Halloween hide-and-seek-easy bar opens with a unique and terrifying entry policy

Unmarked doors, hidden passages, dress codes and secret passwords are conditions of entry to many mysterious drinking spots, and there’s no doubt that the UK has its fair share of them. But this Halloween a new pop-up bar is set to take novel entry policies to new heights: by making guests first play a truly terrifying and macabre game of hide and seek in order to get in.

Transforming a bar’s conditions of entry into an immersive experience is the brainchild of The Kraken Rum, for its annual Halloween Screamfest experience, now in its sixth year and aptly titled ‘Screamfest VI: Here We Come’. The bar, and its thrilling, blood-curdling condition of entry, are tucked away in a delightfully scary and dilapidated basement venue in central London.

Fans of cocktails and horror will be invited to prove their desire to visit the bar by engaging in the nightmarish game of hide and seek for a full 20 minutes. In that time they’ll need to contort themselves into a variety of unpleasant and claustrophobic hiding places to evade the ‘seekers’: a malevolent masked cult that worships The Beast. Along the way, they’ll need to find collectables to redeem for extra rewards once in the bar. If discovered by the cult, participants will be locked in the basement until their time is up.

After the time has elapsed, the doors to the bar will unlock and guests will finally have the chance to emerge into the open and enjoy a menu of delicious original Kraken Halloween rum cocktails at the bar made by master cocktail makers.

The bar will also be decked out with a number of Kraken Rum arcade machines, loaded with an arcade version of the horror hide-and-seek experience, giving bargoers a second chance at evading the evil seekers, but now while sipping on a cocktail in the incredible surroundings of the horror bar.

The Kraken Rum’s Screamfest VI: Here We Come experience will take place across three nights at The Ditch, Shoreditch Town Hall in the lead up to Halloween on the 27-29th of October from 7pm to 11pm. Those unable to attend the immersive experience can participate virtually via an online game that has been created to mirror it. Watch this space.

If this fright filled entry condition sounds like a dream Halloween evening, then tickets, priced at £10 (including a welcome drink and a cocktail token), can be booked here: www.universe.com/screamfest6