The House of S Review

In a quiet residential area of Doncaster, tucked away along a leafy road, sits a creepy old barn. Within the scare community, this unassuming structure will henceforth be known as 'The House of Detention'- the UK's newest dedicated venue for scare attractions. Plans are already underway to host numerous events (including plenty of non-Halloween scares) inside The House of Detention, with an upcoming Christmas event already creating a buzz. The House of S was the inaugural scare maze to be built at the venue, running for the last week of the Halloween season, and we were very excited to go check it out.

The House of S was a collaborative effort between PUP Events and GNG Entertainment; two teams with a wealth of experience in creating theatrical mazes with good interaction and well placed scares. Expectations were high. Once we arrived, we were lead to the dispatch area and told there were 3 doors to choose from. At this point I was already enjoying myself immensely; great lighting effects outside the barn and audible screams from within were adding to the atmosphere. We began our journey through door number 1.

The first thing that struck me was the absence of any reference to the 'wax museum' from the original branding. I was expecting to see wax dummies coming to life, or something that looked like a museum, but I couldn't pinpoint either theme once I got inside. The sets were amazing; they were beautifully dressed and perfectly lit, but unfortunately there was no overriding theme to link back to. The scareactors made up for this though- they improvised well and delivered great impact scares (which always landed due to the small group size). The character of James McVee was the stand-out, with a confident performance and impressive command of the space. I also LOVED the clown character, whose concealed 'hand horn' was probably the most unsettling moment of the entire season for me (and the funniest!)

The multiple doors were a nice touch, but I'm not sure it was worth it because the majority of the content was the same, regardless of which door we entered. It would have been great to see 3 doors function as 3 separate routes, perhaps with one crossover point (but with the space they had to work with, I doubt that would have been possible). Since the separate doors added so little, I would have preferred to see one larger, more fully realised maze. That being said, I enjoyed the non-linear layout, and I'm sure the 3 doors added tension because groups could be divided up.

Confusing at times, but competent in its execution and not without theatrical flair, The House of S was a lot of fun. It also got things off to a good start in The House of Detention, which I have no doubt will function brilliantly as a permanent scare venue.