Halloween | Storefront City London

Archive for the tag “Halloween”

14 Oct 2022

Face Your Fears at Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park – 2022

Credit: Fear Masters Studios Entertainment

WHAT: Face Your Fears
WHEN: 7 – 31 October, 2022
WHERE: Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park (Hell Lane, Heath, Wakefield, WF1 5SG)
PRICE: £21-23

OUR RATING: Do It!

We ventured back to Yorkshire this year to start off our Halloween scare-season, and what a start it was at Yorkshire Scare Grounds’ Face Your Fears. This almost hour-long experience takes you through many scare zones and attractions during a long dark walk through the creepy woods of an historic 24 acre estate in Wakefield. Having given this haunt a ‘Chance It’ back in 2019, we came to see the new and improved haunt this year and were amazed to see what they had in store for us!

Face Your Fears is cleverly designed, with a creepy path in the woods taking you through completely different scare attractions, but all the while feeling like a total experience from start to finish. Whilst we’ll give you the flavor each of these terrifying experiences, we don’t want to spoil the thrills and chills too much.

They | Them: A crazed scientist unveils his latest invention – the teleportation machine.

Less “Beam Me Up”, more “Chop Me Up”, these experiments have gone horribly wrong indeed. Enter a world of genetic confusion, where some of the dear doctor’s subjects have become hopelessly jumbled with others. Animatronics and actors complemented each other well to deliver short, sharp shocks of terror that made this maze a perfect introduction to the world of Yorkshire Scare Grounds.

Human Safari: Deep in the misty jungle danger lies ahead. Hunters are on the prowl for fresh meat to satisfy their bloody thirsty lust.

Run for your life! The hunters are after you in this most dangerous game. Dashing between the protection of hunters-hides, you’ll need to dodge more than just bullets with these wiley adversaries. Warning: prepare to get wet! Whilst perhaps weaker visually than some of the other zones, the uniqueness of the experience was startling (in a good way), with our good-natured group adding more laughs and screams as we cantered towards safety.

Whitechapel: Take the trail of terror through London’s East End on 1888 where crime, murder & prostition is rife. Killer on the loose.

Wending your way through the hidden back-alleys of East London, this intricately designed and long section of maze plunged you into a different world. Integrating outdoor and indoor sections flawlessly, as you pass between the various establishments (apothecary potions or unknown meat butchered to perfection, anyone?) you’re accosted by the denizens of this cursed city. Maybe you’ll even run into the infamous Ripper himself! We really appreciated the sheer numbers of actors, which is a huge improvement from 2019, each one unique, highly enthusiastic, with equal measures of terror and humour. The set dressing was also studied in terms of the Ripper’s crimes, with the designers doing a great job at eerily recreating a crime scene from Hell.

Dollhouse: We dare you to explore the dark hallways of this life size dollhouse. It’s haunted hallways inhabited with tormented toys & deranged dolls.

Dollhouse was one of our favourite attractions this year – who doesn’t love creepy dolls? This was such an intelligent re-skin of their hotel haunt, and we highly admired the makeup and costume elements for the actors in this one. It was a fully realised concept, and many of the actors inside really did give us a scare. We’re still giddy about the horrifying life-size killer teddy bear! What was great in this attraction is one never knew what inanimate creatures were actually going to jump out at you!

Twisted Tooth Fairy: Disgraced Doctor D. Cay, the demonic demented dentist from hell, opens up the appointment book once more.

What a fantastic idea! While we’re not the biggest fans of the blood and gore elements of haunts, this was definitely a theme we don’t think we’ve ever seen a whole haunt based upon, and we saw a lot of new creature and makeup concepts as well. Amazingly, the waiting room also smelled a bit like antiseptic and menthol – astounding levels of immersion here. Again there was great dedication from the actors, and particularly creepy featureless faces with gigantic bloody smiles – the stuff of nightmares.

Along our route through these haunts we also came upon two “scare zones” in the woods, one an area of the undead with smashed vehicles and police cordons, and a deadly circus path complete with clowns who apparently have a love for wooly hats – ours included!

