Haunting in the Hall
We arrived at Cusworth Hall with high expectations for House of Dolls, especially after the success of last year's event. We weren't the only ones either, as the event had one of the longest queues we've experienced all season. There was an incredible buzz of excitement in the air with many people having queued for hours. The crowds held back by a single scare actor, a tall butler who was interacting and entertaining the crowds accordingly.
Cusworth Hall itself is an incredible location which lends itself well to such an attraction. With the spiral staircase up to the main entrance it exudes elegance and grandeur. The entrance is simply lit with flood lighting but it honesty needs little else - the historical house speaks for itself.
Suddenly, out of the blue we heard a fire alarm going off which in itself is not an unusual occurrence, when visiting scare attractions. There are a number of safety systems employed by attractions to keep guests safe and any number of occurrences could set them off such as a fire door being opened or too much smoke setting off sensors. Normally these would be silenced quickly and the attraction would reopen.
The fire alarms on this occasion didn't silence though. What had happened was that a guest inside the attraction had smashed the fire alarm box and the only thing to do was call out an engineer. Being an historical stately home with priceless artefacts inside, a set protocol had to be followed meaning that the attraction wasn't able to reopen for a while.
Unfortunately a small group of narrow minded individuals then believed that they could storm the attraction to get inside. The scenes were ugly, and to ensure public safety and to protect the building itself, the event was closed down for the night and everyone was told to leave.The hundreds of people who had taken the time and effort to make it out to visit were essentially left disappointed.
GNG as always remained professional and dealt with the situation well, but our hearts really go out to the team. The time and effort that goes into making a haunt come to life is excruciating and relentless. For a two night event, it must be heartbreaking that one thoughtless individual could ruin the evening for everyone.
People react to fear in different ways but there's no excuse for defacing property. Whether the original individual was so frightened that he reacted in such a negative way or he was simply out to cause trouble is anyone's guess. but the motives do appear. The reaction of the crowd to the delay in reopening the event is even more worrying and showed a lack of respect for staff, organisers and the venue itself
If you're reading this article and thinking about visiting a scare attraction but are unsure whether it's for you. Do your research - these attractions are supposed to be scary and you are supposed to be frightened. If you spoil it for the group it's you who ultimately looks foolish. Scream, jump even swear about it if you have to, just laugh it off and enjoy the attraction in the way it's supposed to be experienced. If you think you might end up showing yourself up with your actions, stay away.
Enjoy Halloween by all means but think about how your actions will affect others.
If anyone managed to visit this show before the fire alarm incident we would love to hear your review and comments
To read our review of Haunting in the Hall 2012 - Click here
Very scary - It was so scary we looked through the mirror and .. Saw something white yes it was a ghost!?!?!?!?!
Isabelle
Isabelle
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