Deadlocked Escape Rooms Reading: The Reading Witch

Great room, not scared easily but definitely does give you the creeps! Original puzzles and techy which is refreshing, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thanks guys!

I highly recommend this game to horror fans!

I won't put any spoilers I'll just say the game starts before you've even entered the building, the team have put so much thought into this and it shows! A shame I can't put 10 stars

Not for the faint hearted! You will scream

I was really apprehensive in booking this room as I'm not the best with jump scares, but I'm very glad that we did. The onboarding in the world that Deadlocked have created is very theatrical and sort of funny (at least to begin with!). The puzzles are very much at the forefront of the game with plenty to do throughout the 120 minute experience. Each puzzle was beautifully crafted and made sense within the creepy setting that they've made. Was it scary? Absolutely. I screamed and ran my way around the space at least a few times, but I knew I was safe when solving which made the experience much better. Highly highly recommended!

We’ll be hard pushed to find an escape room as well thought out and as immersive as this. Our hosts Charlie and James were marvellous and really brought the story to life. It was our first horror escape room and it was going to be a make or break scenario and it definitely secured its spot as our favourite game. With lots of nooks and crannies there was plenty to keep us busy and all puzzles were well thought out and interesting. I truly recommend this to everyone. 

I don't remember much from this room as my team mates did most of the puzzles whilst I stood in a corner absolutely terrified. However I do remember some of the puzzles being very high tech and original

We did this as we’ve done so many escape rooms but felt we were missing the UK’s top room due to our fear of horror. I don’t watch horror movies as I get too scared and my room partner seemed confident we would be fine. We did the time machine in the week before and also contacted the owners who gave me some spoilers on request to help me feel comfortable with the horror - my room partner misjudged their ability as he was terrified throughout. I was doing quite well but the drama ramps up and with a few more surprises I was truly terrified by the end . The scares and acting are really good, surprising and terrifying - the main scares mid puzzle are more jumps but between puzzles there is some genuine terrifying stuff.

As wimps we were buzzing to compete it but certainty the scares mean we couldn’t puzzle as hard as usual.

The hosts were fab and adapted the room for our fear and for us as a two. There were a couple of minor issues but they sought to solve this really well.

We were buzzing from the room and it’s so cool we highly recommend it but equally horror won’t be my genre going forward to I’m retiring from horror rooms on a huge high. If you’re scared do speak to them In advance. 

We booked this room as we had heard it was the best in the UK but didn't do as much research about it as we probably should because none of our team are particularly into the horror genre of games. We explained that to the host and he did a really good job of toning it down a little for us which made it okay for a bunch of wusses to play. The game was good fun and visually the set was great, though big enough that it was quite hard to remember what we had and hadn't used towards the end. Only complaint was that at the beginning of the game they were a bit heavy handed with the clues. It felt like we were being hurried along and not given time to solve the first few puzzles ourselves even though we finished 30 mins early overall so can't have been horribly behind on time.

I generally love a Deadlocked game as they always embrace the weird and wonderful, but I was torn about this game because I really do NOT enjoy horror games. I'm very glad I played it though (thank you to my team for the moral support), because it is an incredible experience. 

Deadlocked made great use of their premises, and they have come such a long way in terms of production value. The puzzles were great and worked very well, even as part of a seasoned team there was a good amount of challenge.

The pacing between puzzles and cinematics was effective and left time to focus on solving stuff while still keeping people on their toes. The game is really cleverly made in terms of layout and puzzle design, and beautifully and elaborately decorated - you can see how much time, thought and love has gone into it in every prop and set dressing bit. It's a two-hour immersive experience with two actors, and an absolute asset in the UK landscape that deserves every bit of appreciation.

Disclaimer: Be ready and able to crawl through narrow spaces.

Absolutely fantastic room and most definitely worth a visit. My group are not the bravest when it comes to horror, so we found parts quite scary, but I think it's a good sign of the fact the room is immersive that we found it scary! Really original puzzles that required thinking about and were good fun to complete.

Another winner from the geniuses at Deadlocked.  Never been as terrified 🙂 

I was looking forward to this escape room, it cost a lot of money for 2 people and from previous experiences with rooms with actors they don’t disappoint. 

Good selection of puzzles, ranging from easy to tricky. Not too scary in my option, I feel the atmosphere could be improved upon to make it more creepy and on edge. I don’t personally feel the actors were not that involved, I feel I could of been scream at by the nurse, more jump scares, maybe just standing and staring. 

The story was ok, but i found it a bit weak in areas, strong start but it levelled out after a bit. It could of improved in areas, especially the introduction, just a bit lost I felt. I personally dislike it when they do not break character, I like a debriefing at the end and we didn’t get this, we felt rushed out. Better hosting perhaps? 2hrs is the max for 2 people I feel as it starts to get boring. 

It’s a good room but it needs more suspense for it to be scarier, more intimidating nurse, and a debrief the end. 

This escape room is the best room I have EVER done- Charlie and James hosted this rooms for us and we couldn’t be more greatful. 

The immersive nature of this room is what the UK escape room industry is missing, as well at the extra long format. 

Let me start by saying that this is a fantastic room! The theming and attention to detail is superb and this room is on another level completely to their other room 'the time machine'. 

The effort that has gone into putting this room together is very apparent; the room designs, the use of space, and the audio all combine beautifully to create a truly immersive experience. 

