A giant haunted dolls house has appeared in London to tease the launch of Alton Towers Resort‘s new for 2023 dark ride attraction, The Curse at Alton Manor, which is confirmed to open at the start of the season on Saturday 18th March.
As well as the opening date, the Resort have also confirmed that The Curse at Alton Manor will centre on Emily Alton – a character from the original Haunted House. The ride is set to feature special effects that will be a first for a UK theme park, from twisted projection mapping technology that transports riders into Emily’s own dollhouse, to mirrors that play tricks by blurring the line between reality and Emily’s demonic world. In a video released by the Resort, Emily can be heard laughing and counting in the dolls house, as if playing a game with visitors.
TowersTimes were invited to ‘come and play’ at the dolls house on the evening of Tuesday 14th February, ahead of the spooky pop-up opening to the public on Wednesday 15th February, when a further 120-150 people were anticipated to visit.
Little information about what to expect was released in advance, other than a location – Mudchute Park and Farm, situated just south of Canary Wharf. On approach to this rather unlikely location for an Alton Towers based experience, there were arrows signposting the way along a dark pathway that ran around the outskirts of a field. We eventually arrived at a gate where we were checked in and joined the queue of fellow enthusiasts to wait for our turn to explore the dolls house, which could be seen illuminated in the distance.
When the time came, we made our way towards the house where we met ‘Phyllis’ from Sparks Estates who was responsible for supervising the evening’s viewings. Although it may have been Valentine’s Day we were informed that there was no love in this house. Nonetheless, we were still gifted a dark purple rose and a postcard. The former came with the message “Roses are dead, violets are blue. I want to play, and I want to play with YOU” and the latter “Thanks for coming to play. I’ll see you soon friend”.
It was then time to visit the house itself, which was said to contain clues and Easter eggs for the upcoming ride. There were three accessible sections to the house, along with an attic area which could be viewed when standing outside. The first was a living room area, featuring dolls, cabinets, candles and a fireplace. A gramophone was also playing out the creepy version of In the Hall of the Mountain King that has featured in other teasers, and there were portraits on the wall of Alton Manor and the young girl that has been seen previously. This room is said to be where Emily Alton once vied for her parents’ love and attention.
To enter the next area, it was necessary to travel through the fireplace, although not before noticing a clock on the mantelpiece above, displaying a time of 23:59 (i.e. one minute to midnight). In this UV illuminated area, there were sinister messages and handprints across all of the walls, which included words and phrases such as: “pain”, “sadness”, “liar”, “evil”, “monster”, “demon in my head” and “wait till midnight”. With references also to “mum” and “dad”, we can assume these all come from Emily. They also raise the question of what happens at midnight…
The final room was the dining room where the story of Emily’s demonic nature began, where there were more portraits, as well as framed letters, all of which had seemingly been burned. A further surprise could also be found beneath the cloche on the table! Two giant mangled teddy bears sat slumped on the stairs from which we exited the house down, with one being somewhat more lively than the other.
On our way through the house, we did spot some letters on the walls. However, it took a couple more looks around, and some teamwork with others in attendance, to identify that there were the letters and numbers spread across the house which together made up ’18 March’. This was a hint towards the opening date for The Curse at Alton Manor, which the Resort have today confirmed.
Bianca Sammut, the recently appointed Divisional Director at Alton Towers Resort, said:
“The British public remain gripped by a desire to be shocked and surprised.
“We hope we haven’t given too many people nightmares with their first taste of The Curse at Alton Manor and their introduction to Emily.
“If visitors thought this haunted doll’s house was impressive, they will be in for a serious surprise this Spring. Our experts have been crafting new and spectacular special effects and visuals that have never been seen before from a UK theme park.
“If you feel you’re brave enough, join us from March 18 to uncover the secrets of her transformation from a once sweet and curious child to a vessel of evil.”
This pop-up event follows the reveal of the name and first details of the new for 2023 attraction by the Resort last month. This included the release of a visual for the ride which was said to offer clues about what is in store for those who dare to experience the spectacular twists and turns of the cursed manor. Most prominently it featured a young girl, now confirmed to be Emily Alton, covering her eyes. A short video teaser was then published on the Resort’s social media channels last Friday, which saw Emily beginning to count down from 30 (standing in a location that those familiar with The Haunted House / Duel may recognise). When taken alongside the Resort stating that the ‘countdown has begun’ and using the phrase ‘coming, ready or not’, could Emily perhaps be hoping to play a game of hide and seek with guests?
The Curse at Alton Manor will replace Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back, which closed on 7th September 2022 upon the property being repossessed, with signs appearing around the attraction stating as much. During Scarefest, the possession of the building grew, with walls going up featuring peepholes that provided a hint at some creepy goings-on inside and posters urging guests to call a phone number for more information. The eagle-eyed also noted that they contained the phrase ‘I want to play’, which presumably originated from Emily Alton herself.
Thank you to the Resort for inviting us to preview the pop-up experience – we look forward to experiencing the attraction itself in just over a month’s time! Will you be visiting the Resort on opening day to experience The Curse at Alton Manor? Have you spotted any other clues in the haunted dolls house? Let us know on our social media channels.
