'Well to Hell' in Siberia: Jonathan Burgess opens immersive Halloween attraction in Londonderry based on urban legend

It is based on an urban legend regarding a borehole in Siberia which was allegedly drilled so deep that it broke through into hell.

The attraction is created by Londonderry playwright, director and curator, Jonathan Burgess.

“Engineers reportedly broke through to a mysterious underground cavern during a routine drilling operation in Siberia. When they lowered microphones into the shaft, they recorded chilling sounds of tormented souls – screams and wails so terrifying that the workers fled the site, abandoning their equipment.”

According to fact-checking website Snopes, the urban myth was based on a 1984 article in the Scientific American about an experimental well in Russia's Kola Peninsula near the border of Finland and Norway. ‘Boringly’, scientists drilled 7.5 miles down to find rare rock formations, flows of gas and water, and temperatures of only 180° – but no screams.

Organisers of the Londonderry attraction describe it as a brand new, fully immersive, 8D auditory experience – so “intense and frightening” that it is only for ages 12 and up.

Lisburn medic, pastor and theologian Dr Paul Coulter acknowledged that many people will simply see the attraction as “a bit of harmless fun”.

However, speaking as executive director of the Centre for Christianity in Society, he also took the opportunity offer his theological reflection on the concept.

“My concern with this attraction, as with all Halloween festivities, is that it makes light of serious things,” he said.

“When the thrill of the scare in an attraction like this passes, I fear some people may become desensitised to the realities of evil and its consequences while others might be traumatised and become trapped in fear.

“As a Christian, I believe hell is a reality we should think very carefully about.”

Dismissing the original urban myth as “fake news” started by some Christians, he added: “Christians should know better than thinking of hell as a subterranean cavern we could drill to. According to the Bible, hell is the eternal punishment prepared by God for Satan and the evil spirits that serve him.

“The Bible also teaches that people who do not receive God's forgiveness will be consigned to hell by God in the final judgment. If we stopped to think about that, it's much more terrible than any Halloween story.

“But the Bible doesn't tell us this to make us fearful. It's a message of hope that no one needs to go to hell, because God loved us enough to send his Son, Jesus Christ to rescue us.”

The attraction runs from 28 October to 2 November on Guildhall St, Londonderry, £12 admission. See: www.theblackhall.co.uk