Necropolis - London's Journey of the Dead
Visiting a haunted attraction in the middle of rush hour traffic at one of the world's busiest train stations, resulted in a much anticipated racing of the heart and lungs. Standing by a random doorway covered in safety and warning assemblage as the city's workers hurried past us, caused us to feel that whatever laid behind would definitely encompass feelings of danger and fright, and added heightened expectations of the thrills ahead.
Once inside the door, the fast pace dropped immediately and the dusty tunnel opened up in front of us. A booth on the left housed a relic from some undistinguishable bygone era, dressed in a uniform that alluded to a nostalgic memory that made me think of the war. WW2 to be precise. Here we signed our waivers, were given the expected instructions and diverted to the old school lockers to relieve us of our baggage.
Now we were ready and willing.
A second guide took us through the beginning of this underground adventure and pointed us in the direction of it's first chamber. A half filled-in arch resembling an excavation site, the air filled with decades of dust and pollution and minimally decorated with a few chairs and some war-time posters add to your believing that this is a 'found' place. A projection of apparent medical torture lights the space and you realise you are not alone.
Storytelling is so important in any walk through experience and there should be a definite pathway of coherence; the dramatic pits and falls will always need expression and emotion; the danger and fear will also demand to be instilled from any witty banter. You should feel like you are being guided through the potted history of this particular space with its characters brought to life and enacted in front of you like they had just left the room. Sensory overload should come into play in this site specific mechanic. Your expectations are thus and you feel a want, a need, a justified craving.
However, I feel this was not quite the history of the Necropolis Railway; this was not quite a coherent play of characters and historical fact and (to their credit) this was not a straight-forward scare walk through. The disjointed scenes all worked in themselves and delivered a well-acted portion of the greater storyline with the anticipated final scene getting a deservedly high pedestal from which to scare the pants from your trembling carcass.
Our finale unceremoniously dumped us back into current-day rush hour and unfortunately, this is where this reviewer felt a little unsatisfied. A slight sense of disappointment that my somewhat high expectations had not been met or challenged by this experience, I stumbled into the brightly lit passageway between platforms 7 and 8. Its rushing peoples; as stunned as I were wondering where I had been and why was I suddenly here? Reality had a taste of bright renewal and rather than trying to calm down a racing heart, all I wanted to know was, “where do I find my bag?”
The Necropolis Railway appears to be a revamped Halloween version of a what I believe is a more regular war-time zombie experience. It had merit and was a brilliant location. If you have never been through something like this you'll find it thrilling and particularly scary at points, however, more seasoned 'travellers' might not feel the need for a spare pair of undergarments. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the experience but as I knew something of the history of the Necropolis Railway and was really excited about taking a trip, my expectations were high and possibly hard to achieve. I am left feeling that the venue was superior to the story and am hoping that next year's journey on the Necropolis Railway, I get to experience the horrors of being casketed off to Brookwood Cemetary.
Review by Luke Casey Browne 30/10/14
Once inside the door, the fast pace dropped immediately and the dusty tunnel opened up in front of us. A booth on the left housed a relic from some undistinguishable bygone era, dressed in a uniform that alluded to a nostalgic memory that made me think of the war. WW2 to be precise. Here we signed our waivers, were given the expected instructions and diverted to the old school lockers to relieve us of our baggage.
Now we were ready and willing.
A second guide took us through the beginning of this underground adventure and pointed us in the direction of it's first chamber. A half filled-in arch resembling an excavation site, the air filled with decades of dust and pollution and minimally decorated with a few chairs and some war-time posters add to your believing that this is a 'found' place. A projection of apparent medical torture lights the space and you realise you are not alone.
Storytelling is so important in any walk through experience and there should be a definite pathway of coherence; the dramatic pits and falls will always need expression and emotion; the danger and fear will also demand to be instilled from any witty banter. You should feel like you are being guided through the potted history of this particular space with its characters brought to life and enacted in front of you like they had just left the room. Sensory overload should come into play in this site specific mechanic. Your expectations are thus and you feel a want, a need, a justified craving.
However, I feel this was not quite the history of the Necropolis Railway; this was not quite a coherent play of characters and historical fact and (to their credit) this was not a straight-forward scare walk through. The disjointed scenes all worked in themselves and delivered a well-acted portion of the greater storyline with the anticipated final scene getting a deservedly high pedestal from which to scare the pants from your trembling carcass.
Our finale unceremoniously dumped us back into current-day rush hour and unfortunately, this is where this reviewer felt a little unsatisfied. A slight sense of disappointment that my somewhat high expectations had not been met or challenged by this experience, I stumbled into the brightly lit passageway between platforms 7 and 8. Its rushing peoples; as stunned as I were wondering where I had been and why was I suddenly here? Reality had a taste of bright renewal and rather than trying to calm down a racing heart, all I wanted to know was, “where do I find my bag?”
The Necropolis Railway appears to be a revamped Halloween version of a what I believe is a more regular war-time zombie experience. It had merit and was a brilliant location. If you have never been through something like this you'll find it thrilling and particularly scary at points, however, more seasoned 'travellers' might not feel the need for a spare pair of undergarments. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the experience but as I knew something of the history of the Necropolis Railway and was really excited about taking a trip, my expectations were high and possibly hard to achieve. I am left feeling that the venue was superior to the story and am hoping that next year's journey on the Necropolis Railway, I get to experience the horrors of being casketed off to Brookwood Cemetary.
Review by Luke Casey Browne 30/10/14
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