to touching guests. They get REALLY close (especially in Slappy's Birthday Bash), and as we did a couple of the mazes as just a group of one or two - we were totally intimidated by the actors.
Our favourite maze was easily The Last Gas Station on the Left. For what could have been a basic zombie maze, the actors were able to get scares from all directions and perform multiple attacks that left us screaming throughout.
We've also mentioned the secret rooms and routes before, and these were all put to good use throughout the night. You never quite know when you will be pulled into a secret room for a more personal experience. Even though we have visited these all before - they were still genuinely terrifying as they make a good use of full blackouts and VERY sudden actor appearances.
Talking of the secret rooms, if you get chance to talk to the undertaker in the street and he offers to measure you up for a coffin - then go! We cant say too much but what follows is a very claustrophobic coffin/burial experience that really needs to be experienced to be believed.
Alongside the main mazes, the high street is full of roaming characters including the inimitable Molly Mayhem, as well as other activities such as a merchandise shop, the museum of horrors, a temporary tattoo parlour and a fortune teller.
New for this year was an extremely energetic dance troupe who performed in the main food court. Their dancing and acrobatics were particularly impressive and the long 20 minute show saw them jumping on and off the stage as well as climbing all over the tables in the area.
All in, we had a fantastic time at this year's event, and cant wait to see what new scares the team come up with next year.
The Nightmare Realm - 2023
The Nightmare Realm has returned once again to the historic fruit and veg market in the centre of Dublin. You may remember that last year we commented on how the whole site felt like a "Halloween town" and the team have done even more in 2023 to present this impression.
Most notable is the higher, double storey facades on many of the main buildings. Like the fake shop windows, these are purely set dressing, but really help to create an immersive atmosphere outside of the scare mazes. We spent a lot of our night just wandering through the "streets" and taking in the atmosphere and Molly Mayhem and her crew of roaming actors stalked and scared the guests. In fact it was whilst walking around that a friendly clown saw our fast track wrist band and dragged us (literally kicking and screaming) into our first maze - Dead Carnival.
Now we would never call anything at the event "generic" but this is clearly just another clown maze. We had some great jump scares through here and we loved the cheeky scene with "balls". But what really stood out was that we were given a secret mission. Chaos the Clown was missing and the clowns believed he had been arrested and was therefore incarcerated in the nearby prison. We were given a note and told to try and snuggle it past the prison guards in death Row. As we left the maze and headed over to the prison we noticed there were a number of Free Chaos now posters about the town, tying the stories together across the whole event. In fact - hidden around the venue are multiple QR codes that lead to little secrets for those who want to play along.
So, emboldened with our mission we headed into Death Row 2 and were convinced that the guards could see guilt written all over our faces. as they questioned if we had any contraband. It was difficult to keep quiet, and we slipped into the prison in a quest to pass the note to Chaos. Being focused on the task at hand, meant we were fair game to the prisoners and we had a number of great scares throughout. Sadly due to an actor break, we never got to pass our note to Chaos - but the thrill of trying it really added an edge to the maze.
So therefore we were excited during Shriekers to be picked out again for another mission - this time we were asked to sneak a note to a specific doctor in Bioxine. But before we could leave the maze we had to experience two of the Nightmare Realms's "special room". These secret rooms are used throughout the night and add an extra scare - often utilising some fun effects and intense small group interactions. It is completely random whether you get chosen for one of the secret rooms, but by being a perfect customer (scared, not messing around, and just having fun in the maze) you are more likely to be chosen. Obviously recognising us - we were dragged into all the rooms across the whole event and despite having experienced the Exorcism bed scene and the Seance before - we were blown away by the Bloody Mary scene - which had us screaming in disbelief in the finale! Not all the secret rooms were in this maze but it is hard to remember where each one was specifically across the night
Something that really impressed us in Shriekers (subtitled - return of the Swamp Witch) - was the great use of the swamp/fog effect that we have seen at multiple parks. Unlike most - where the guests are guided by a narrow passage through the room - we were able to walk through here in a free flow pattern, and the actors used the lighting perfectly to get some incredible scares!
