On behalf of the lovely Bill Elms Associates me and a few friends attended a brand new horror event known as Trapped Up North.
The set up in the Grade II listed building (The Great Northern Warehouse in Manchester) will be resembling something from the most terrifying of horror movies where the daring and fearless who enter are the stars, or rather, the victims. Having to pit their wits against mind numbing puzzles and elaborate clues to make it out alive and avoid being Trapped Up North.
Willing participants of groups of 3 – 6 are against the clock to complete their mission, with unthinkable consequences if they fail. There are two initial rooms of terror to choose from: Jigsaw, Quarantine and another Cabin Fever to be announced later this month. Each with a unique story and environment and a different menacing evil presence lurking and willing you to fail.
Only the pure will escape the Jigsaw room; finding themselves locked away in a makeshift torture chamber within the sinister world of The Judge, a prolific serial killer who has escaped from prison. Famous for subjecting his victims to a grotesque ‘purity’ test known as the Jigsaw, there is one hour on the clock to solve the Jigsaw or be forced to face The Judge.
We chose the Jigsaw room, one of my favourite horrors and attended last week. The venue is located close to Deansgate station with parking spaces outside. For obvious reasons I was unable to take any sort of photography equipment into the game as it would give away the whole surprise once you play yourself.
If you have ever played any live escape rooms or even played escape games on your phone then that’s what this is but darker and with the horror themes.
After a short briefing and scare we were handcuffed and blindfolded and led into a dark dusty room. We had to do many things to try and get out including building puzzles and finding clues and many keys, even a bit of work with a screwdriver. Then a crawlspace to get through. All this time there is a constant reminder of time (1 hour) and bangs, groans n all sorts of horror noises. It’s probably more mind bending than scary but the noises n dim lights certainly add to the experience.
Unfortunately we did not solve the jigsaw rooms but managed to avoid being permanently locked in. You may not be so lucky.
There is a second horror event next to Trapped up North called House of the Dead which I am looking forward to attending in October. Details are of course limited but it looks pretty good from what I have read.
More details on both attractions including dates and prices can be found Here. Certainly not one for the faint hearted, nervous or down right scardy cats.
