Screamfest 2021 Review

Screamfest has been one of my favourite seasonal treats for many years. Alongside its scares, the event boasts an enticing array of spooky sideshow thrills, including rides, horror movie music, and live entertainment; truly a one stop shop for a night of Halloween fun.

The attractions this year largely didn’t disappoint – in particular, Freak Out’s facelift was a delight to behold, and I commend the scareactors in the briefing room who were able to improv their way through an ill-timed batching hiccup, winning us over with their humour and energy. The rancid sewage works beneath the Diced Heart pub once again set the stage for a stomach-wrenching sensory attack in Love Hurts, and Creed Farm delivered a superb mix of humour, theatrical setpieces and jump scares nestled in the dark, weaving paths of the corn field. Disarray in Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo left us in the dark – quite literally – as we ambled through empty scenes & missed effects, possibly as a result of batching and group size issues.

The real curveball this year was Le Theatre Noir - a beautifully written piece of horror storytelling with thrilling sound design, which, despite certain shortcomings, I appreciated for its fresh & ambitious change of pace.