Edinburgh Dungeon Asylum VR event follows infamous killer's dissection

Guests are given virtual reality headsets to immerse themselves in a heinous 19th Century Edinburgh crime.

A new Edinburgh Dungeon experience is terrifying visitors to the brink of insanity with virtual reality event, Asylum.

Once you strap on a VR headset, the gristly case of John Howison, the Crammond Killer.

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Howison was the first person in a British court to plead insanity, a plea that was ignored when it came down to his sentencing after a brutal and twisted murder.

The Edinburgh Dungeon
VR experience 2018The Edinburgh Dungeon
VR experience 2018
The Edinburgh Dungeon VR experience 2018

Local Edinburgh woman Marta Geddes was found dead, on 21 January 1831. Severe fracture wounds covered her skull as a murderous Howison beat her repeatedly with a sharp spade.

His end came at the end of the hangman’s noose and his body was the last criminal corpse dissection to take place in Edinburgh.

Imprisoned in the Asylum exhibition’s virtual reality, Howison is baying for blood and… for better or worse… visitors will have an experience in the anatomy theatre they’ll never forget.

The Edinburgh Dungeon
VR experience 2018The Edinburgh Dungeon
VR experience 2018
The Edinburgh Dungeon VR experience 2018

Visual effects specialists, Black Wing Studios, are behind this season’s blood-curdling attraction.

Using 360 technology in a haunting, cinematic VR video, the event plunges visitors deep into 19th century Edinburgh, where Howison is about to be publicly dissected, much to the delight of a zealous audience eager to see this barbaric murderer torn into pieces.

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Edward Evans, General Manager at The Edinburgh Dungeon, said: “The story of John Howison is equally appalling and fascinating.

“Virtual Reality is a natural fit for horror, and as users come face to face with our Anatomist and realise they are about to be cut up on the table – let’s just say it’s not a video for the squeamish..

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“We believe this is the first time VR has been used from the eyes of the ‘victim’, so we will have a first aider on hand to assist if anyone finds the whole experience a bit too much!”

The VR experience is available to view at The Edinburgh Dungeon (31 Market Street) from 28 March to 16 April (subject to availability).

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