Final Thoughts: Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park have really upped their game with this year’s Face Your Fears, and we were thrilled with the level of quality from the haunts and the actors, as well as the amazing balance between inside and outside scare time. We also love how long this attraction is open throughout the month, as well as their accessible price point, which all culminates in this being a must-do for any haunt season. And if you can’t make it in October not to worry, they also have haunted attractions for Christmas and Valentines day!

Posted in Do It!, Outdoor Attractions, Performing Arts, See It! and tagged Halloween, Haunted, Horror, Immersive Theatre, Yorkshire

01 Nov 2021

Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2021

WHAT: Tullys Shocktober Fest
WHEN: 1 October — 6 November, 2021
WHERE: Tulleys Farm (Turners Hill Road, Turners Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 4PE)
PRICE: £14–129

OUR RATING: Chance It!

Storefront City is back for Tullys Shocktober Fest!

We made sure for Tullys to be our finale Halloween haunt this year and we even brought some mates this time to experience it with us. It was definitely a fun event, but we have to admit we didn’t enjoy the haunts as much this year. The main problem? The batching. The batching was, not to mince words, horrific this year, and the queues completely crazy. We had a much different time than when we went in 2019. Despite arriving at opening, the queues were so long the entire night that we ended up missing three attractions this year!

But we’ll get into that rant a bit later. Let’s cover the good stuff first!

Tulleys Shocktober Fest is an absolute must to visit with a whopping TEN attractions — eight scare mazes, a haunted hayride and a twisted circus act, not to mention the amazing atmosphere surrounding the whole event. We may have gone at an interesting time (it was half term so the park was swarming with audiences much younger than us) but there was still an amazing spooky and exciting atmosphere with roaming characters, many bars, an astonishing variety of food, and rides and music stages. If it wasn’t giving us a theme park feeling in 2019 it was now — there was definitely not enough time in one night to do everything!

The Cellar Imprisoned
Our Scare Factor: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 7/10

Storyline: Those that dwell in the Cellar have not been forgotten, they have been locked in.

We were smart to do this one first last time — we waited until the last second this year and were definitely in a group of 15, missing all the scares. We remember this to have been one of the best and scariest haunts at Tullys, which definitely made this year disappointing. But the haunt is still detailed, with different room sizes and a dark and dank feeling throughout that made it feel like a cellar. There was also a creepy toy room that had a great performer in it. We wish we could have enjoyed this haunt more!

Twisted Clowns
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere Rating: 7/10

Storyline: The Greatest Show not of this Earth…

We loved the glow in the dark 3D theming of this maze again this year, especially with its disorienting must-have tunnel and tons of crouching areas and play with space and depth. We enjoyed crawling up and down the steep areas and seeing the wandering eyes upon the walls that kept moving due to the 3D glasses. But, once again, we were in a huge batch, and we didn’t see a single character in full-clown-getup, just everyone with circus makeup. Except a cool jester — can’t forget him! The worst part of this event? The completely unsanitized and reused 3D glasses. Yuck.

Wastelands Penitentiary
Our Scare Factor: 6/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10

Storyline: The year is 1998, after the explosion ripped through the world, bringing an end to civil life.

Wasteland Penitentiary still has the best outdoor set design in the park, with the steampunk-esque metal designs huge and detailed and setting a statement when you head towards the haunt. This was a super lengthy labyrinth, with the prison theme throughout well reflected and a few good jumps. A very consistent maze that doesn’t seem to have changed since last time, but still does what it needs to.

The Island
Our Scare Factor: 4/10
Atmosphere Rating: 10/10

Storyline: Something more than man. Something more than animal. An evil scientist’s creations are loose on The Island and they will protect what is theirs.

According to Tulleys this maze was new for 2021, and while true it was a re-skin of their previous haunt The Wreckoning. But, instead of adventure and pirates we got evil beasts of every shape and size, with very creative takes on creatures everywhere we looked. And since the 2019 set design was a favourite of ours, it was again, with amazing details everywhere you looked. The length of this maze was astounding — we must have been in there at least 15 minutes if not 20, and felt like explorers the whole way. While not exactly scary, there were still tons of crazy elements, including spongy floors, fire, air compressors, and huge sets — definitely a maze not to miss.

