Ghostly handprints and levitating children — staff spooked at one of the UK's creepiest attractions

As marks its 50th anniversary, staff have lifted the lid on the eerie experiences they've had within the dark corridors of the iconic attraction.

Filled with twisting passageways, dim rooms, and the pungent aromas of times long gone — from the dirty streets of plague-ridden to the city's smog and the unsettling scent of Mrs. Lovett’s pies — the Dungeon holds more than just its spine-chilling stories for visitors. Over the years, employees have encountered inexplicable and frightening occurrences, some of which still send shivers down their spines.

In one such incident, a staff member was alone in Mrs. Lovett's room late at night, carrying out final checks of the day. The room has a bell which rings every time the door opens, but the mechanism only works when the door moves. That night, as he stood in the middle of the room with the door closed, the bell suddenly rang. It had no cause to do so. He made a bolt for the door.

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Another tale surrounds a prop — one of several stuffed animals used in the attraction. One night, a staff member took a fake pigeon with him in his car. Soon after he started driving, he lost control and crashed, miraculously escaping without too many scratches but with the belief that the pigeon had brought him bad luck.

Becca, a studio technician, recalled with a shiver spotting the creepy marks of a ghost appear one night.

“During an overnight install and refresh with my manager, after finishing painting one section we went round a corner to check something for a few moments. When we came back, there were tiny child-sized handprints in the wet paint. We were the only two people in the building, and what made it even creepier is that the handprints were too high for a child to have reached, meaning they may have levitated," she said.

Another technician, Kaitlin, shared her own experience of a ghostly encounter in the Dungeon: “I was doing the night shift, which involved locking up various doors. When I checked the CCTV to make sure no-one was in the building before I left, I saw a girl wearing a white chemise moving through the corridors, it was terrifying," she said.

Adam Keeler, the Dungeon’s performance manager and archivist, noted that many new actors who eagerly arrive to frighten guests often end up too terrified to return after just one shift. The dark atmosphere, combined with the unsettling vibes, sometimes scares them off more effectively than they scare the visitors.

Studio manager, Pam, has also had a spooky experience. She said: “I was in the cleaning cupboard alone, grabbing a few things, when all of a sudden I found myself locked in there. I was confused at first as the door could only be locked from the inside, but then I felt chills as I realised something was in there with me.”

Another technician, Natalie, recalled: “I was manually locking every door in the building, many were locked on both sides. One night after-close when it was just me and my manager in the building, we walked through a set of doors that you could only walk through one way. My manager was standing right next to me, then all of a sudden, we heard the clicks of all of the other doors in that section being reopened one by one.”

Two resident dolls have also been noted as having a life of their own. A small doll with the word 'soul' written on her body is one of the latest additions to the Dungeon's archive. "We believe this contains the soul of someone that has moved on. When she arrived in the Dungeon last year, we put her into our seasonal show and she caused all the electrics to blow. Wherever she goes there seems to be an issue with the lighting," said Adam.

Another doll, that sits in a pram, is noted to roll around on her own accord. "She likes to get about and see what's going on," Adam claimed.

Perhaps the most bizarre haunted item the Dungeon owns, is a delicate white lace table cloth. Adam stated: "When we sourced this one, it did come along with a ghost known as Jean. She wasn't happy her tablecloth was used in an attraction and it has caused some technical issues during the shows."

Whilst the Dungeon does welcome haunted artefacts to be donated, they urge members of the public to bring them in and hand them directly to staff, detailing what the artefact is.