Cornwall has long had plenty to offer people with an interest in magic and the supernatural, including the world-famous Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Bodmin, but less for those of us looking for straight-up scares. Until now, that is, with the opening of Lights Out! - Bodmin Jail's new scare attraction.
Combining "an immersive horror theatre and scare maze experience" with live actors, moments of total darkness and strobe lighting, Lights Out! is to be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year. It's also wheelchair accessible, and although you need to be 18 to attend, anybody aged 14 or over can go if they're accompanied by an adult.
My 15-year-old son watches a lot of horror films but had never visited a scare attraction before. Aside from my belief that he should get out more instead of spending so much time playing games online at home, it felt crazy that we watch pig-faced killers tormenting people for their sins on a Friday night but had never visited a real Halloween event together. With Lights Out!, we agreed that was going to change.
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Driving up from Plymouth for the launch night with a car full of my workmates, my son was unusually quiet, wondering whether he had made the right decision. When we arrived, we could feel the anticipation in the air, mixing excitement with trepidation. The courtyard of Bodmin Jail was lit by fire jugglers welcoming visitors by the entrance, while a GHOST tribute band warmed up on a stage outside the Chapel Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant sold spooky-themed food, and the bar was there to grab a quick drink while we counted down for Lights Out to begin.
If you've visited Bodmin Jail since 2020 when the £8.5million immersive Dark Walk opened you'll know what to expect in the waiting room before the experience begins, but as soon as you're down in the cave that acts as the first part of the tour, everything changes. Sinister ghosts run the show and the tour guide quickly loses his cool after seeing something move in the shadows.
Without spoiling the surprise, what follows is a mixture of performance, film and special effects, making use of familiar areas of the jail in new ways. The first half is followed by a more traditional scare maze, which we were told to enter in twos. People hid in the shadows, jumped out at the most awful times imaginable and generally terrorised us until we made it to the end. None of the actors will touch you, so you can enjoy the thrill of being scared without worrying about the plague doctors getting carried away.
By the time Lights Out! was over, I felt ready to do it again, but for my son it was the perfect activity. There was just enough build up before the scare maze to give him second thoughts about continuing, followed by a fun amount of chases and surprises before escaping back into the courtyard and laughing about it.
I asked him what he'd say to someone nervous about going to a scare attraction, and he said "Don't overthink it! Worst case scenario, you might not enjoy it, but it's worth giving it a go and you'll never have to do it again if you don't want to. This might turn out to be the hobby you've always needed but didn't know."
I loved visiting Lights Out! and really hope that the new scare attraction is popular enough that Bodmin Jail considers expanding in future with more scare mazes and dedicated scare events.
Joseph S Carter, the paranormal manager and scare attraction creator at Bodmin Jail, said: "Finding ways of making spines tingle is my modus operandi! Cornwall caters to tourists in many ways, with lovely countryside and cheerful family fun spots, however, it desperately needed something to tickle the taste buds of those who prefer the darker side of tourism."
"Here at Bodmin Jail, we are all very proud to be different, and Light's Out! is, in many ways, our great expression of that ghoulishness."
I'd recommend visiting Lights Out on a date, with a group of friends or with horror-loving teenagers aged 14 or over. If you like horror films or scary ghost stories and have never visited a scare attraction before, Lights Out is a brilliant way to start, or if you're like me and cross off the days on your calendar waiting for Halloween each year, Lights Out! is a great way to get your scare fix while you wait.
Taking around 40 minutes in total, if you're travelling far to Bodmin for Lights Out! you should make plans to stick around at Bodmin Jail to get something to eat or drink afterwards and make a night of it, otherwise, you'll be wanting to go back in and do it again.
P M Buchan is a transgressive writer who has written for Rue Morgue, Starburst and SCREAM. He interviews dark artists and reviews horror fiction here.
