Volgograd residents allege beating at horror quest

A group of six young people have described their visit to a popular horror quest in Volgograd as a sadistic beating. According to one participant, the actors used excessive physical force, leaving at least two visitors with numerous bruises.

“They hit us hard. Right in the head”

Angelina (full details available to V1.RU) contacted the V1.RU editorial office. She said they went to a quest based on a popular computer game on the night of 18 July. The group consisted of six people: four men and two women. All were over 18, and many had done quests before.

— Before the quest, you choose a difficulty level: with contact or without contact. Almost all of us chose “medium” — minimal contact. As we were told, this meant they would tug at our clothes, press on pressure points, and so on, — the woman recalls the start of the quest.

At first everything was as usual: puzzles, screams, and jump scares. But at one point, according to the woman, one of the actors began using his fists to intimidate them. Then they brought in a real angle grinder as a prop.

— At some point the actors were supposed to make us sit on the floor. And the actor starts hitting me with his fists to make me sit down. And it felt like they hit us hard, and some of us right in the head, — the woman claims. — Then they brought some piece of metal and started sawing it in front of us so that sparks flew right at us.

At first, the group, as they claim, did not pay much attention. But closer to the end, when, according to Angelina, the actors’ actions began to exceed acceptable limits, one of the participants started directly threatening retaliation — this supposedly helped calm the tense atmosphere.

— When they were pushing us from one room to another, one of them kicked me right in the lower back, — Angelina claims. — One boy, when he was pushed, hit his groin on a half-open door and doubled over in pain. We started shouting that it was too much, that they should stop touching us <. . .>. Then I was taken to another room, seated on a chair, and they started trying to cut off my finger with manicure scissors. But they were actually sharp.

When it was all over, according to Angelina, the group was planning to call the police, but the organizers offered financial compensation for the inconvenience. That might have been the end of it, but, as the claimant says, the friends’ injuries have still not healed. At the same time, they did not contact law enforcement.

— I and the boy who hit his groin still have bruises. His groin still hurts. Another girl has severe headaches and dizziness; today she is going to the hospital with a suspected concussion.

“Scared to death by the angle grinder. 10 out of 10”

To be fair, the quest organizer has an exclusively positive rating on all platforms: 5 stars on Yandex Maps and 9.9 on a popular quest aggregator site. The vast majority of reviews match the ratings.

— Scared to death by the angle grinder. Got bruises and scrapes. Squealed like a girl. 10 out of 10, — writes Nikita.

— The quest is excellent, the atmosphere is very scary! The actors were top-notch, it was very frightening. The angle grinders appeared unexpectedly, looked very effective and scary. Many thanks to the team, I recommend it to everyone, — writes Tatyana.

— These are simply incomparable emotions. Everything is done very cool, the atmosphere keeps you on edge until the very end. There are puzzles that are quite solvable and interesting, and there is drive. We ran around plenty before bed, got an incredible amount of emotions. Friends, if you haven’t been, I highly recommend all quests from this company, this is our second quest from them! — writes Daria.

— It was just amazing! From the very beginning we felt out of our element. Atmosphere 10/10: light, sounds, decorations — everything works to keep you from relaxing for a second. The actors are just monsters (in a good way), they played to the max. A couple of times I really wanted to run away rather than solve puzzles. If you are looking for quality horror where it is really scary, not just screams in your face — this is the place, — writes Katrina.

Among the negative reviews, only one could be found — left on social media by a user named Irina in 2025, also claiming injury.

— We went to the quest in August. It was my younger daughter’s birthday . . . As a result of the game, the child received a leg injury from a chainsaw. The cut was deep, so a scar about 10 centimeters long remains. It’s in the photo; I looked. It was like a real horror movie. Their dad was with them. The only medication was hydrogen peroxide. You must remember it, how blood ran down the leg. Although the organizers deny everything. We had to go to the trauma center on her birthday to treat the leg. Thank you so much for the birthday!

A V1.RU journalist tried to contact the organizer at the number listed on the website. In response to the journalist’s question, the interlocutor said the information was not true, promising to clarify details and call back. No call came within 1.5 hours, and repeated calls went unanswered.

For its part, the quest aggregator’s support service also tried to contact the organizers. But later, as the journalist was told, they too were unable to do so.

“We met them halfway and refunded the full amount”

Update. Later, the quest organizers got in touch with the journalist, providing an official comment on the situation. They confirmed that they had to resolve the issue with dissatisfied guests, but said no actor used excessive force.

“The guests in question completed the entire game without expressing any dissatisfaction during the process. The level of difficulty and fear was chosen by them themselves; all necessary documents and safety rules were signed before the start. The site also has a ‘downgrade’ system to reduce intensity, but the guests did not use it.

After the game, the clients expressed subjective dissatisfaction with the level of contact. Despite the fact that the game was completed in full, we met them halfway and resolved the situation on the spot: we refunded the full cost and provided additional compensation as a gesture of goodwill. According to them, the issue was settled. We have an audio recording of the final dialogue, in which there are no complaints against us.

We are extremely concerned about the claims of ‘excessive use of force.’ We have full video recording of the game process. We ask you to note that the guests did not seek medical examination on the day of the game, and no reports of beatings were made.”

Residents of Volgograd have repeatedly reported injuries at horror quests. Earlier, an 18-year-old girl ended up in the hospital after a fun evening: she claimed she slipped while running from an actor and fell face-first onto a nail.