New Blackpool Tower Dungeon show features shocking historic murder case in resort
Blackpool Tower Dungeon has a chilling new show to add to its repertoire - and for the first time the grisly story is about something that happeed in the town itself.
The scary attraction's ‘The Bathtub Bride’ feature is based on the shocking case of George Joseph Smith, a bigamist and serial killer who married women for money, before callously drowning three of them in the bath over a two year period.
But the Dungen show is more concerned with the victim of the murder in Blackpool - newly wed Alice Burnham, who was killed in a guesthouse on Regent Road by Smith in December 1913, while the couple were on honeymoon.
Tragically, Alice did not love long to enjoy it.
Not only was the case local to Blackpool, it was also one of the first cases to use forensic science in a prosecution.
The Blackpool Tower Dungeon brings together a cast of theatrical actors, special effects, stages, scenes and rides to recreate historic cases, and is one of Blackpool’s premier attractions.
Jamie Humphrey, Blackpool Tower Dungeons performance manager, said of the new show: “The idea is that visitors to the Tower Dungeon can help Alice’s spirit reach the afterlife.
“Although the case of George Joseph Smith is famous, we were clear our show would be more about Alice, the victim of the crime.”
The exact details of the new feature are being kept under wraps until it launches for Halloween on Saturday, September 28 and continues until November 3.
The Bathtub Bride is a special seasonal show as part of the full Dungeon's full tour.
Jamie added: “What makes it different is that, for the first time, one of our stories is based in Blackpool itself.
“Our others are either universally famous or set elsewhere in Lancashire, but this one is a genuine first for us.”
The police prosecution against Smith, involving one of the first uses of forensic science to solve a crime, was launched thanks to the sharp observation of Joseph Crossley, the Blackpool hotelier where the ill-matched couple stayed.
When he read that there had been a similar case in London a year after the unfortunate “accident” at his guesthouse, he was immediately suspicious and alerted Scotland Yard.
Home Office pathologist Bernard Spilsbury joined then investigation and a series of innovative tests he instigated were able to prove that the women would not have been able to drown naturally in the tub without there being an outide agent causing them to be forced under the water very quickly.
Working with the police, his detailed experiments, including the exhumation of one of the bodies, proved beyond reasonable doubt that Smith had drowned the women.
Despite his protestations of innocence, Smith was found guilty of the three murders of his unfotunate brides and was brought to justice when he hanged for his crimes in 1915.
Jamie added: “These cases are worth remembering but not to glorify the killers. So in our show, it is Alice who will be at the centre of things..”
To find out more visit https://www.thedungeons.com/blackpool/whats-inside/events/home-of-halloween/