So having already met Clowns, Witches and Prison inmates - we headed into Sundown Manor which has become a hidden nest for Vampyres. We had a number of great jump scares throughout this maze, and there were some particularly graphic images and effects as the vampires had invited us to their annual Soiree. Sundown was probably the most classic "haunted house" style of attraction, and the sets and costumes throughout created a great atmosphere.
Our final maze of the night Was Bioxine laboratories - where we were to experience a revolutionary breakthrough in medicine and wellness. Of course nothing is ever what it seems, and this laboratory hid a grisly secret and some genuinely freaky creations. We loved the monster designs in this maze - especially the mutilated and bloated carcass monster that looked like something straight from a movie! It was terrifying to see up close and a good reason to move sharply through the maze! Of course we also had a mission to find "the doctor in the room with the baby baths" ( no it didn't make sense to us either, until we saw it) but when we made contact we had a great character interaction that made the whole mission worthwhile.
Across all 5 mazes we had a number of great scares and jumps from some lively actors. In several mazes they seemed to delight in taunting us and sending us down narrow passageways . Whatever the actors did to us - we left all the mazes with a smile on our faces.
After completing the mazes there are more things to explore at the park including some live entertainment, a food court and the Museum of Horrors. The loud blaring music throughout creates a great party atmosphere and it was clear that everyone was enjoying their night.
We thoroughly enjoyed our night at the Realm and have to commend all the team for the effort that goes into putting up this temporary event every year. It really is a stunning achievement, and we cant wait to see what they come up with in 2024.
Most notable is the higher, double storey facades on many of the main buildings. Like the fake shop windows, these are purely set dressing, but really help to create an immersive atmosphere outside of the scare mazes. We spent a lot of our night just wandering through the "streets" and taking in the atmosphere and Molly Mayhem and her crew of roaming actors stalked and scared the guests. In fact it was whilst walking around that a friendly clown saw our fast track wrist band and dragged us (literally kicking and screaming) into our first maze - Dead Carnival.
Now we would never call anything at the event "generic" but this is clearly just another clown maze. We had some great jump scares through here and we loved the cheeky scene with "balls". But what really stood out was that we were given a secret mission. Chaos the Clown was missing and the clowns believed he had been arrested and was therefore incarcerated in the nearby prison. We were given a note and told to try and snuggle it past the prison guards in death Row. As we left the maze and headed over to the prison we noticed there were a number of Free Chaos now posters about the town, tying the stories together across the whole event. In fact - hidden around the venue are multiple QR codes that lead to little secrets for those who want to play along.
So, emboldened with our mission we headed into Death Row 2 and were convinced that the guards could see guilt written all over our faces. as they questioned if we had any contraband. It was difficult to keep quiet, and we slipped into the prison in a quest to pass the note to Chaos. Being focused on the task at hand, meant we were fair game to the prisoners and we had a number of great scares throughout. Sadly due to an actor break, we never got to pass our note to Chaos - but the thrill of trying it really added an edge to the maze.
So therefore we were excited during Shriekers to be picked out again for another mission - this time we were asked to sneak a note to a specific doctor in Bioxine. But before we could leave the maze we had to experience two of the Nightmare Realms's "special room". These secret rooms are used throughout the night and add an extra scare - often utilising some fun effects and intense small group interactions. It is completely random whether you get chosen for one of the secret rooms, but by being a perfect customer (scared, not messing around, and just having fun in the maze) you are more likely to be chosen. Obviously recognising us - we were dragged into all the rooms across the whole event and despite having experienced the Exorcism bed scene and the Seance before - we were blown away by the Bloody Mary scene - which had us screaming in disbelief in the finale! Not all the secret rooms were in this maze but it is hard to remember where each one was specifically across the night
Something that really impressed us in Shriekers (subtitled - return of the Swamp Witch) - was the great use of the swamp/fog effect that we have seen at multiple parks. Unlike most - where the guests are guided by a narrow passage through the room - we were able to walk through here in a free flow pattern, and the actors used the lighting perfectly to get some incredible scares!
