Esoteri-SNORE: Exhibition Fails to Enlighten

Finally I had the opportunity to see the Dark Secrets: The Esoteric Exhibition that seems to have been visited by everyone on Facebook, I’d heard glowing reviews and seeing the pictures being posted online I was incredibly eager to go. 

With the guide saying the exhibition should take 90-120 minutes it looked like a promising way to spend the day and treat the wifey to a date out. 

First red flag was the advert stating 1,200+ sqm of mystery and discovery which is contradicted by the ticket email stating “Leake Street is a 400 sqm venue featuring vaulted ceilings…..” 

We spent a total of three and half hours meandering through reading every label, poster and sign. If spotting inaccuracies and errors was a drinking game we'd have had to be carried out by the bouncers and slung in the back of an uber. 

Where to begin…..

A bottle of mandrake with a Hogwarts label on the voodoo alter was a stretch

Posters had dropped and not been restuck

Buckets catching drips from the leaking ceiling 

Multiple labels in the exhibition referred to pieces that were not on display -

 Belt worn by a werewolf (no belt on display)

 ‘Both’ KKK uniforms (Only one, which was black not white)

 ‘Both’ wax sealed boxes (Only one)

 Shrunken heads (only one)

The ENTIRE Freemason section - the organisers should be entitled to a full refund and compensation from whoever was the consultant on this section.

Witchfinder General was both under appreciated and inaccurate, which led to casting doubt on the rest of the information being displayed throughout.

The tarot card section seemed to be organised as an after thought with barely enough room for the information stands

Of the VR sets at the end of the exhibits only one was working as the remaining were labelled out of order or just not charged  

What really was the kick in the teeth of the exhibition was “1,000+ Original Artefacts”. I’d be interested in knowing what artefacts were actually original! Even the replicas were terrible with phillips head screws on 16-17th century masks and shrunken heads that were clearly not genuine. The possessed dolls could just as easily have been from charity shops then the exhibitor stabbed some pins in them or dropped some wax on them. Even the mermaid gaffs were modern replicas, not from the Victorian era as one would have hoped.

Note to the exhibitors you should have given me a call. Id have been able to source genuine examples of everything there. 

The posters, though in abundance, were not positioned for anyone under 5 foot 6. 

There is an audioguide available by scanning a QR code in each section, which would have been great if it had been advertised well so I'd have brought headphones along.

Being English I do try to look on the upside. So here we go 

I did get a picture of me as a ghostly piano playing figure. 

The graffiti tunnel you need to walk through to get to the venue itself is incredible. There's a real spectrum of artwork there 

There were touchscreen quizzes and a knowledge game to keep you amused.

It still counted as a date.

Considering the amazing experiences I've had in my life it does take a lot to ‘wow’ me nowadays but there are some things you just need to label as a disappointment, or at least underwhelming. I went there to learn something new and see some interesting stuff. I got inaccurate and questionable information and the Dagenham market version of genuine.