‘I’m the London Dungeon scaremaster – here’s my biggest frights’ | UK News

A scaremaster who has been at The London Dungeon for more than two decades says the digital age has nothing on real-world chills.

In fact, Richard Quincey reckons that up close and personal sensations are more acute than ever in a screen-absorbed world. 

The head of performance at the nation’s premier spooky attraction has witnessed an increasing interest in Halloween over the years which has not diminished as a result of unfiltered media content.  

His own devilish highlights over the years include séances and pulling surprises on guests in ghoulish costume mode.

Richard, 44, is at the dark heart of a busy Halloween spell that includes a new exorcism show at the Merlin experience.

‘I love being able to work with such a talented bunch of actors to create the shows and work on the scares,’ he says.

‘When you look at the show we are putting on for Halloween this year, the exorcism of Peter Moore, it’s all about pushing that even more.

‘Our audience’s hunger for Halloween has grown, certainly during my time here, they have become a little bit more hardened with scares and we’ve really got to push that envelope in how we’re getting them immersed in the environment, how we’re telling our stories and how our characters can really shock and get them spooked.  

‘When you look at the work in this Halloween show we have all got all the ingredients the Dungeon needs, whether it be the historical underpinning, great characters, storytelling or scares, the atmosphere build, the soundtrack, the blackouts, the lights, I’m really proud of what we’ve built for this Halloween. The Dungeon is the home of Halloween and we’re looking to put on a real scare which leaves our audience with a really memorable experience of the Dungeon.’

Richard, who lives in Essex with his family, began as an actor on a summer contract in 2001 before becoming an integral part of the evolving house of scares, including the move from Tooley Street near London Bridge Tube station to the present home on the South Bank.

His CV of ghoulish in-house shows to date include takes on Sweeney Todd, Jekyll & Hyde and Jack the Ripper. 

Standout moments over the 22 years include some visitors getting a little more than they bargained for.  

Richard says: ‘I remember being in costume and scaring a child who crumbled to the floor and said “mummy, mummy I’ve lost a tooth!”. I thought, “oh no I’ve scared them so much the tooth has come out”.

‘The mum came and thanked me because I’d dislodged a wobbly tooth that had been refusing to budge. I also remember scaring a group of guests to the point where they were on the floor crying and wouldn’t get up.

‘We’re all about scary fun where people shake it off and laugh afterwards, it’s not about being gory or gruesome and more about your imagination playing tricks on you. We had to turn the lights on and change the environment and literally walk these people out of our attraction.

‘I would probably also mention the séance show.

‘We’ve found the very word séance brings fear to our audiences and the connotations with words like Ouija board.

‘They are the shows where the very title plays on people’s minds before they are even in the space.’ 

The father-of-two had an unlikely inspiration for a career that has led him to dish out scares, laughs and screams to millions of visitors amid 360-degree sets and two underground rides roamed by 20 live actors at a time. 

At the former Ockendon School in Essex, he had his heart set on performing arts and musical theatre, but it was Ronnie Barker, not Bela Lugosi, who drew him to the stage lights. From there, the aspiring entertainer followed the career path through college and university. 

‘As a kid I was always a massive fan of Ronnie Barker,’ Richard says.  

‘From Open All Hours to Porridge, it was his ability to play characters straight or comedically and my friend and I used to do Two Ronnies sketches in working men’s clubs as wannabe standups. He was the one who really influenced me in wanting to perform.’

Digital overload has since emerged as a societal concern, with a Google search for ‘Saw clips’ leading to around 180,000,000 results.

The expert in theatrical dark arts, however, believes the deluge of fingertip content is giving his team a real-world advantage.  

‘I think people need that reality, they need that immersion,’ he says.  

‘When your senses are overloaded with sights, sounds, smells, touch you are much more subjective to that scare.

‘Your heart rate is the soundtrack, your feelings are more alert and you’re not in the safety of your living room where you can put your device down or put it on standby. The same goes for horror movies, which increasingly push the boat out to have things jumping out of the screen. 

‘Theatrically, we are at an advantage, and for a lot of our audiences it’s their first experience of having live actors who perform in front of them and take them on a mythical journey.

‘As they have the live actors in front of them and get to interact with our characters they completely buy into our world.’ 

While the stand-up career never materialised, Richard counts himself lucky to be among the actors giving visitors a front row seat at witch trials and unleashing Moore’s lost soul.

‘I’m very fortunate to still be doing something I love, day in day out,’ he says. ‘I turn up for work every day with the ability to make audiences laugh, smile and scream.’

*For more information about The London Dungeon and to book tickets, visit the website here

MORE : London Dungeon’s performance manager reveals the show’s scariest secrets

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