Life

This True Crime-Inspired Hotel Experience Is BEYOND Creepy & I Need To Go Immediately

by Carolyn de Lorenzo
Mark Makela/Getty Images News/Getty Images

If you enjoy terrifying vacation activities, you’re in luck: there's now a "hotel" that's inspired by a real-life true crime story — because that’s definitely what you want to do in your spare time, right?

According to London’s Metro, the mega creepy Hollow Hotel in the UK is an immersive theater experience based on real life events. It's set up to mimic how the 19th century American serial killer H.H. Holmes murdered his victims by trapping them in his specially constructed “murder castle.” Holmes is said to have murdered somewhere between 20 and 200 people, and in order to lure victims, he rented out rooms hotel-style in his elaborately constructed home. Travel+Leisure reports that the hotel experience includes labyrinths and tricky booby traps, so guests get to figure out how to escape impending doom at every turn.

While the Hollow Hotel is not an actual hotel (you definitely don’t have to sleep there), it is an interactive theater experience aimed to scare the bejeezus out of you. The Hollow is designed to immerse guests in a replicated version of the house of horrors, replete with labyrinthian corridors and near impossible-to-escape traps, that Holmes designed to lure and murder his victims in.

This super creepy interactive theatrical event is brought to the public by the performance group differenceENGINE, whose previous efforts include the mega successful Heist. In Heist, participants had to maneuver undercover across six floors of security challenges, and break into a sealed off room — while communicating only through headsets in order to steal a painting, according to Travel+Leisure. Heist was apparently *so* good, their initial three week run got turned into a nine month one. Now, differenceENGINE is upping the stakes with their new serial killer-inspired immersive hotel experience. According to differenceEngine’s official website, should you choose to visit, you can expect to “Journey through a maze of hidden passageways that will either lay you to rest, or lead you further into the hotel’s dark heart,” while also uncovering “The hotel’s intricate histories dark secrets, and hidden agendas — whoever built the The Hollow Hotel built a literal death trap, designed just for you.” Um, thank you?

The object of the game is to “survive” whatever the Hollow Hotel experience throws your way; you’ll have to figure out how to escape each room, while figuring out who the killer is, Metro further reports. If you do get “killed off,” aka you don't make it out of your room, you don't get to leave early. According to Metro, "your journey changes and you’ll be met with new challenges.”

What else can you expect to encounter at the Hollow Hotel? According to The Nudge London City Guide, you’ll first enter the hotel, and join guests at the bar. You’ll then be taken to your room where a trap will be sprung, and “If you manage to exit the room, you’ll then have to try and escape the place without getting killed in the process. Room by room, each will present a new creatively homicidal way to kill you. And, be warned, audience members can and will be killed off at any time.” The Nudge also notes that as you descend further along your Hollow Hotel terror journey, you’ll be given clues as to who the killer is, so you have extra incentive to make it out.

If you’re ready to jet off to London and book tickets for the terrifying Hollow Hotel experience, tickets are available on differenceENGINE’s website, and shows start as of April 17 — if you can manage the creep factor and keep your wits about you, you just might survive.