Room Escape Artist

Where Dark Things Dwell is one of our favorite experiences for spooky season. Here are our other Halloween escape room recommendations.

Escape the Cursed Village

Location: Toronto, Canada

Date Played: July 18, 2026

Team Size: up to 6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 120 minutes overall, with 90 minutes for the core experience

Price: $31-55 CAD per player depending on start time and season

Ticketing: Public, but you’ll play on a private team

Accessibility Consideration: All players must climb some stairs.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

As spooky escape rooms go, Where Dark Things Dwell was something special. For starters, the experience didn’t just take place indoors… it spanned an entire historic village… at night.

Taking full advantage of the unique features of The Village at Black Creek, Where Dark Things Dwell wove a tantalizing mix of puzzles and actor interactions throughout over a dozen buildings and the surrounding outdoor spaces. We had our own private team, but there were many teams playing during our session. The story centered around a mysterious curse which had consumed many of the villagers. While we were sometimes jumpscared and menaced by these masked figures, our fear was offset by knowing that it was these very villagers who we were trying to save.

There was, of course, only one way to lift this curse: by solving puzzles. The initial phase of the game involved collecting nine puzzle artifacts from various buildings around the property. Once gathered, these puzzles could be solved from anywhere, though as it turned out, some locations were safer than others. These mini-puzzles were varied, tactile, and accessible to players of any experience level.

Where things really got interesting was in what followed. The answers to the initial nine puzzles combined into a multi-stage metapuzzle sequence, prompting further investigations around the site that eventually would lead to a magical bell that could help dispel the curse in the final ritual. For a general audience game, this final sequence was surprisingly elegant, with some structural nods to SCRAP-style games yet presented in a much more approachable manner. Finding the bell marked completion of the game, but not all teams needed to reach the end for the ritual to be successful.

I am deeply impressed by Secret City’s continued innovations with game formats and their blending of escape rooms with immersive theater. While Where Dark Things Dwell was far from a traditional escape room, it would make a fantastic introduction to the world of puzzle-driven immersive experiences, and there was plenty to chew on for more experienced players as well. If you’re looking for a lighter (and longer) experience, check out Lost & Found, an open-world puzzle adventure which runs during the day at The Village at Black Creek. And I look forward to returning for When Shadows Lie, the long-awaited sequel to Where Dark Things Dwell, which opens in September 2026.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Any experience level

Why play?

• To experience The Village at Black Creek at night
• A spooky but not overly scary adventure
• Accessible puzzles that build into something more

Story

The villagers of Black Creek had been possessed by an evil curse. With the help of the local witch, perhaps we could find a way to break the curse.

Setting

Where Dark Things Dwell took place throughout The Village at Black Creek, spanning over a dozen different buildings and various outdoor areas. The site of wholesome historical reenactments during the day became something spookier at night, with masked figures hiding amongst the shadows.

Gameplay

Secret City’s Where Dark Things Dwell was an outdoor escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay included a mix of exploration, puzzle solving, and warding off cursed villagers with our lanterns.

Analysis

➕ The Village at Black Creek completely transformed at night and was the perfect setting for Where Dark Things Dwell. The creaky floorboards of a forgotten barn, the shadowy recesses behind the counter of an old store, the slight rustling off in the trees… everything took on a more alluringly sinister tone in the dark. (And we strongly recommend attending the later after-dark shows for the full experience.)

➕/➖ Despite being a public game in a shared environment, Where Dark Things Dwell had a streamlined and scalable format that completely avoided any bottlenecking. We never had to wait in a line for another group to finish a puzzle or interaction, and there was plenty of room to spread out throughout the village. However, this came at the expense of interactive depth in any given space. We spent a good portion of the game on a series of fetch quests for puzzle components that were fun but started to get repetitive.

➕ The puzzles were enjoyable, tactile, and thematic. Presented through well-produced physical artifacts, they were fairly quick and simple yet included a range of satisfying visual reveals.

➖ Where Dark Things Dwell lacked a sense of urgency, and in our session, we were the only team to fully complete the main quest. No individual puzzle was overly difficult, but there was a lot to do. While a webpage with hints for each puzzle was readily available and two trustworthy characters were also roaming around to help out, teams don’t know the optimal pacing or when they should be taking hints to stay on track.

➕ The menace in Where Dark Things Dwell took the form of “cursed villagers” were wearing white masks and long cloaks. They were spooky but never too terrifying, increasing the tension for specific teams when appropriate.

➕ After completing an initial set of nine mini-puzzles scattered throughout the town, the gameplay dovetailed into a beautifully constructed, multi-stage metapuzzle sequence. It was clever and elegant yet still approachable, prompting even deeper exploration and discovery.

➕ The acting throughout the intro and finale was campy and entertaining, setting an appropriate tone for the surrounding experience. Where Dark Things Dwell didn’t have a particularly developed story (where did the curse come from? why were the cursed villagers all wearing masks? how did the witch know how to release the curse?) but the fragments of story we received were clearly presented.

➖ After the finale, we returned to the briefing room for a final wrap-up, which included a walkthrough of the gameplay. For teams that didn’t complete the endgame, this walkthrough felt rushed and would have benefited from some visual aids for added clarity.

Tips For Visiting

• Parking is available at The Village at Black Creek for $9.30 + HST. It’s also a 15-minute walk from the Pioneer Village metro station.
• The game supports up to 60 players at a time, in teams of up to 6 people. Large group bookings are also available.

Book your session with Secret City’s Where Dark Things Dwell, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Secret City comped our tickets for this game.