Screamfest 2018 Review

In and amongst the scream parks, scare mazes, Halloween events and shows which populate my calendar in the dizzying month of October, there’s one event I have a great fondness for; where, for a sentimental Halloween lover such as myself, the evening is such a delight that I could sit and people-watch for hours. Where else could you find two old ladies drinking cups of tea while the theme from Halloween blasts from the sound system and teenagers are chased around by a guy in a clown suit. This event is Screamfest, a Halloween spooktacular at the National Forest Adventure Farm in Burton-on-Trent.

Featuring a slew of terrifying scare mazes and a selection of charming games and sideshows, and not forgetting DJ Duckpond, Screamfest genuinely has something for everyone, including us thrillseekers! So we ventured in to sample the scares of Screamfest 2018…

Insomnia

You thought you were entering a scare maze – you thought wrong. This is immersive horror, a fully theatrical experience blended with some traditional spookhouse scares to keep the adrenaline pumping. We knew from the queue line that this would be something special; a mini setpiece featuring a mother and child, which flowed into the first scene, really grabbed our attention. From there, we found ourselves in a hyper-real dream dimension where the acutely terrifying elements of a child’s nightmare materialised right in front of our eyes. This attraction cleverly harnesses a very specific feeling and projects it onto these scenes; a unique feeling of terror which could only be spawned from a child’s overactive imagination. Something no child is safe from, yet it doesn’t physically exist. This attraction excelled in delivering that sensation – one particular moment involving the mother really pulled the rug from under me.

As we made our way through, the theming and sound design came together in a horrifying tableau (in which I saw a little of the Babadook, amongst others) and I was spellbound. The only minor downside was the first room – more people from the queue piled in halfway through the first scene, which threw the tension off slightly, and resulted in them missing half of it.

Demonica

Dark mazes can work; I’ve been in attractions before which featured minimal theming, black walls and basic lighting effects – essentially a basic platform for the scareactors to work their magic. Unfortunately, this dark maze is still missing the mark for me.

As with last year, I was impressed by the exterior theming, and the first room worked perfectly. But once again, the door opened and the experience fell a little flat. I ambled around for several minutes before I saw a scareactor. There were countless empty wall panels, which was a huge disappointment; all I saw were a couple of scareactors around corners, so I quickly acclimatised to that. Some scareactors in the panels would have helped to mix things up, and that’s essential in a minimalistic maze such as this. By the time we reached the cage maze, I’d seen 2 or 3 scareactors, and it was a little too easy to see my way around; I could even see a scareactor gearing up to get me.

Mind you, the attraction featured a certain seasoned scareactor prior to entry; an absolute favourite of mine, and that made my night.

Love Hurts

There’s always a great atmosphere in the queue line for this attraction. Themed around a grungy rock bar (The Diced Heart) there’s always good music playing and lots of band posters to look at, along with a bar area adorned with fairy lights and proscenium arch bearing a huge Love Hurts logo. The theming is this attraction’s strong suit – starting with the foul toilets and into the sewage works; the sets are so intricate throughout this attraction. We had a great run, with some energetic scareactors taunting us – although I didn’t see a scareactor in the green mist, which was a shame as that’s a great effect. There was one lurking, but they scared the middle of the group as I was exiting at the front (multiple actors in here would have solved this).

The lighting shattered the mystique a little in the final scene; I’m wondering whether the professor looks scary enough to be bathed in bright light before running at us; but this is wholly subjective. It’s still an effective ending which works well with any group size.

Día de los Muertos

Mexico... cartel crime... in a scare maze? An escaped criminal, a chop shop, people shooting at you, walls riddled with bullet holes? I'm not a fan of this theme. Some would argue that the Día de los Muertos theme alone is culturally insensitive, but for me, that portion of the maze is where this attraction is at its best. Upon arrival for the celebration, the village is so beautifully themed, and the ‘lost souls’ portion works so well in and amongst the corn. Mild scares, but really quite charming and enchanting.

I’d have liked a jump scare or two in the strobe section; aside from that, this is much the same as before. The ride to the entrance, perfunctory as it may be, still features some of my favourite elements of the entire event: the van, with the addition of the newsreader, is a wonderfully inventive setpiece.