I Let the London Dungeon Touch Me And I’d Do It Again

I’ve been to every Blackout event at The London Dungeon, so when they picked on me for having “lots of meat on my bones” during Blackout: Ritual, I took it as a compliment. For the first time, perhaps ever. I gave myself fully to the experience and I didn’t regret it.

Bloody Mary’s Revenge in 2024 was an epic reimagining. It leaned into the Dungeon’s existing DNA with more typical horror tropes and turned the whole place into something darker and sharper. Since then we’ve had London’s Vampire Awakening, which changed the format completely but felt sloppy in execution. Lighting elements often seemed dropped in at random. Credit where it’s due, though: they did introduce brand new audio across the board.

Ritual pulls it back nicely and currently stands as the strongest of the three.

There’s a coherent storyline running through most of the 30 minute experience, supported by an all new audio mix (some tracks re used but placed differently). Familiar scares land harder in this context, and they’ve given the usually god awful Sweeney Todd barber shop scene a proper reinvention. Those pokey, air blowing chairs finally earn their keep. The use of Mrs Lovett’s pie shop is inspired, especially when the pestle came out as I was told I had a “nice frame.” That was a nice touch.

The mirror maze with an actor inside was another win, even if the Jack the Ripper effects were still running. Smaller group sizes and better spacing between groups made a huge difference after the tailgating chaos of Vampire Awakening.

But it’s not perfect. The story fizzles toward the end, and the finale feels oddly disjointed from the village ritual theme. Several scenes could have used more new scenery to keep the atmosphere consistent. Skipping the hooding moment was a strange choice, and the lack of an actor in Plague Street feels like a big missed opportunity for a story about a community festival.

No boat ride, no drop tower, and no photo opportunity this time (thankfully also no Fanta sponsorship spiel). As someone who usually leaves with a picture, I did miss that.

All told, it’s a strong step forward for the Dungeon’s out of hours experiments. They’re clearly toying with the format in interesting ways, and London has a clear appetite for this kind of intense, year round adult immersion. Spooks and spirits shouldn’t be confined to Halloween.