Judge Dee’s Chinatown Haunted House, presented by Seven Tyrants Theatre, is a theatrical experience through the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens in the dark bluish hue of night. Revolving around the life and death of Judge Dee — the Chinese equivalent of Sherlock Holmes, a detective who had a penchant for putting criminals behind bars and upholding justice — this Halloween attraction is definitely not your typical haunted house.
Whereas in a standard haunted house you merely walk, stumble, or scream your way through tight, indoor spaces designed to psychologically torture you, this Chinatown haunt features the extra element of storytelling. Besides having to concentrate on not tripping over your feet — which your fright has suddenly turned into violently flopping fish — and making sure nobody’s sneaking up behind you about to cut off your kneecap, your already short-circuited brain has to go into overdrive and focus on an unraveling storyline as well.
It was certainly interesting to see the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden bathed in such a dark halo and mist. This experience gives participants a different perspective on the gardens than what its normal daylight hours allow.
I visited the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden earlier in October on a lovely sunny day, and it was a classical vista taken right out of China, authentic in every way; you felt as if you’d traversed the space between Vancouver and China in one footstep. The real world dripped into the pond and cast a parallel universe into its depths, where koi spun and weaved languidly. Transformed into a haunted house though, with cackling creatures around every corner, it is infinitely more creepy than tranquil.
Judge Dee’s is a unique Halloween attraction, but as much as I appreciate the fact that actors actually have to enact a script rather than just drool and growl and shriek, I think it is not entirely accurate to advertise this attraction as “Vancouver’s only haunted house not suitable for children,” or even as a haunted house for that matter. While it did have its scares, I definitely would not peg it as a goosebump-inducing, knee-quivering, lip-biting, terrifying experience — and this is coming from a girl who loves scary movies but cannot watch them alone.
I’ve been to my fair share of haunted houses and this is by far one of the mildest I’ve seen. I suppose the scares lie more in the evocation of Judge Dee’s adventures, which eventually ended in his assassination, and is thus a decidedly more sophisticated Halloween experience for the discerning individual.
