Not a mystery I am a fan of true crime, particularly podcasts. It was only natural I’d be interested in the London dates of the Serial Killer Exhibition on world tour to find out if it is worth visiting at all.
Debunk the mysteries behind the most twisted minds of the century with an exploration of serial killers’ lives from a scientific, historical and educational perspective.
Seems this is a never-before-displayed collection of hundreds of original artifacts, including documents and drawings of the most famous killers made by themselves. The offer detailed recreations of the most famous crime scenes, and showcase the methodology to identify and analyze psychological profiles of these individuals.
It opened a couple of months ago in what used to be the Vaults Festival space, still called the Vaults, in the Waterloo train station railway arches by Leake Street. So local, I could not miss it.
A strong social media campaign (from a very unresponsive account) and passing by often contributed to pique my interest.
I waited for a discount code (why not save some quids?) and planned to attend it on a sunday afternoon (queues in the mornings can be long).
Dodgy props?
From the images I had seen on their official account and reposts from visitors, I actually wasn’t sure what to think. It looked like a dodgy, cheap version of the London Dungeon, gimmicky and grotesque. Yet the comments were enthusiastic! I decided to risk wasting the price of entry (around £25 per adult).
I had also read people visit for around two hours and that is the time we had allowed, planning an aperitif on Lower Marsh to mull over the experience.
We entered and it was fairly quiet, so no queue, which was good. They encourage people to bring headphones to listen to the free audio commentary for each of the killers represented and each room’s focus. While I found the narrating voice a little annoying, I thought it was a nice addition and did add to the overall experience.
The exhibition
We started slowly, and time went by very quickly.
The displays highligh some famous and less famous serial killers but also explain how these are ‘categorised’ based on their MOs (I surely learned something new). There are reconstructions of items and crime scenes as well as (more grotesquely) victims’ displays. Each perpetrator has a ‘personal file’ with carachteristics such as year of birth, number of victims, status and so forth.
I have listened to Casefile for years now, yet there were many, the majority in fact, of killers I was not familiar with. There is no end to human cruelty, and some of these people depicted were truly awful.
About an hour and half in, we realise how extensive the exhibition is and how long it could actually take to visit! We spent 2.5h there and truly rushed through the final rooms, because we had to head home. The final rooms are very interesting as they detailed the birth of the forensic science (in Italy, what do you know) and how this evolved to today’s incredible scientific advancement which have allowed to identify and capture many perpetrators.
There are also a number of VR goggles with reconstructions of famous crime scenes to enjoy and instagram friendly photobooth and a gadget shop (!).
Overall I really enjoyed the Serial Killer Exhibition and might go back to enjoy the second half with more time.
I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest on the subject.
Practical Info
Opening hours:
Wednesday and Thursday: 10.00 – 15.00
Friday: 10.00 – 18.00
Saturday: 09.30 – 18:30
Sunday: 10.00 – 18.00
The venue closes 1 hour 45 minutes after the last audience admission.
Also open every day from Boxing Day, 26th December to 26th January!
Location: Waterloo The Vaults
Age requirement: Recommended 14+. Children under 14 are admitted only when accompanied by an adult. Please consider content suitability for a younger audience.
Tickets: Starting from £21 via Fever