So having already met Clowns, Witches and Prison inmates - we headed into Sundown Manor which has become a hidden nest for Vampyres. We had a number of great jump scares throughout this maze, and there were some particularly graphic images and effects as the vampires had invited us to their annual Soiree. Sundown was probably the most classic "haunted house" style of attraction, and the sets and costumes throughout created a great atmosphere.
Our final maze of the night Was Bioxine laboratories - where we were to experience a revolutionary breakthrough in medicine and wellness. Of course nothing is ever what it seems, and this laboratory hid a grisly secret and some genuinely freaky creations. We loved the monster designs in this maze - especially the mutilated and bloated carcass monster that looked like something straight from a movie! It was terrifying to see up close and a good reason to move sharply through the maze! Of course we also had a mission to find "the doctor in the room with the baby baths" ( no it didn't make sense to us either, until we saw it) but when we made contact we had a great character interaction that made the whole mission worthwhile.
Across all 5 mazes we had a number of great scares and jumps from some lively actors. In several mazes they seemed to delight in taunting us and sending us down narrow passageways . Whatever the actors did to us - we left all the mazes with a smile on our faces.
After completing the mazes there are more things to explore at the park including some live entertainment, a food court and the Museum of Horrors. The loud blaring music throughout creates a great party atmosphere and it was clear that everyone was enjoying their night.
We thoroughly enjoyed our night at the Realm and have to commend all the team for the effort that goes into putting up this temporary event every year. It really is a stunning achievement, and we cant wait to see what they come up with in 2024.
The Nightmare Realm - 2022
When we last visited The Nightmare Realm at its original Dublin home at the RDS, we were accosted by Molly Mayhem and rushed through the houses without any real pause in between. We had a fantastic time, but the whole thing was a bit of a blur as the three mazes all blended into one another. Therefore, we were determined on this visit to take our time to really appreciate the experience, and we are so glad we did - as there is so much more to explore across the event.
First up we must mention the new venue. Right in the City Centre, this old fruit and veg market has stood empty for several years, but it makes a perfect location for this event. Inside the large sprawling building, individual roads and lanes are laid out to define where the original market stalls stood, and the creative team at The Realm have taken advantage of this. Therefore, each attraction has been built on its own "block" off of the main high street that runs down the middle of the site. This basic layout would be fine enough, but what really impressed us was that all the sides of the "buildings" were decorated with brickwork, shop fronts or more. With a food court, a performance stage and a museum along for the ride, the whole thing felt like a whole town or neighbourhood dedicated to Horror. If we could have found an estate agent we would have inquired about the possibility of moving in!
The first attraction we visited was Cannibals Playground, a massively sprawling maze that was just filled with aggressive and hungry cannibals. The sets throughout were insanely detailed, which is unusual for what is effectively a temporary structure. There were NO bare walls or corridors, and the actors were making use of the multiple hiding places to literally make us scream from beginning to end.
Our second maze of the night was Death Row - set inside a grungy maximum-security prison. From the moment we entered to the end, we were chased, taunted and terrified by the inmates. Now we aren't particularly small people but some of these actors were so intimidating that we couldn't help but cower in their presence. It wasn't just the actors that impressed us, but the detailed themed sets that were made of real metal prison bars. Nothing about this maze felt cheap or plastic and the whole experience was realistically grungy. Once again - amazing that this is only a temporary build!
