No Escape's nine new horror-led escape rooms across London
From haunted toys and murderous dentists to demonic forces and a Cold War nuclear threat, No Escape’s nine horror-led escape rooms across four London venues will offer some of the capital’s most atmospheric ways to celebrate Halloween from 23 October – 1 November 2026. Tickets on sale from 5 October.
Preview by Emilia Matyja
Immediately thrust under ribbed vaults and besieged by pointed arches, the Gothic resurrects in the new escape rooms for Halloween 2026. Ashen shadows and gory reds, led in by a demon from the Gates of Hell, watched over by a werewolf, and ushered towards a sacrificial altar, scrambling to collect coins and missing fragments of a mural stone.
The Gates of Hell escape room, housed in one of No Escape’s four venues at the Purgatory Bar, promises our total submission to a god as we prepare for an inevitable sacrifice. Throughout the trials, we explore the room’s winding caverns, deciding which of us to sacrifice to the guillotine or to send, trembling, to dig for clues beneath a grey slate grave.
The live actors terrify, not with cheap jump scares, but through a constant dread – like an itch you can’t scratch away. Their devotion multiplies the threat tenfold, and you don’t even realise what you’re doing until you’re fishing for clues and scrambling against time. It keeps you alert and entwined with the story from start to finish.
No Escape is an award-winning immersive entertainment business specialising in horror-led, thematic escape rooms. Founded in 2017, it operates nine experiences across four London venues: Victoria, Oxford Street, Aldgate and Holloway.
No Escape was founded in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Darrell and Kristina Johnston. The family-run company opened its first experience, The Dentist, on Oxford Street in January 2018 and has since grown to nine escape rooms across four London venues. In summer 2022, it expanded into hospitality with the opening of Purgatory Bar in Victoria.
Each experience gives teams 60 minutes to solve puzzles, crack clues and complete their mission before time runs out. No Escape welcomes friends, couples, celebrations and corporate groups.
Darrell Johnston, co-founder of No Escape who appeared in episode 3 series 18 of BBC One’s The Apprentice, when candidates were challenged to create and pitch a virtual escape room experience, said: “Our rooms are designed to unsettle players throughout the year, but Halloween elevates everything. The atmosphere shifts before the game has even begun, and live actors bring an unpredictable energy that no set or sound effect can reproduce. At Purgatory, the combination of theatrical cocktails, The Gates of Hell and live performance creates a whole evening around the experience. Across all four venues, there are nine different stories and nine very different ways for players to test their nerve.”
Venues:
Victoria: The Gates of Hell at Purgatory Bar
Oxford Street: The Dentist and The Demon Barber
Aldgate: The Haunted Toy Store, The Butcher, The Orphanage and The Witch’s Curse
Holloway: The Killer and The Darkest Hour
Tickets go on sale for all four venues on 5 October; a perfect plunge into spooky season: https://www.noescapelondon.co.uk/
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