Hounds: The Acid Bath Murderer | Review

The Acid Bath Murderer Review | Crawley’s very own true crime thriller. Experience Crawley’s dark history brought back to life, with you at the centre of it. Delve into the killing floor of one of history’s most twisted serial killers.

Q: How scary is it? Will I hate it if I don’t like scary rooms?

A common question with this theme—although it does contain jump scares, they’re never random or just for the sake of it. Instead, they all serve a purpose within the context of the plot. From the perspective of someone who doesn’t really enjoy these themes personally, I can wholeheartedly say they really enhance the immersion. [Sidenote: One of our other team members, who has a notorious hatred of jump scares, can attest to this.]

Date Played: January 2023
Time Taken: 75 (fixed average)
Number of Players: 4
Difficulty: Puzzles: Low/Medium (NB: Event runs on rails, so it’s technically ‘unlosable.’)

Never one to hide my frustration over the fact that our beloved industry adopted ‘Escape Room’ as the generic term for anything that involves solving puzzles, imagine my absolute delight when arriving at Hounds and discovering that the company actively shuns the phrase, instead opting to refer to their catalogue of offerings as ‘Immersive Experiences.’ Tick: Bonus points scored already.

Neatly nestled between Starbucks and Poundland in an otherwise pretty drab Crawley town centre, the narrow, unassuming entrance turns out to be anything but as you head up to The Kennel Club: Hounds’ beautifully decorated, fully licensed, Speakeasy-themed bar, which also happens to serve as their waiting area.  ‘Ticket holders’ have the option to enjoy one of their specialty signature Moonshine cocktails either before or after their booking, which are apparently “not available anywhere else.” They look great… but not for me. I’ll never understand why humans want to participate in something that negatively affects their ability to do the very thing they’re about to do; booze and puzzles do not compute IMO (I am, of course, aware I take my problem solving way more seriously than most). Regardless, The Kennel Club has ‘good times’ written all over it.

We checked in with David, the owner and creator of both the establishment and everything within the four walls, had a brief chinwag with him about all things Escape Rooms Immersive Experiences, and then were directed back out of the bar and up the stairs behind us, to where our journey literally kicked off with a bang. Almost falling back down the stairs, we looked up to be greeted by our host, ‘Mr. H’ (real name Tom), who had slammed on the metal railing, making us jump out of our skin—a theme that would persist from then on. But it’s hardly surprising; with a name like ‘The Acid Bath Murderer,’ you’d be foolish not to think your anxiety wouldn’t be tested at least once. We were given a brief introduction outside, then headed into a dark room, where the ‘fun’ began.

Photo by Hounds

A Is for Acid

The Acid Bath Murderer is an ‘edu-tainment’ experience  based on the true story of serial killer and former Crawley local, John Haigh, so called because—and you’d never guess it—he quite literally dissolved his victims in acid.

The premise is that participants are ‘playing’ through Haigh’s grisly past in the form of several distinctively themed rooms, each reflecting different periods of his life—from his early childhood until his (spoiler!) inevitable demise—all the while solving puzzles in order to unlock memories in the form of physical tokens containing inscriptions. Some tokens are hidden, and some are in plain sight so that even if you don’t manage to work anything out, you won’t go home completely uninformed.

Because it’s technically ‘on rails,’ (David likens it to ‘a promenade-style show’) participants’ actions have no bearing on the outcome. Ultimately, the puzzles and tokens are secondary to the narrative, so you can’t really ‘fail’ if you don’t complete them. However, Hounds has made a conscious effort to ensure each one is connected to a fact from the true story, so it’s well worth putting in the effort if you’re invested in the tale (and even if you’re not: PUZZLES!).

Photo by Hounds

We got chills, they were multiplying.

Each of the rooms is perfectly sized for its needs—no unnecessary space to roam around in, and although one of the areas is snug, it’s not so tight that you’re walking into each other. (We played as a 4, but it would still be fine with the 6 max.) The important thing is the size of each space makes sense and feels historically accurate. Likewise, the decor in each room is pretty much as good as you could hope it to be, and the periods have quite clearly been considered very carefully.

To tie the whole experience together, they’ve layered on the special effects to a T; the lightning, sound, and smoke effects create an absolutely thrilling ambiance, making you feel like you really could have been there. Every interactive element is also attached to a real fact in some shape or form. The actor scripts use real quotes from the people around Haigh at the time, as well as things he himself actually said. Take note, designers: When someone calls their production ‘immersive,’ this is what we want to see.

NB: At the time of writing, Hounds is currently experimenting with running each showing with a second actor. They play John Haigh as he haunts the passageways of his story and appear in some extra scenes that have been added between the host’s storytelling.

Photo by Hounds

Verdict: Guilty as charged!

I’m not usually a fan of experiences that contain both puzzles and compelling narratives because I have the attention span of a banana and the overwhelming need for active engagement. However, they’ve really nailed it at Hounds and hit the balance perfectly.

Indeed, this is more than just a narrative walkthrough with tacked-on puzzles; it’s an absolute masterclass in storytelling and theatrics and comes with some genuinely satisfying sleuthing moments where there really has no right to be, and I can’t stress that last part enough (I have been burned before). I also wanted to give a notable mention to Tom Rainn for his unbelievable performance as Mr H; easily one of the best I’ve ever seen a host deliver. 

 I do always find it amusing when companies refer to their own offerings as ‘the best,’ because it’s pretty impossible to argue against it when the metric is practically immeasurable. But Hounds’ tag: ‘OFFICIALLY THE UK’S BEST IMMERSIVE VENUE‘ is hard to argue against. At the risk of hyperbole (am I gushing yet?), it truly was one of the best things I’ve ever done and an absolute credit to the immersive entertainment industry. The fact it’s been enhanced since I played is just the cherry on top.

I really hope everyone has the chance to take part in The Acid Bath Murderer and that it inspires other creators in the field to up their game; more of this, please!

The Acid Bath Murderer Experience can be booked by heading to Hounds’ website here.