The Darkening
Before we go into the detail of this review, we feel it is important to state a few home truths about the review team - a) we have never believed in Paranormal TV programs such as Most Haunted, b) we have always distanced ourselves from paranormal investigations and ghost hunts and c) we are a sceptical bunch about most things (although put us in an allegedly haunted building in the dark, we will still jump at any little sound!)
So therefore, when we heard about The Darkening, we knew we had to give it a try as the marketing advertises it as a hybrid mix of paranormal investigation, magic show, and theatrical scare experience. We loved the fact that although we may not actually encounter any ghosts during the paranormal sections, we were sure expecting some spectacle in the theatrical bits.
And perhaps this is one small failing of the experience, in the fact that the team clearly delineated between the paranormal and the staged elements. For example, at one point they basically said the next section was a "magic show." We do think that if they had tricked the audience from the start, that the ultimate finale would have been more terrifying than it was. But maybe as there were many experienced ghost hunters and paranormal investigators visiting, that may have been one cruel trick too many.
Merley House itself is an imposing 18th century mansion which has a history of ghost activity, and the first half of the day was spent exploring different parts of the house. We used traditional techniques such as pendulums and Ouija boards to reach out to Ghosts as well as more modern techniques such as the Ghost hunt app (samples of which can be seen in the video below.)
Now as we said before – being quite sceptical – we didn’t really have much success in talking to anything or anyone, but others around us seemed to be having in depth conversations with the dead, with Ouija planchettes flying around the board. We managed to get a simple name of what we presumed was a child, but still weren’t sure if it was us subconsciously willing the thing to move. But more on that child later..
Despite not really feeling any real connection to any spirits, it was interesting to experience these activities (especially with people who genuinely believed they were communing with the dead.) All the way through out hosts John and David were completely professional and engaging, and made the whole experience tremendously entertaining.
After a few hours of trying to contact the ghosts, we were then treated to a delicious buffet meal where we were encouraged to discuss some of the things we had experienced with the other guests as well as getting ourselves a “stiff drink for what comes next”. Unfortunately, due to a small technical issue – this dinner break lasted longer than expected, but once our hosts came back, we were promised the star parts of the performance – the magic show, followed by the Séance.
So, it as this point that we don’t really want to give too much away, as we really don’t want to ruin any surprises. The magic show built on the stories and the “ghosts” we had experienced throughout the day, and as we said at the start would have been genuinely unnerving if we hadn’t been warned it was magic and not real.
The show combined several impressive tricks that genuinely left us speechless. That name of the child we got on Ouija board earlier? They were part of the show incredibly (which left us a bit dumbstruck!) The tricks and magic performed in this section ranged from mentalism, sleight of hand and card play, and it was all amazing to see up close. David, our host for the show is clearly a competent magician as he is storyteller, as there are still so many things that happened in that room that we are unsure how they did it.
The finale part of the show was the Séance itself. Would any of the ghosts physically manifest themselves? Again – we don’t want to give away any spoilers, but this was clearly the most theatrical part of the whole show., A terrifying climax in pitch darkness that left all of us screaming as the events unfolded. Although to us seasoned scare experience visitors, there was nothing stunningly unique in this finale, but it worked so well as a culmination of the day’s activities. The reaction to some of the people who had made more paranormal contact earlier in the days was priceless!
All in – The Darkening was a really interesting experience, and we are glad we got to discover it with a mixed audience of sceptics and believers. The team behind the event have created a stunningly engaging show that could traumatise someone if they genuinely throught it was real. Utilising magic, and Victorian parlour style séance tricks on top of the paranormal investigation, all culminated in a thoroughly entertaining afternoon and evening, that will linger in our memories for quite a while.
So therefore, when we heard about The Darkening, we knew we had to give it a try as the marketing advertises it as a hybrid mix of paranormal investigation, magic show, and theatrical scare experience. We loved the fact that although we may not actually encounter any ghosts during the paranormal sections, we were sure expecting some spectacle in the theatrical bits.
And perhaps this is one small failing of the experience, in the fact that the team clearly delineated between the paranormal and the staged elements. For example, at one point they basically said the next section was a "magic show." We do think that if they had tricked the audience from the start, that the ultimate finale would have been more terrifying than it was. But maybe as there were many experienced ghost hunters and paranormal investigators visiting, that may have been one cruel trick too many.
Merley House itself is an imposing 18th century mansion which has a history of ghost activity, and the first half of the day was spent exploring different parts of the house. We used traditional techniques such as pendulums and Ouija boards to reach out to Ghosts as well as more modern techniques such as the Ghost hunt app (samples of which can be seen in the video below.)
Now as we said before – being quite sceptical – we didn’t really have much success in talking to anything or anyone, but others around us seemed to be having in depth conversations with the dead, with Ouija planchettes flying around the board. We managed to get a simple name of what we presumed was a child, but still weren’t sure if it was us subconsciously willing the thing to move. But more on that child later..
Despite not really feeling any real connection to any spirits, it was interesting to experience these activities (especially with people who genuinely believed they were communing with the dead.) All the way through out hosts John and David were completely professional and engaging, and made the whole experience tremendously entertaining.
After a few hours of trying to contact the ghosts, we were then treated to a delicious buffet meal where we were encouraged to discuss some of the things we had experienced with the other guests as well as getting ourselves a “stiff drink for what comes next”. Unfortunately, due to a small technical issue – this dinner break lasted longer than expected, but once our hosts came back, we were promised the star parts of the performance – the magic show, followed by the Séance.
So, it as this point that we don’t really want to give too much away, as we really don’t want to ruin any surprises. The magic show built on the stories and the “ghosts” we had experienced throughout the day, and as we said at the start would have been genuinely unnerving if we hadn’t been warned it was magic and not real.
The show combined several impressive tricks that genuinely left us speechless. That name of the child we got on Ouija board earlier? They were part of the show incredibly (which left us a bit dumbstruck!) The tricks and magic performed in this section ranged from mentalism, sleight of hand and card play, and it was all amazing to see up close. David, our host for the show is clearly a competent magician as he is storyteller, as there are still so many things that happened in that room that we are unsure how they did it.
The finale part of the show was the Séance itself. Would any of the ghosts physically manifest themselves? Again – we don’t want to give away any spoilers, but this was clearly the most theatrical part of the whole show., A terrifying climax in pitch darkness that left all of us screaming as the events unfolded. Although to us seasoned scare experience visitors, there was nothing stunningly unique in this finale, but it worked so well as a culmination of the day’s activities. The reaction to some of the people who had made more paranormal contact earlier in the days was priceless!
All in – The Darkening was a really interesting experience, and we are glad we got to discover it with a mixed audience of sceptics and believers. The team behind the event have created a stunningly engaging show that could traumatise someone if they genuinely throught it was real. Utilising magic, and Victorian parlour style séance tricks on top of the paranormal investigation, all culminated in a thoroughly entertaining afternoon and evening, that will linger in our memories for quite a while.
Links:
You Review
Have you also visited this or any other attractions recently? - tell us what you thought here
|
All the latest news, stories, review and gossip can be found on the ScareTOUR social media pages - the hottest presence in the UK for Scare Attractions!
|
|
|
|
|