The Chop Shop
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere Rating: 2/10

Storyline: You better be careful now, Billy-Bob and Billy-Joe are real handy with a reconstruction.

We wish we would have skipped this one this year in favour of another we didn’t have time to see. Unchanged since 2019, this maze was not very creative, filled with blank walls and blood spatter. It was “turn left, turn right, chainsaw, rinse, repeat”. Quite short too, but we were happy to leave it.

Horrorwood Haunted Hayride
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6 or 7/10

Storyline: Explore the abandoned backlot at the Horrorwood Film Studios.

Another unchanged maze but we still love this one. It may not be scary but it’s a ton of fun. They fit about 30–40 people on each tractor as they take you on a ride through Horrorwood Film Studios. There were a few jumps and loads of funny moments, with some great interactions with the actors. Was it worth queueing 80 minutes? We’re on the fence, but this is a unique experience at the park and we love-love-loved the creepy ending (we don’t want to completely spoil the surprise). The speaker system could do with a revamp (or at least a turn-up) if nothing else though!

The Village Coven of 13
Our Scare Factor: 5 or 6/10
Atmosphere Rating: 9/10

Storyline: A witch confirmed, tried and convicted; Death upon her was afflicted.

This was another of our favourites last time, and it remains a favourite this year too! This is a lengthy maze which we appreciate, and every scene in the coven is different with a level of detail unrivalled at other scare attractions we’ve visited in the UK. There was a new final part of the room (or we don’t remember it) that we loved, especially the sensory detail. An absolute great and immersive haunt that will leave you reeling.

Circus of Horrors

Storyline: Blending horror and burlesque with bizarre and unbelievable acts performed to live rock music.

We didn’t attend this this year, instead using our final minutes on one the other haunts, but our two visiting friends enjoyed it and loved the mix aerial, burlesque, and horrific stunts.

Critique: We didn’t get to Hell-ements (a blindfolded rope maze) or the Creepy Cottage this year, since we ran out of time and tried to focus on seeing the mazes we know we loved in previous years. As mentioned before, we arrived at opening and stayed until we were kicked out but still missed out on so much this year due to the amount of people in the park.

Don’t get us wrong, we had an amazing time. The haunts have such a level of detail you don’t see elsewhere at smaller attractions in the UK and the atmosphere is electric. But we didn’t enjoy the haunts themselves as much this year. We’re used to going in groups of 6–8. But it wasn’t 6. It wasn’t 8. It wasn’t even 10 or 12.

15. We were batched in groups of 15 this year. And no, this wasn’t for the hayride, this was for every single haunt. The park was packed and we waited anywhere from 45–80 minutes for each attraction, so yes — batches any smaller than 15 and we wouldn’t have even been able to get more than two or three haunts in because the queues would have been even more outrageous. Nonetheless, with groups of 15 we somehow drew the short straw almost every haunt and were at the back, and missed out on the majority of scares in every, single, haunt. Such a pity. Whilst we freely admit it is total speculation, we suspect there was an effort to make up financially for losses incurred due to last year’s cancellation, with a much higher cap on the tickets sold. Even if it meant raising prices, fewer people per entrance slot would have added to the audience experience. Also, don’t think that Fast Pass will spare you the queuing — these lines were just as long.

Also, all the scare actors must have attended the exact same acting session. We were so tired after the first of couple haunts when every single actor makes the exact same unintelligible voices and then throws their hand in your face and withdraws. Yes, very scary, but not when every single actor does this exact same thing! Each haunt should have had mannerisms and sounds specific to the haunt, while in this case they all sounded and acted the exact same and it got a bit boring.

Final Thoughts: We’re harsh critics. If you love haunts, you should definitely attend Tullys. Will we attend next year? We’re not sure. If we’re free early on in their season and they’ve made a change or two in their attractions — definitely! But we won’t go this late in the season again if the queues and batching stay how they were this year.

P.S.: It’s not a haunt, but it is certainly haunting! You’ve got just enough time to check out Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns.

