Review! Room 13 at Battersea Arts Centre, October 2026

Immersive horror experiences have become increasingly ambitious, with productions such as The Great Gatsby, The Time Fracture and Peaky Blinders: The Rise demonstrating the potential of theatre that places audiences inside its world. Room 13, an immersive horror experience from Immersive Octopus, takes inspiration from the 2015 fire at Battersea Arts Centre, imagining a mysterious room unearthed within the building. With a premise that evokes Tower of Terror and the recent television series Widow’s Bay, there is plenty of potential for something unsettling. Unfortunately, this punchy 35-minute experience never quite fulfils its promise.

The production’s greatest strength is its simplicity. The journey through Battersea Arts Centre to discover the titular room is genuinely effective, with the performers guiding audiences through the building in a way that feels natural and intriguing. There is something inherently unnerving about exploring a familiar space and discovering something that perhaps should have remained hidden. The opening also encourages audiences to work together around their table, establishing a welcome sense of collective unease.

The sound design is where Room 13 really comes alive. Its use of binaural sound creates some genuinely chilling moments, allowing darkness and carefully placed sound effects to do the heavy lifting. Rather than showing audiences everything, the production occasionally understands that what we imagine is far more frightening than anything that could be put in front of us. It is in these moments that the experience comes closest to realizing its potential.

Unfortunately, the writing lets the production down. The script is exposition-heavy and repetitive, frequently explaining things that would be far more effective if left to the audience’s imagination. The story itself becomes difficult to follow, while the jump scares rarely have the precision or timing needed to make them genuinely effective. Our lead actress does an admirable job with some rather clunky dialogue, but even a committed performance cannot entirely overcome the material.

There is also a missed opportunity in the interactive elements. The opening establishes a sense of collaboration between audience members, suggesting that our involvement will become integral to what follows. Yet this idea is never meaningfully developed, leaving the experience feeling more like a guided horror performance than the truly immersive encounter it initially promises. The ending, too, feels rushed, bringing proceedings to a close just as the atmosphere begins to build.

Room 13 has the foundations of an effective piece of immersive horror: an intriguing location, a simple but compelling premise, a capable cast and some excellent sound design. Yet the repetitive script, muddled storytelling and underwhelming jump scares prevent it from becoming anything more than an interesting curiosity.

For those seeking an immersive fright, there are more satisfying experiences elsewhere. Battersea Arts Centre has plenty of secrets worth uncovering, but Room 13 leaves you wishing it had trusted its audience a little more — and given its own story room to breathe. 

For £20 a ticket, I think some rooms should be left unearthed 

️⭐⭐

Reviewed by Alex Farley

Room 13 | Battersea Arts Centre