MIDDLEBURG - Mystery solvers can help defeat the Grinch this Christmas in a re-themed local escape room.

‘The Grinch…Mean and Green’ is Locked in Escape Rooms’ newest family-friendly challenge, packing in a series of puzzles and riddles into a 60-minute experience.

The adventure begins with a team of four to nine players traveling to Whoville on "Whoville Air," Using strategy, players are tasked with cleaning up the town that the Grinch has once again destroyed and piecing together clues to bring cheer back to the Whos in time for their Whobilation.

Keeping the county’s Christmas spirit bright, owners John and Marcia Nicholls said the retheme was a no-brainer. 

“[The] Grinch seems to be popular,” John said. “It’s one of our favorites. And, we absolutely love Christmas, we know other people do.”

For larger groups, there is also an additional room that players will be able to test their escape skills in–the Grinch’s lair. But, regardless of party size, all players will get a whole experience and grand finale. 

“We’ll make sure that at the end, whether they solved everything or not, they still get the same grand finale ending,” John said. 

The Nicholls have owned Locked In in the Silo Shoppes since 2017, which was one of the first of its kind in Clay County. They said they’ve been designing this particular game from scratch for about a year, crafting storylines and outlining the scenery. They began building it around six months ago. 

“We have ideas, we go in, we start massaging it, changing it, building it as we go,” John said. “And then we come back and if something’s not working we take it out.” 

John said it’s all to make sure participants can play the best version of the game.

Escape room adventures have continued to be a passion of theirs. The pair said they’ve completed almost 400 escape games on all seven continents together. Since they know a thing or two about these jarring mind puzzles, they said they wanted to give others the same experiences.

“Our biggest thrill is just when people leave and they’re saying, 'That was so much fun’ or 'We had such a great time,’” Marcia said. 

They said the room, which has been officially open since Dec. 1, has received positive reactions, with about 30 bookings already in January. 

The overlay will replace one of their most popular escape rooms, Flight 220, which will return in March. Locked In also hosts two other escape rooms: an Indiana Jones-style ‘Tomb of Treasures’ and "Swallowed…A Pirate's Tail."

The Grinch…Mean and Green will be offered until the end of January. Bookings are every two hours and cost $35 a player. 

To book a room or learn more information, visit lockedinflorida.com or call (904) 874-9697.