Peterborough’s Escape Maze Returns with Halloween Game Inspired by Black Donnellys, Canada’s Darkest Family Tragedy

Escape Maze will stage its annual Halloween event this October with The Stalking Dead – The Midnight Riders, an outdoor escape game combining puzzles, scares, and Canadian history.

The game is structured as a trail through fields and forest, with participants stopping at stations to solve puzzles inside small shelters before moving ahead. Along the way, players encounter zombies and other frights while racing to finish the course.

The central storyline, The Midnight Riders, draws on the violent history of the Black Donnellys, an Irish immigrant family murdered by a mob in 1880 in Biddulph Township, northwest of London, Ontario. Five members of the family were killed, and their home was destroyed, but no convictions were ever made despite two trials.

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In the Escape Maze version, players are thrust into a one-hour nighttime chase, following a trail tied to the Donnelly legend. Groups must solve hidden clues and confront the spectral “Midnight Riders,” said to rise from their graves each year seeking vengeance.

The event runs rain or shine, with each time slot accommodating up to 10 people. Smaller groups will be paired with others. Tickets cost $35.40 plus HST per person.

Organizers caution that the experience is not recommended for anyone under 13, and players younger than 16 must attend with an adult. The course is outdoors, and participants are advised to dress for the weather and wear footwear suitable for dirt paths.

The Stalking Dead – “The Midnight Riders”

What:

An Outdoor Haunted Escape Game Experience.

2025 Theme: As darkness falls, you and your group must follow the bloodstained trail of the Midnight Riders — spectral horsemen said to rise from the grave each year, seeking vengeance on those who dare trespass. Solve cryptic puzzles, decode long-buried secrets, and outwit the ghosts of the Donnellys themselves… all while being relentlessly pursued through the night.