Some of the most exciting stories told have been from the pages of history books, and as any historian will tell you many pages of history are dedicated to villains, war and bloodshed. As such, it probably comes as no revelation that Madame Tussauds has had a Chamber of Horrors in one form or another since the middle of the 19th Century. Back then it presented the characters and stories of the French Revolution, but since then it has had countless revamps, relocations and new waxworks added.

The Chamber of Horrors has never been one for those with a nervous disposition, but in 1996 a new and yet more graphic still Chamber of Horrors opened featuring in vivid detail the hanging corpse of Guy Fawkes, Vlad the Impaler holding a dismembered head and the grisly remains of one of Jack the Rippers’ many victims.

Short of having costumed serial killers chasing you into dark, shadowy corners, there are few experiences more chilling than the Chamber of Horrors. So in 2003, Madame Tussauds added costumed serial killers to chase you into dark, shadowy corners. Behold, Chamber Live: Serial Killers.

Going down a staircase into the depths of Madame Tussauds, the warm and reassuring flock wallpaper soon becomes dank and dreary rock, the ambient lighting fading to a dim flicker as you pass signs warning that those of a weak temperament may wish to leave with their dignity intact.

People gather at the bottom of the stairs as if lambs waiting for slaughter as a member of staff shouts over the murmur of visitors reminding them they should have their yellow stickers to hand should they wish to do Chamber Live. It seems most visitors are simply expecting a Chamber of Horrors, and so the instructions from our despairing staff member prompt more questions than they answer: “Can we use our annual passes?”, “What is Chamber Live?”, “How can we miss Chamber Live?”.

Keeping to the right of the Chamber of Horrors, your cobbled pathway takes you past Vlad the Impaler standing upon a pile of corpses as well as two corpses hung by the neck from a splintered beam above. Another member of staff stands in the shadows highlighting three rules outlined on signs throughout the queue: No photography. Do not touch the villains, and don’t get any ideas about eating any fried liver with fava beans as eating is strictly prohibited.

Those seasoned with the Freezer (Thorpe Park) and Terror of the Towers (Alton Towers) may be surprised by the comparably casual briefing, and the fact that you’re not expected to frog-march through with hands on the shoulders of the person in front.

Not even through the door, and a grim police constable bangs his truncheon on a metal railing giving people a startling indication of what’s to come. Around the corner, the pathway slaloms through a short maze of iron railings.

From the dark corners, bloodied and battered killers glare at you, following your nervous gaze through the darkness, following you as your pace quickens. Often luring you into a false sense of security, these unsightly characters do nothing but watch from afar, but often they stride towards you before they’re brought to a halt by a rusty chain.  

The small corridor opens out onto a cobbled pathway through a grubby moonlit street. Characters, both waxwork and real lurk in the darkness. The idea that those ready to pounce don’t, and those you suspect are waxwork come at you is inspired, but all too soon you pass through a gate and you’re out into the Chamber of Horrors.

An inherent quality most people posses is foresight. This trait enables most people to interpret the nature of events before they occur. For example, a person living on an island should realise that before they buy a car, they must have roads to drive it on.

Unfortunately, such foresight has eluded our good friends at Madame Tussauds. By it’s very nature, the Chamber of Horrors was a small dungeon beneath Baker Street – it hardly has the infrastructure to add extra attractions like Chamber Live.

Somehow, I get the feeling that someone really wanted this attraction whether it would work or not. The entrance area to the Chamber of Horrors conveys a sense of chaos similar to an airport check-in desk where 200 passengers have missed their flight. With Chamber Live using up valuable real estate, those wishing to do just the Chamber of Horrors instead get a far shorter, watered down version as much of the Chamber of Horrors has been eaten up by Chamber Live.

Those wishing to do Chamber Live have a fairly non-descript walk through with only a couple of nice touches. It lacks the excellent scenery of Pasaje Del Terror, and the mazes of Freezer. It is far too short, and doesn’t use lighting as well as on other similar attractions.

There is also the inherent problem of the finale – or lack of. Where on most of these attractions you come to an abrupt end, on this you exit out into the Chamber of Horrors meaning instead of ending abruptly, it peters out with no real distinction between Chamber: Live and the Chamber of Horrors.

The idea of Chamber: Live is a good one, but Madame Tussauds really has never had the convenience of being to add such an attraction. Regardless, Chamber Live forms a significant part of Madame Tussauds and really shows itself up as being a clumsily executed walk-through in an attraction that really doesn’t need it.

MS 31 October 2004

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