Halloween approaches and so does the desire to experience a spooky evening. “Ghosts of Stanley Halls” is just the answer offering a scary, immersive experience held at The Stanley Halls themselves. An immersive experience is an impressive feat at the best of times but during such restrictive times I was eager to find out how this could be achieved.
Opened in 1903 The Stanley Halls is an ornate building that stands out in the heart of South Norwood. Created by British architect and inventor William Stanley, the halls were built to provide the local community with a public space for concerts, plays and lectures. Knowing the history of the venue adds gravitas to the occasion forcing me to imagine the rich history of people and events that have taken place here over the last century.
The Halloween spirit felt immediate, arriving on a moonlight night, and being led to the outside bar area with glowing pumpkins and the sounds of seasonal hits such as “Ghostbusters” and “Thriller”. The anticipation of a horror filled night started to bubble like a witch’s cauldron.
As the show is a walk-through immersive experience the show is being held in batches of small groups, with roughly 12 in our group. Before entering the experience, a tour guide gave us a rundown of the rules and regulations ensuring that all Government Guidelines had been adhered too. In addition to ensuring that we keep our face masks on at all times we were told that each room in the experience had white crosses spaced apart on the floor for each person or social bubble to stand on with a comfortable amount of space in between crosses. In addition, we were asked to ensure that whilst moving through the experience we keep two metres from each other. This worked surprisingly successfully, and I was impressed that I felt that guidelines were being met whilst not sacrificing the atmosphere of the piece.