Posted in Do It!, Festivals, Outdoor Attractions, Performing Arts, See It! and tagged Halloween, Haunted, Haunted Attraction, Horror, Shocktober, Storefront City, Storefront City London, Sussex, Tulleys

29 Oct 2021

Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns

WHAT: Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns
WHEN: Multiple Dates throughout the UK
WHERE: Various (most recently at Troxy)
PRICE: Varies by event, London events was £32–45.20

OUR RATING: Do It!

We posted a few days ago with a sneak peek rating of “Do It” for Festival of the Dead’s ‘Halloween Returns’ at Troxy. Now after having attended the event we’ve come back to tell you all about it. There are upcoming iterations in Birmingham, Bristol, and Manchester: if you’re anywhere near you need to attend!

Europe’s biggest touring Halloween show started quite calmly, with some great music blasting out at the amazing Troxy venue, and a few surprising puppets on the dance floor coming out to invite everyone to start spinning the night away. Stilt-walkers and other amazing carnival elements came out of the woodwork to electrify the atmosphere with fun, togetherness, and yes a little devilish mayhem!

Once the floor puppets and performers had had their fun it was time for the main event. The lights came down and the monstrous and beautiful contraption in the above photo came out onto the stage, Medusa’s snakes writhing around, manipulated by their talented puppeteers.

Then Huw Joseph joined — the event’s host who has headlined Festival of the Dead events since 2019. Part skeletal rock musician, park whimsical ring master, Huw Joseph is one of the best hosts we’ve seen perform, always keeping the energy up and knowing how to work the crowd.

While we didn’t keep a keen eye on our watches, there must have been two long sets to these performances, about an hour each with a 15 minute break between. And what did these sets consist of? One of the most fabulous and immersive carnival and puppet stage shows you could imagine with a gifted ensemble of performers creating absolute art with a nostalgic and electric rock metal soundtrack in the background.

When you attend one of these performances you are promised a complete SHOW! From stunning aerial presentations to amazing fire displays and everything in-between, each moment in this over-two-hour spectacular was new, unexpected, and high-octane. We could tell the troupe cared so much about their art, and they invited the audience in to help them keep the energy and fun sizzling throughout.

We don’t want to ruin the whole show and many of its amazing surprises, but this review and the Festival of the Dead’s images give you a sense of how theatrical, stylish, and fun this party is. Part clubbing experience, part stage show, this happening is such a delight for the senses, and definitely one of the best Halloween parties we’ve ever attended in the UK.

Final Thoughts: You’ve still got three chances to see Festival of the Dead’s ‘Halloween Returns’ at Forum Birmingham, Marble Factory Bristol, and BEC Arena Manchester, so go if you can! It’s truly an indescribable experience that must be lived to be understood. And, if you’re still in London, don’t forget Troxy’s two awesome upcoming events Skullrhythmics on the 29th October and Night of the Raving Dead. Both are sure to be a Hell of a good time!

P.S.: You’ve still got JUST enough time to hit up one more haunted event. See what we thought of Cursed Fright Nights.

Posted in Do It!, Festivals, Music and Concerts, Nightlife, Performing Arts, See It! and tagged dance, Festivals, Halloween, Haunted, London, party, Storefront City, Storefront City London

22 Oct 2021

Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights: World Tour

WHAT: Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights: World Tour
WHEN: 15 October — 31 October, 2021
WHERE: Whites Nurseries Limited (Clay Lane, Northampton UK, NN6 0EP)
PRICE: £17.95 — £34.95
OUTDOORS: Partly (Marquees)

OUR RATING: Do It!

One of our highlights of the year is visiting Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights, and this year was no different. Insane, fun, and chilling, Dr. Fright’s knows how to blend horror, immersive environments, and downright crazy genre combos that will leave you wishing you could go around a second time.

Entering the covered marquee area, you are greeted with the semblance of a small town, complete with themed zones, each appropriate to the attractions around them. Food and drink are available, including the renowned Horror Bar.

Time to grab our tickets and head to the jet, because this year Dr. Fright’s was going on a world tour!

