Dungeon of Horror Review: Prague’s Premium Horror Attraction

Reviewed on January 27, 2025 — Jord Tury

Halloween isn’t an annual happening in Prague; it’s a nightly celebration—a chance, of sorts, for those with an undying love for the supernatural and all things thrill-based to touch gloves with the underbelly of darkness and bathe in bottomless frights. To illustrate this point, we have to talk about Dungeon of Horror—a year-round scare maze that is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the scariest and most immersive horror attractions in the world.

Located in Praha 1, Dungeon of Horror serves as one of two staple scare attractions under the Thrill Park umbrella. The aforementioned experience, which takes just under thirty minutes to complete, takes you through a network of pitch-black areas, several of which foster automated furniture pieces, live scare actors (yes, there are chainsaws — shock horror), narrow passages, crawl spaces, rope ladders, and—if you can believe it—jump scares from a collective of clowns and other unhinged Czech locals.

The journey begins in darkness (because, you know — why wouldn’t it?) After signing a short waiver and acknowledging the SAFE WORD—a command that allows you to freeze the experience and exit via one of its various back doors—you are instructed to follow the small red dots located on each of the maze’s surveillance cameras. From here, it’s merely the case of navigating the darkness, playing touchy-feel with various set pieces, and pushing yourself through small spaces until something—anything informs you that you’re near the end of the tunnel.

Dungeon of Horror isn’t an escape room, so there are no puzzles that need solving, nor are there any intricate mechanisms to decipher. No, what this is, really, is a linear scare maze with paint-by-numbers (or CCTV lights, in this case) progression. At times, it is made to feel that you are heading in the wrong direction, but this is (and a pretty good one at that) a huge part of its USP.

Credit: TerrorTury

Before You Book

Dungeon of Horror isn’t for the faint of heart (and I know that’s the sort of kindling promoters frequently use to boost publicity) — but it’s true. As the maze does feature several crawl spaces, rope ladders, and objects that require a small amount of force (all of these being in complete darkness, to boot), it is preferable that you have a good level of flexibility. A triathlete? No. However, you should be aware of the environmental curveballs that feature in the maze.

In addition to the general tight spots and obstacles that you’ll encounter, Dungeon of Horror is also home to a handful of professional scare actors who, like most jack-in-the-box aficionados, use opportune moments to spring out from various hidden doors to scare the living daylights out of you. It is worth pointing out that, while the actors won’t harm you, they will get a little handsy, and won’t exactly shy away from slicing into you with a real chainsaw if they catch you, either. It’s like a warm but incredibly intense vibration; the thought of being hit with it is much, much scarier than the actual feeling of it digging into your backside, believe it or not.

Credit: TerrorTury

Props & Set Design

The vast majority of Dungeon of Horror is under a tight veil of darkness, and therefore, it’s difficult to critique a lot of its structural components and props. With that said, several of the rooms in the maze do contain a small glimmer of light—enough to provide a brief glimpse into the automated mechanisms that operate several of the “sentient” chairs, tables, and questionably placed portraits.

Dungeon of Horror isn’t so much about the visual effects, but the overall atmosphere of each of the dungeon’s quarters and the subtle yet immersive elements that bring them to life. From the pattering of a clown’s footsteps to the fluttering bolt of a caged shockwave, the distant scream of a deranged actor in hot pursuit of his prey to the ferocious revving of a powerful chainsaw — audibly, Dungeon of Horrors fires on all cylinders.

Credit: Thrill Park

Staff, Actors & Hosts

It’s hard to imagine someone having the sadistic personality traits of a manic serial killer and the accommodating manner of a Mister Rogers impersonator, but the Thrill Park staff more or less have both of these qualities. And that’s great. To say that they’re a friendly bunch wouldn’t be doing them justice; they go above and beyond to secure the best possible snapshots and video clips of your experience, offer you beverages before and after your tour, and answer any questions that you have before entering to settle those pre-walkthrough nerves. While we can’t speak for the entire team, those who served us and made it “the night to end all nights” were incredibly informative, polite, and accommodating to our needs. With special thanks to Natalie, Melisa, Ellie, and the rest of the Thrill Park team, we ourselves would have no issue with returning in the future for another barrel of bottomless frights.

SKULL SCORE

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