Theatre of Fear presents 'A Midsummer Night’s Scream'
The Creaky Cauldron - After Dark, Warwickshire’s premier scare attraction, has re-launched its scare tours including the Stratford Ripper Experience. The tours have been re-launched appropriately on the Devil’s birthday, the 30 April, as part of their Theatre of Fears’ summer season entitled ‘A Midsummer Night’s Scream’.
The stories of the Stratford Ripper Experience, as told by Dave Matthews, Master of the Macabre, have developed a cult following among horror fans and the general public, as well as receiving rave reviews from even hardened journalists. This year, with the introduction of the Matthew Hopkins Experience and the Jekyll and Hyde Experiment, the scare tours have become an even more terrifying experience and are only suitable for the very brave, taking them on a journey deep into the unconscious mind.
The tours take place by candlelight in the historic and atmospheric Creaky Cauldron building. With over 40 separate identified ghosts and spirits, the quirky, three storey building also happens to be one of the most haunted buildings in England adding an extra dimension to the scare. Very few have been brave enough to spend the entire night there and many have been too terrified to even venture upstairs to finish the tour.
A guide is on hand at all times for those who find it a little too much and have to leave. Those brave enough to participate are taken on a journey ever deeper into the true and terrifying world of Stratford’s original Theatre of Fear.
Candia McKormack, Assistant Editor of Cotswold Life stated “I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Dave is a brilliant storyteller and really built up the tension before the ‘experiment’. The atmosphere in the building is wonderful – suitably dark and spooky”.
The Matthew Hopkins Experience takes place in the late 1600’s amid turbulent times of witchcraft hysteria where crops were failing, families were afraid and “the Fingerman” was abroad. Guests are taken on a heart pounding and terrifying experience as their lives are literally held in the balance and their fate discussed by the Witch Finder General himself.
The setting for the Stratford Ripper Experience is the late 1700’s when the sinister streets and alleyways of Stratford were full of fear. Terror waited around every corner and vagabonds lurked in the shadows. It was a town full of opportunities and just as full of danger for the unwary traveller. One winters evening in 1788 a particularly brutal crime took place in Henley Street’s White Lion Inn with repercussions that stretched through the centuries. Guests group in the only remaining part of the infamous While Lion for a terrifying encounter with the notorious serial killer known as the Stratford Ripper where they will fear not only for their safety but even their sanity – that is, if they think they’re brave enough.
Those feeling a little more gothic, the Jekyll and Hyde Experiment set in the distinctly creepy world of the late 1800’s, is something that has left even the most courageous of guests gasping for breath and recoiling in terror. Truly not for the faint hearted or those of a nervous disposition, this carries an advisory age limit of 15+
Philip Solomon, Psychic Medium to the Stars, stated “It’s sure to chill even the bravest of souls and I wholly recommend it!”
The Theatre of Fear takes place every Thursday, Friday & Saturday night at 6:30pm, 7:30pm & 8:30pm and will also take place every night in October during the Stratford-upon-Avon Halloween Festival. The scare tours last 45 minutes and cost £7.50 per adult and £5 for concessions – they are not suitable for small children. All events must be pre-booked and are subject to availability. Please call to check availability.
The Creaky Cauldron – After Dark can be found at 21 Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6QW.
For more information visit: darkartstheatre.co.uk