After a break in the food court, we then decided to descend into The Sewers. We hadn't noticed it when we first walked round the site, but the only way in was through a narrow crawling tunnel. The host character outside was particularly hilarious as he taunted those who couldn't or wouldn't get down on their knees for this maze. Amazingly, a few days before us, the park was visited by Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly and even they crawled! Once inside we were in a dark and claustrophobic maze where we were asked to search for a missing girl. Along the way we were gifted a miner's helmet that proved worse than useless as it would flash, change colour or go off at inappropriate times. But as a warning to the actors that we were coming through - it worked a treat! The whole maze itself seemed to go on forever with further crawling places and, some great scares. Despite the huge numbers of sewer dwellers and creatures in the attraction we failed in our quest to find Lucy. Oh well - we'll have to try again next time!
So, after three long and grungy mazes we thought it would cheer us up to go and visit the clowns in Attack of the Clowns. Of course, despite being a bright and colourful maze, the clowns were particularly aggressive and stalked us mercilessly. Although short compared to the other 4 mazes, we had some great interactions - especially with the finale clown who clearly has some Daddy (or Santa) issues that need to be resolved!
Before visiting the final two experiences we explored the rest of the site, taking in the incredible theming throughout, the fantastic props in the museum and the photo opportunities offered by the Fanta House.
Our final scare attraction of the night was the elaborately themed (and exquisitely long) Haunted Orphanage. This maze was populated with mischievous ghost children who just wanted to play with us (or kill us) The jumps came thick and fast throughout, with the actors really using the set and props for great hiding places.
One thing we experienced in the Orphanage is a little trick that The Nightmare Realm are proud of. If they see a group get too close or bunched up, with another group, they can direct people down a different route. For example, in the orphanage we were sent through a very tight pallet maze which split us up from the group we had caught up with. Supposedly, all the mazes have these backups to keep the user experience unique and try to minimise the issues many attractions have with batching. We also have to mention the "special rooms" that you may get dragged into at any time. These rooms are packed with special effects and unique scares, and are experienced randomly through the evening.
Another thing to mention, is that all the mazes have a completely different vibe to them, with each one personalising their sets, costumes and even acting styles to be in keeping with the theme. Everything about each maze felt authentic to that story, which just makes it even harder for us to decide which one we liked best.
The final "experience" of the night was Banshee, a traditional Irish ghost story told in the dark. Although this was a fun and creepy addition, NOTHING of any note happened during the story. We were expecting some sensory scares or a sudden appearance, but we just got a spooky story in the dark. It's a shame to be so negative but compared to the full-on impact of the 5 mazes this felt like a letdown.
Once we had completed everything, we just spent some more time wandering around the town watching the live performances, laughing at the roaming actors and generally soaking up the atmosphere. As we said at the start of this review, we would happily live in this town knowing that each morning we would be waking up to another day of scares!
So there we have it - we planned to relax and soak up the atmosphere at The Nightmare Realm and that's exactly what we did. Everything about this event was on top form, and as we will say for the last time - we are amazed that this is ALL temporary. At the end of the month the whole thing will be packed up and put in storage until 2013. It really is an obscene undertaking that requires 14 trailers and so we have to praise the patience and dedication of the team as NO other seasonal pop-up event is as big and ambitious as this. All hail The Nightmare Realm - may it run for many more Halloweens to come!
First up we must mention the new venue. Right in the City Centre, this old fruit and veg market has stood empty for several years, but it makes a perfect location for this event. Inside the large sprawling building, individual roads and lanes are laid out to define where the original market stalls stood, and the creative team at The Realm have taken advantage of this. Therefore, each attraction has been built on its own "block" off of the main high street that runs down the middle of the site. This basic layout would be fine enough, but what really impressed us was that all the sides of the "buildings" were decorated with brickwork, shop fronts or more. With a food court, a performance stage and a museum along for the ride, the whole thing felt like a whole town or neighbourhood dedicated to Horror. If we could have found an estate agent we would have inquired about the possibility of moving in!
