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Location | 31 Market St, Edinburgh EH1 1DF |
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Public transit access | Edinburgh Waverley station |
Website | thedungeons.com/edinburgh/ |
The Edinburgh Dungeon is an underground tourist attraction in Edinburgh's city centre, on Market Street, which uses live actor shows and interactive rides to show various historical events from Scottish history in a scary fun style, with audience interaction and special effects, theatrical sets and performance. The shows are laced with tongue in cheek, gallows humour typical of the Dungeon brand.
The Edinburgh Dungeon was founded in 2000 by Vardon Attractions (now Merlin Entertainments) founder and later CEO, Nick Varney. Based on the same concept as the London Dungeon, early characters included Vikings, William Wallace, Burke and Hare, and scenes from Edinburgh's famously plague-ridden 'closes' (alleyways).
Since its opening, it has evolved to feature walkthrough theatrical shows, such as Witch Hunt (based on the witch trials of the mid-17th century), and the cannibal cave of Sawney Bean, based on the legend of the notorious cannibal family who resided in a cave in Galloway for decades.
In 2023, for the initial seventy-five customers at each location, entry was granted in exchange for a copy of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex's memoir, "Spare." [1]
The Edinburgh Dungeon features 11 shows, 15 actors and 1 ride. Visitors are taken on a journey through 500 years of Edinburgh's history where they meet actors performing as some of Edinburgh's most infamous characters, including Agnes Finnie, Burke & Hare, Sawney Bean and The Green Lady Elizabeth Elphinstone. The Dungeon's shows are staged on theatrical sets with special effects, including shaking floors, spinning walls, levitation gags and air jets. The show incorporates events such as The Plague, the witch trials, and includes characters such as 'The Torturer', 'The Foul Clenger' (Plague Cleaner), and 'The Judge'. Guests are encouraged to participate in all shows. The experience also includes a Drop Ride to Doom, which is a free-fall ride, staged as a public hanging.
In November 2016, the Edinburgh Dungeon underwent major construction in order to expand the offering and install new show areas. In a project worth over £500,000 they installed a steel structure that now houses their Witch Hunt show, which features Agnes Finnie and the Witch 'Pricker', charged with extracting her confession. The show also features many special effects, which, at the time of installation, was a world first combination.
The Edinburgh Dungeon is part of the Merlin Entertainments Group, and is one of eight Dungeons in Europe. The Amsterdam Dungeon, Berlin Dungeon, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon, The Castle Dungeon at Warwick Castle, Hamburg Dungeon, and the York Dungeon are also part of the Dungeon Group.
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, such exhibits include tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories. Dark rides are intended to tell stories with thematic elements that immerse riders. Not only does the queue tell a story, but the story unfolds throughout the attraction.
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The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction/haunted attraction along London's South Bank, England, which recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides.
Dungeons & Dragons is an American animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is a co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, with the Japanese Toei Animation. It ran on CBS from 1983 through 1985 for three seasons, for a total of twenty-seven episodes.
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Alexander "Sawney" Bean is a legendary figure, said to be have been the head of a 45-member clan in Scotland in the 16th century that murdered and cannibalised over 1,000 people in 25 years. According to the legend, Bean and his clan members were eventually caught by a search party sent by King James VI and executed for their heinous crimes.
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The Amsterdam Dungeon, in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands, follows a similar format to the London Dungeon, York Dungeon, Berlin Dungeon and Hamburg Dungeon which are owned and operated by UK-based Merlin Entertainments and attempts to show history through an interactive adventure. Live actors, a ride, shows and special effects simulate historical dark and bleak times, it was first opened in September 2005.
The Edinburgh Vaults or South Bridge Vaults are a series of chambers formed in the nineteen arches of the South Bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, was part of the South Bridge Act 1785 and was completed in 1788. For around 30 years, the vaults were used to house taverns, workshops for cobblers and other tradesmen, as well as storage space for said merchants. In later years, the vaults were a hotspot for the homeless and for criminal activity such as illegal gambling taverns, illegal whisky distillery and, according to rumour, bodysnatchers stored corpses there overnight. There is however no proof that the serial killers Burke and Hare ever used the vaults.
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Robin Mitchell is a Scottish writer and producer.
Built in 2000, the Hamburg Dungeon is a tourist attraction from a chain including the London Dungeon and Berlin Dungeon. It is the first of this brand to be built in mainland Europe. It provides a journey through Hamburg’s dark history in an actor led, interactive experience.
Sleep No More is the New York City production of an immersive theatre work created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk. It is primarily based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth, with inspiration also taken from noir films, as well as some reference to the 1697 Paisley witch trials. It builds on their original 2003 London incarnation and their Brookline, Massachusetts 2009 collaboration with Boston's American Repertory Theatre. The company reinvented Sleep No More as a co-production with Emursive, beginning performances on March 7, 2011. Sleep No More won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Awards for design and choreography.
Berlin Dungeon is a tourist attraction from a chain including the London Dungeon and Hamburg Dungeon. It provides a journey through Berlin's dark history in an actor led, interactive experience. There are both German and English shows and the actors speak German and English.
The San Francisco Dungeon was a tourist attraction that recreated historical events using 360° sets, special effects, and live actors. Visitors walked through the Dungeon, and were guided through each show by professional actors. The attraction also contained a dark boat ride.
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