If you aren't used to doing multiple rooms in a day then the "2 hours" tag may seem a little daunting but it's perfect for this room. It gives you time to get through the huge variety of puzzles across multiple rooms, whilst still being able to take in the experience unfolding around you. It didn't feel like we had to rush at any point and we even had time to stand around debating over who was going to go and do which scary thing (which is probably what took us the longest to be honest)! Everything was very cleverly signposted to somehow be both clear and discreet as to what you needed to do next, and at no point were we left wondering what to do next. The only issue we had in that regard was right at the end when we had somehow missed a key element - this is where we found out about the lack of hint system, as when we asked for help, we were played a pre-recorded message that didn't answer our question at all. Thankfully, they noticed we were completely perplexed (entirely our own fault for not looking around properly in the first place) and the GM/Actors very cleverly helped us out without breaking any immersion, which was fantastic.

The puzzles all felt very original and where there were more 'classic escape room puzzles' they had been so beautifully blended in with the theming that they felt new and fresh.

Now for the elephant in the room - the actors and the horror element.

I am not a fan of horror actors in rooms - I have high anxiety and am very susceptible to jump scares. That being said, I love horror-themed rooms and am a huge fan of the genre. This is where the review comes down to personal opinion. I cannot speak for every team as everyone reacts differently and every host may do things differently. I found the actor to be way too intense at times. It started off well with some well timed jump scares and cinematic use of the actors, but it progressively got more intense. (After talking to the host at the end we believe that they may have upped the intensity when they realised we weren't reacting much.) The actors in here WILL touch you and you are encouraged to move quickly through very tight spaces which is just going to lead to injuries when everyone is panicking in the dark. I felt extremely on edge the entire time. I was purposely avoiding going near some puzzles for fear of being grabbed from behind and really struggled to focus. With me as an exception, we are not a team that scare easily, so when even the lads were nervous to go into certain areas it shows that this is not a room for the easily scared.

I believe that its a fantastic room, it really is. But taking the "less is more" approach would have worked a lot better in this situation. Subltle sounds and movements in the dark mixed with corner of the eye sightings and suspense would have been much more creepy. But as I say, this is entirely personal opinion and different actors may play the role very differently. 

I highly recommend this room! But do proceed with caution if you have high anxiety, or have a chat with the host to adjust for a less intense interaction if nervous - because the room is well worth a visit if you can handle the scares!

One other small thing we noticed was that one of the lights in the final area wasn't working, which made it tricky to tell if you were completing the puzzle correctly, but is still solvable if you just assume its on when you press it. 

Even if you are not a fan of scary games I would say this is done in such a clever way you still have time to do the puzzles which are good fun and I personally feel this is worth the price as a two hour experience

I’ve wanted to play this game since I’d been told about it. I love immersive games, especially horror and The Reading Witch does not disappoint. 

You can see from the moment you step foot into the room, the attention to detail that has gone into every single thing. The owners have a passion for this, and that is shown in the end product.

The game itself is story driven from the very start, and completely immersive. The scares are terrifying, to a point where I, even though I knew this was a game, did not want to be on my own in a room.

I played this with my wife who is not a horror fan and was apprehensive about doing it to begin with because of that, but at the end she was saying she was glad she had done it. 

This is a premium game, at two hours long you certainly get your moneys worth! 

Very stoked to have an escape room so close to home that offers up multiple actors. Something we have come to love in Europe so pleased to see it influence here. 

The actors were great and interacted well with the room. We love to get stuck in and happy to play along.

What surprised me the most was the number of puzzles. Most of the time it is more of an experience but this still has all the puzzles of an escape room. 

I hope many more of these pop up. 

In my 2024 analysis of the Escape Room industry (www.linktr.ee/roguecolonel) I thought we would start to see a shift in game design to echo what was being done in broader Europe.  I didn't expect to see it this quickly.  This game have been in development for a long time, when I visited 18 months ago to play Time Machine, James was telling me then of his plans for this room and it sounded intriguing then.

I don't know if the historical basis is true but it feels like it combines elements of "The Woman in Black" with other classical ghost stories.  You are taking part in a TV show investigating the fore mentioned Witch and from the off things don't go as you might think.

There's an awful lot to like in this room, from the environment, to some fabulous touches of theatricality, some genuine jumps and so much more.  I hope that this is the start of the  paradigm shift the UK ER scene is looking for but if not then it is absolutely showing the way and I hope provides inspiration for others.

The game is creepy but not overly scary but has great signposting as even though it was a 120 minute game, I don't think we stood around at any point wondering what to do next.  James and Charlie have done a great job here and its well worth your time.

Superb room, with clever touches we’ve not seen before. Possibly the best we’ve done, and we’ve played all the TimeTrap ones in Reading.  Definitely the scariest room we’ve played too!

Amazing room - fully immersive from the get go (which is absolutely on brand for Deadlocked) which reminded me of some of the TERPECA rooms we have done in Barcelona.

This is a horror escape room BUT it has actual proper puzzles so you need to try and concentrate while feeling tense. The styling of the room is well done and the way you are introduced to the room means that the guidance from the GM does not break the immersion at all - it all makes sense. 

The story is great with top notch acting, a few moments of real terror on top of the continuous sense of dread. There is a lot to do and there is some crawling involved, but it is well padded and spacious (we are both over 6ft and had plenty of room) but make sure you are suitable dressed for this.

Not for the faint of heart but, as someone who doesn't like horror rooms (I know...) I am so glad I played it. Don't let the horror theming put you off if it's not normally your thing.

So much fun, I wish I could delete it from my memory and play it for the first time again.

(Play the Time Machine while you are there - it's a fun room with some clever ideas that I have not seen elsewhere)

My new favourite room! Brilliant theming and immersion! So much to do, the time flew by, and the ending was pure Deadlocked! A definite ‘must play’ room and worth every penny!