Serial Killer: The Exhibition has concluded its London run. This is my retrospective review of the exhibition I visited at The Vaults beneath Waterloo Station.
What was Serial Killer: The Exhibition?
Serial Killer: The Exhibition was a large travelling true-crime exhibition presented at The Vaults beneath Waterloo Station. Following an earlier run in Milan, London became part of its international world tour.
The London exhibition opened on 21 September 2024 and concluded on 5 January 2025. It occupied approximately 2,000 square metres within The Vaults’ atmospheric network of disused railway arches.
Rather than focusing on one criminal or period, it explored serial murder from historical, scientific, psychological and criminological perspectives.
What was inside?
The exhibition covered infamous names including Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper, alongside lesser-known and more recent offenders.
Hundreds of original artefacts, documents, letters, drawings and pieces of artwork were presented alongside reproductions, reconstructed environments and detailed information panels.
- Childhoods and personal histories
- Psychological profiles and behaviour patterns
- Different classifications and typologies
- Motives and methods
- Forensic science and criminal investigation
- FBI profiling techniques
- Trials, imprisonment and punishment
- Original correspondence and artwork
- Reconstructed crime scenes
The amount of information made it feel closer to an extensive true-crime museum than a quick immersive attraction. Although the advertised duration was around 90 minutes, it was easy to spend between 90 minutes and two hours reading and exploring.
The setting beneath Waterloo
The Vaults was an ideal setting. Reached through the Leake Street graffiti tunnel, its exposed brickwork, underground railway arches and maze-like corridors naturally created an eerie atmosphere.
The setting contributed to the experience without every room relying on theatrical effects, although some sections were far more immersive than others.
The psychology behind the crimes
The exhibition was genuinely fascinating. What interested me most was the psychology behind the people.
I found myself looking for patterns in their histories: what their childhoods were like, whether they grew up with both parents, the conditions they lived in and whether drugs, alcohol, abuse or neglect played a part. I call it the “Jeremy Kyle effect” — looking backwards through someone’s life and trying to identify where everything began to go wrong.
Of course, a difficult childhood does not make someone a killer, and countless people survive terrible circumstances without harming others. That is partly what leaves me with so many questions. We are all guilty of carrying pieces of our past, but why do some people repeat the damage and continue that cycle into another generation instead of trying to break the chain and do something different?
I have always been curious about the psychology behind people’s behaviour. You will probably notice it in many of my film and television reviews because I am usually trying to work out what is going to happen and why a character is behaving in a certain way. I am often able to predict the twist rather early — much to the annoyance of everyone watching with me!
Inside the Jack the Ripper crime scene
The Jack the Ripper section was easily the most intense and graphic part of my visit. Rather than relying entirely on text and display cases, it was staged like entering a crime scene.
The graphic reconstruction gave a much more immediate sense of the violence involved. It was gruesome and uncomfortable, but it also demonstrated how effective the exhibition could be when information, objects and environmental storytelling were combined.
Honestly, if more rooms had been created with the same immersive detail, the whole exhibition would have felt even stronger.
My husband entered ahead of me, turned around almost immediately and said, “I do worry about you.”
He had a point — but I have been interested in the Jack the Ripper case for years and have developed a few theories of my own!
True crime, cold cases and the search for answers
What fascinates me is the combination of history, psychology and unsolved mystery. As technology improves and evidence can be examined through DNA, databases and modern forensic techniques, cold cases are being reopened and long-held assumptions are being challenged.
Behind every mystery are real people whose lives were taken. New discoveries cannot undo what happened, but they can offer victims and their families some hope of answers, recognition and justice.
That is why I watch documentaries about cases involving Dahmer, Ed Gein and others. The crimes themselves are horrific, but my interest lies in the who, the what and, above all, the why.
Did the exhibition respect the victims?
True-crime exhibitions must be careful not to turn real suffering into entertainment or make killers feel like celebrities.
Serial Killer: The Exhibition attempted to place the crimes within a wider discussion of psychology, forensic science, investigation and punishment. Its strongest sections encouraged visitors to question how offenders developed, how they operated and how investigators eventually caught them.
Nevertheless, some reconstructions and imagery were extremely graphic. Visitors had to remember that these cases involved real people whose lives were taken, not fictional horror characters.
What I brought home
I also bought the exhibition book, which gives me a physical record of the visit and a useful way to revisit the cases and information covered. I will add photographs of the book and my own exhibition gallery to this review.
Content warning
The exhibition dealt explicitly with murder, death, mental health, sexual abuse, bodily mutilation, cannibalism, injury and gore. It was recommended for visitors aged 14 and over, with younger visitors admitted only alongside an adult.
Former visitor information
- Location: The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7AD
- Nearest station: Waterloo
- London dates: 21 September 2024–5 January 2025
- Former ticket prices: From approximately £21
- Typical visit length: Around 90 minutes to two hours
- Current status: Closed in London; the exhibition continues internationally as part of its world tour
Final thoughts
Serial Killer: The Exhibition appealed to the curious, analytical side of me. The combination of criminal psychology, forensic history, original material and reconstructed scenes gave me plenty to think about long after leaving.
The Jack the Ripper room showed how powerful the exhibition could be at its most immersive. Other areas depended more heavily on information panels, but the sheer scale and range of cases made this a substantial experience for anyone interested in the psychology and investigation of serious crime.
Related reading
- Psychology of Serial Killers — Jennifer Rees review
- Murder Trial Tonight 2 — immersive theatre review
Exhibition details checked against the former official London listing and The Vaults. This article is a retrospective review of my personal visit.