The Grindhouse: Down in Mexico
Our Scare Factor: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10

Storyline: Viva la Mexico! Our infamous family of cannibal hillbillies have escaped south of the border, but have no intention of stopping their murderous rampage! Can you escape Cousin Cletus’s chainsaw? Or will you become the meat in Mumma’s beef tacos?

The ridiculousness begins! By now our readers know we aren’t the biggest fans of the cannibal hillbilly mazes — it’s not a theme we find inspired or that much fun to play along to. But merge hillbillies with tacos and lucha libre as the 1950s rock song ‘Tequila’ by The Champs plays on loudspeaker and you’ve got yourself a riot of a time. Politically correct? No, but the theming was fun and the lucha libre section hilarious and disorienting to boot. There was huge enthusiasm from all the actors involved. While far from terrifying, this one definitely reminded us why we enjoy Dr. Fright’s themes so much — completely unique and super entertaining.

Yokai Temple
Our Scare Factor: 8/10
Atmosphere Rating: 9/10

Storyline: Yokai Temple has been rigged up with motion sensors, night vision cameras and EMF readers. They are all set and ready in the hopes of finally capturing evidence of the temple’s demonic residents…And it’s your job to draw them out!

We might have been a little bit biased going into this haunt, as we are huge fans of Asian horror movies, so obviously we were very excited for this one. And boy did this meet our expectations! One thing Dr. Fright’s does so well in many of their mazes is use tons of inanimate objects that look the same in one small room — this way you don’t know what is real and what isn’t, and sometimes none of it is and the actors jump out of somewhere completely different!

The theming for this maze was so specific and every actor was completely in character and matching the different colour schemes and demonic creatures within each room. Many of the rooms were extremely disorientating (in a good, terrifying way), and there were concealed creatures in every nook and cranny, some in the most unique camouflage (we won’t ruin the surprises!), and some coming from directions you’d never expect. There were also terrifying and amazing uses of light, shadow, and projection. We exited the maze wanting to go back in right away!

Hollywood Horror: The Final Chapter
Our Scare Factor: 5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10

Storyline: Our fan favourite maze is back, with all new terrifying scenes! Take a tour of Devilsgate Studios and experience a bone chilling trip through some of Hollywood’s most feared blockbusters!

Hollywood Horror: The Final Chapter has definitely had a serious revamp since 2019 — which is fantastic! Outside of the maze, a Shining-like hotel facade stares back at you, with flickering projections that make you jump if you’re not ready for it.

Whilst the main theme is related to The Shining we also spotted a host of other movie mayhem monsters and moments, including Ghostface from Scream, Jason from Friday the 13th, and even one scene when we were plunged into the middle of The Purge. We felt there were a few less scares than we expected, but honestly we still jumped out of our skins at some points. And watch out for the chilling and ominous Michael Myers…he will find you!

Killer Clowns in Ibiza!
Our Scare Factor: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 7/10

Storyline: Grab your passports because we’re going to Ibiza! Of course, not all is as it seems…As you become prey in the latest killing competition amongst our resident Killer Clowns!

We saved this maze until last because its predecessor was so pumping last time! As you line up (and believe us, the line for this one will take you a good 40 minutes) you’re in a terminal waiting to board your flight, along with pounding hits including (of course!) “We’re Going to Ibiza” (what’s not to love!). We won’t spoil it for you, but each zone within the maze is highly themed and absolutely mad.

We could have done with a tad notch up on the scare factor, and a few more actors in full clown costume rather than just a bit of makeup. Batching throughout the night had been stellar (we were completely isolated from other groups, which is good for safety and good for scares!), but somehow we got caught between two groups at the end of the maze and missed out on some scares. One of the most interesting scenes included swimming through a pool, but the light effects weren’t quite pulled off so you missed out on a lot of details above the waterline.

But what an ending to the evening! Terrifyingly good execution, dreadfully dastardly effects, and techno beats (wonder if clown house should be a new genre?)!