The first attraction we visited was Cannibals Playground, a massively sprawling maze that was just filled with aggressive and hungry cannibals. The sets throughout were insanely detailed, which is unusual for what is effectively a temporary structure. There were NO bare walls or corridors, and the actors were making use of the multiple hiding places to literally make us scream from beginning to end.
Our second maze of the night was Death Row - set inside a grungy maximum-security prison. From the moment we entered to the end, we were chased, taunted and terrified by the inmates. Now we aren't particularly small people but some of these actors were so intimidating that we couldn't help but cower in their presence. It wasn't just the actors that impressed us, but the detailed themed sets that were made of real metal prison bars. Nothing about this maze felt cheap or plastic and the whole experience was realistically grungy. Once again - amazing that this is only a temporary build!
After a break in the food court, we then decided to descend into The Sewers. We hadn't noticed it when we first walked round the site, but the only way in was through a narrow crawling tunnel. The host character outside was particularly hilarious as he taunted those who couldn't or wouldn't get down on their knees for this maze. Amazingly, a few days before us, the park was visited by Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly and even they crawled! Once inside we were in a dark and claustrophobic maze where we were asked to search for a missing girl. Along the way we were gifted a miner's helmet that proved worse than useless as it would flash, change colour or go off at inappropriate times. But as a warning to the actors that we were coming through - it worked a treat! The whole maze itself seemed to go on forever with further crawling places and, some great scares. Despite the huge numbers of sewer dwellers and creatures in the attraction we failed in our quest to find Lucy. Oh well - we'll have to try again next time!
So, after three long and grungy mazes we thought it would cheer us up to go and visit the clowns in Attack of the Clowns. Of course, despite being a bright and colourful maze, the clowns were particularly aggressive and stalked us mercilessly. Although short compared to the other 4 mazes, we had some great interactions - especially with the finale clown who clearly has some Daddy (or Santa) issues that need to be resolved!
Before visiting the final two experiences we explored the rest of the site, taking in the incredible theming throughout, the fantastic props in the museum and the photo opportunities offered by the Fanta House.
Our final scare attraction of the night was the elaborately themed (and exquisitely long) Haunted Orphanage. This maze was populated with mischievous ghost children who just wanted to play with us (or kill us) The jumps came thick and fast throughout, with the actors really using the set and props for great hiding places.
One thing we experienced in the Orphanage is a little trick that The Nightmare Realm are proud of. If they see a group get too close or bunched up, with another group, they can direct people down a different route. For example, in the orphanage we were sent through a very tight pallet maze which split us up from the group we had caught up with. Supposedly, all the mazes have these backups to keep the user experience unique and try to minimise the issues many attractions have with batching. We also have to mention the "special rooms" that you may get dragged into at any time. These rooms are packed with special effects and unique scares, and are experienced randomly through the evening.
Another thing to mention, is that all the mazes have a completely different vibe to them, with each one personalising their sets, costumes and even acting styles to be in keeping with the theme. Everything about each maze felt authentic to that story, which just makes it even harder for us to decide which one we liked best.
The final "experience" of the night was Banshee, a traditional Irish ghost story told in the dark. Although this was a fun and creepy addition, NOTHING of any note happened during the story. We were expecting some sensory scares or a sudden appearance, but we just got a spooky story in the dark. It's a shame to be so negative but compared to the full-on impact of the 5 mazes this felt like a letdown.
Once we had completed everything, we just spent some more time wandering around the town watching the live performances, laughing at the roaming actors and generally soaking up the atmosphere. As we said at the start of this review, we would happily live in this town knowing that each morning we would be waking up to another day of scares!
So there we have it - we planned to relax and soak up the atmosphere at The Nightmare Realm and that's exactly what we did. Everything about this event was on top form, and as we will say for the last time - we are amazed that this is ALL temporary. At the end of the month the whole thing will be packed up and put in storage until 2013. It really is an obscene undertaking that requires 14 trailers and so we have to praise the patience and dedication of the team as NO other seasonal pop-up event is as big and ambitious as this. All hail The Nightmare Realm - may it run for many more Halloweens to come!
