An immersive horror attraction from Ireland is coming to the University of Greenwich’s old Mansion site in Eltham, nearly a year after plans to build a school there were scrapped.
The Nightmare Realm, billed as “Europe’s most terrifying horror attraction”, will run for 18 nights from October 9 to November 1 at the historic landmark next to Avery Hill Park.
Visitors will become part of “an unfolding story where every character, location and encounter has its own history”, with the help of 70 live actors, practical illusions and special effects.
The show at Avery Hill will be the production’s first outing outside Ireland: it began in Tralee, Co Cork in 2009 and has played in Cork and Dublin. Each year has a different theme, with this year’s being A Nightmare From Overseas.
One experience, Avery Hill Asylum, “invites guests inside a Victorian institution where the brilliant but dangerously obsessive Dr Thorne has pushed medical experimentation beyond the limits of humanity,” organisers say, while “Sundown Manor follows an ancient Irish bloodline that has crossed the Irish Sea in search of fresh victims”.
“Connecting both experiences is Halloween Town, The Nightmare Realm’s own supernatural midway,” they add. “More than simply a space between attractions, it is a living village where stories spill into the streets and every resident has their own history, rivalries and secrets. Guests may overhear conversations, uncover hidden mysteries and even discover secret rooms concealed within the town.”
Karl and Sylvia O’Connor, the founders of The Nightmare Realm, said: “For 17 years we’ve built worlds people don’t just visit – they become part of. Bringing The Nightmare Realm to London is the biggest moment in our history and gives us the opportunity to introduce everything we’ve created in Ireland to a whole new audience. We can’t wait to welcome people into A Nightmare From Overseas.”
The Victorian mansion, which was a teacher training college before becoming part of what was then Thames Polytechnic in the 1980s, has been empty since 2020 when plans for a boys’ secondary school were approved.
But little work took place as the government got cold feet about the scheme, and its cancellation was announced in December, leading to fears for the future of the much-loved but neglected Winter Garden next door – the second largest Victorian glasshouse after Kew Gardens, which was meant to be refurbished as part of the plans. No new plans have been announced for the site.
Tickets for A Nightmare From Overseas begin at £38 and are available from www.thenightmarerealm.com.
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