A MYSTERIOUS new entertainment venue being dubbed as ‘Bournemouth’s Darkest Attraction’ is finally open to the public.

The MacGuffin Project is based on the idea of an ‘escape room’ - a new craze which sees people trying to escape from a locked room - but with a very unique twist.

The attraction, which is the brainchild of Gareth Quinlan and Claire Timbrell, has been two years in the making.

Located in the former Dusk till Dawn nightclub in Old Christchurch Road the attraction sees teams thrust into a mysterious derelict 19th century Victorian carnival and must work together to find out what happened to the carnival employees more than 150 years ago.

Visitors will interact with machines, communicate with lost souls and piece together the past as they race against time to complete their missions.

The attraction has four escape rooms. The ‘MacGuffin’ which is now open, the ‘Fortune Teller’ which is set to open to guests in two weeks and the ‘Magician’ which will go live in two months.

The ‘Magician’ is two identical rooms which allows larger groups to race against each other.

Teams can be between three to six people.

Speaking to the Echo, CEO and co-founder Claire Timbrell said the team was so excited to finally be able to open the doors to the public.

She added: “This has been two years in the making and we are really happy with how it has turned out.

“We are very different to other escape room attractions. There is a backstory and theme to all of our rooms. They all relate to the carnival and there is a story behind all the characters and how they have vanished.”

And Bournemouth is only the beginning for The MacGuffin Project. Having secured the backing of investors via ‘Dorset Business Angel’, plans are already in motion to open in Brighton early next year and London by summer 2018.

The team has also worked alongside London-based technology and arts company Seeper.com to help build the attraction.

Co-founder and head of creative Gareth Quinlan, said: “We have really tried to create a state-of-the-art escape room attraction for Bournemouth that is so much more than just trying to find your way out of a locked room.

“We can’t wait to introduce people to the exciting world of MacGuffin.”

To find out more go to themacguffinproject.com.