The Nightmare Realm - 2019
The Nightmare Realm has returned to the RDS in Dublin for a new show entitled The Devils Crossroads. As part of this storyline, there are three individual mazes that are taken one after the other in turn.
Upon entering the experience, we were greeted by a loud and rambunctious event arena filled with live actors, pumping rock music and a small stage area. The atmosphere is electric and even on the quiet Wednesday night we visited, there was a real buzz in the air as guests lined up to start their tour of the houses.
Paired up with a group of screaming girls, we entered Snuffhouse86 and immediately we were blown away by the level of theming. We had to ask the owners afterwards to confirm that these were in fact temporary Halloween builds and not year round permanent sets. Everything from the walls to the props were beautifully themed and totally believable as the different rooms they were meant to be. Across the site we visited houses, caves, boiler rooms and tunnels and the sets really add to the stories being told.
Of course, a maze can look beautiful, but the scares come mostly from the actors, and we must commend everyone at the Realm for the enthusiasm and passion with which they scared us with. None of the mazes had any blind spots and all the actors were as aggressive and "in your face" as they could get (allowing for the no touching rules). There really was no let-up from beginning to end.
One of the most unique things was the use of "interactive" rooms, which are little side experiences that your group may or may not be pulled into. These little scripted sections provided some of the biggest scares of the night with some quality effects and tricks that genuinely left us screaming. "Fortunately" for us, we had an icon character follow us through each maze, and so she directed us to every single interactive room so we got to experience them all. We think the operators just liked watching us scream, as they showed us the CCTV footage afterwards and it was so funny to watch back (even if we hated every moment of it at the time!)
All in - we were blown away by every part of Nightmare Realm. The sets and actors were all on top form and the roaming characters were great fun. Our only issue? Due to the licensing rules of the venue there is no area to rest afterwards and stop for a drink or a bite to eat. It would have been great to be able to sit back and just watch people come out. But, as we say, that is just a logistics issue and has no reflection on the quality of the scare event itself.
Upon entering the experience, we were greeted by a loud and rambunctious event arena filled with live actors, pumping rock music and a small stage area. The atmosphere is electric and even on the quiet Wednesday night we visited, there was a real buzz in the air as guests lined up to start their tour of the houses.
Paired up with a group of screaming girls, we entered Snuffhouse86 and immediately we were blown away by the level of theming. We had to ask the owners afterwards to confirm that these were in fact temporary Halloween builds and not year round permanent sets. Everything from the walls to the props were beautifully themed and totally believable as the different rooms they were meant to be. Across the site we visited houses, caves, boiler rooms and tunnels and the sets really add to the stories being told.
Of course, a maze can look beautiful, but the scares come mostly from the actors, and we must commend everyone at the Realm for the enthusiasm and passion with which they scared us with. None of the mazes had any blind spots and all the actors were as aggressive and "in your face" as they could get (allowing for the no touching rules). There really was no let-up from beginning to end.
One of the most unique things was the use of "interactive" rooms, which are little side experiences that your group may or may not be pulled into. These little scripted sections provided some of the biggest scares of the night with some quality effects and tricks that genuinely left us screaming. "Fortunately" for us, we had an icon character follow us through each maze, and so she directed us to every single interactive room so we got to experience them all. We think the operators just liked watching us scream, as they showed us the CCTV footage afterwards and it was so funny to watch back (even if we hated every moment of it at the time!)
All in - we were blown away by every part of Nightmare Realm. The sets and actors were all on top form and the roaming characters were great fun. Our only issue? Due to the licensing rules of the venue there is no area to rest afterwards and stop for a drink or a bite to eat. It would have been great to be able to sit back and just watch people come out. But, as we say, that is just a logistics issue and has no reflection on the quality of the scare event itself.
Links
The Nightmare Realm official website
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