Final Thoughts: Both times we’ve gone to Dr. Fright’s we have gone away in awe of the mazes and laughing hysterically, and honestly both years it has provided some of our fondest memories. Last year it was the cinema room full of Scream serial killers and clowns clubbing with us to the tunes of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’. This year the full mazes themselves are bound to stay with us for awhile, particularly the terrifying and beautiful Yokai Temple and the ridiculousness of clowns in Ibiza. Will we ever get ‘We’re Going to Ibiza’ by Vengaboys out of our heads? Probably not, but it was worth it.

Go go go — go to Dr. Frights! You might wait longer in the queues later in the evening but you’ll be able to enjoy the high-quality and highly-themed attractions with the group you came with and you won’t know whether to laugh or scream. We can’t wait to go back next year!

P.S.: Love the immersion of Dr. Fright’s, but fancy an outdoor experience. Whatton House of Horror has got you covered!

Posted in Do It!, Festivals, Nightlife, Performing Arts, See It! and tagged Do It, Halloween, Haunted House, Horror, Northamptonshire

20 Oct 2021

Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns

WHAT: Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns
WHEN: 23 October 2021
WHERE: Troxy (490 Commercial Rd, London E1 0HX)
PRICE: £32–45.20

OUR SNEAK PEEK RATING: Do It!

You’ll find us first in the queue for anything horrific and whimsical, but unfortunately due to schedule conflicts we’ve not been able to attend a Festival of the Dead event while living in the UK. But this year we’re in for a treat and can finally make it to Europe’s biggest touring Halloween show!

This event promises to be extremely unique — a mashup of circus, clubbing, and carnival in an imaginative immersive setting with giant skeleton puppets, huge fire shows, and aerialist performers. Art and death collide in this surreal world of the spirits and creatures of the night.

We’ve seen a lot of upcoming parties pair their event with garage or hip hop, but thank goodness this high octane night will bring rock, metal, and of course our favourite electronic and house music.

We’re equally excited to make our way to the Troxy again — having not been for a few years since a past Secret Cinema performance. We can’t wait to see this massive event space kitted out as a breathtaking carnival for the dead.

A mix of hauntingly stylish and terrifyingly theatrical, this experiential clubbing phenomenon promises to be a night to remember, and we can’t wait to spend the night dancing with other lost souls in London’s Underworld.

Head on over here to get your tickets today and look out for our full review post event.

Posted in Do It!, Drink It!, Festivals, Music and Concerts, Nightlife, See It! and tagged Festival of the Dead, Halloween, London, Nightlife, party, Troxy

06 Nov 2019

London Halloween Parties 2019

In addition to the many haunted attractions we attended this Halloween season, we also let our hair down for a few nights and attended some of London’s most unique Halloween parties. Obviously there were dozens upon dozens of events this year, but here are our thoughts on a few to get some ideas on what to visit next season, as we’re sure they’ll return with a vengeance in 2020!

WHAT: Halloween Ball at the Mansion
WHEN: 26 October, 2019 (9:00pm – 4:00am)
WHERE: Loft Studios
PRICE: £24-150

OUR RATING: Chance It!

Perhaps the most chic event we attended, the Halloween Ball was definitely a very artsy and multi-layered event. Guests did not take the fancy dress requirement lightly – we saw the best costumes this year here and literally every single patron put at least a bit of work into them, which made it a great participative event.

The most memorable aspect of this event was the macabre art exhibition by Y. Wildi, with amazing handcrafted skeletons around the rooms in a creepy and beautiful setup. We also enjoyed the free tarot reader, a photobooth and some yummy food, including the all-essential candy floss. We were also super thankful that there were three different dance floors so that we could select which ones fit our fancy: pop/mainstream, electro and Latino. The electro was even visited by sax player Tolik and djembe player Paolo Forcellati – some really great music!

There were, however, quite a few letdowns at this event. The marketing promised fire shows, cage dancers, a Beelzebuth walking performance and a real backyard graveyard, none of which we saw no matter how many trips we took walking around the entire event space to find them. Admittedly, we didn’t stay the entire night, but after staying for four hours one would think we’d see at least some of the elements we were promised. Overall, however, it was something we’d go to again if some of these elements were better incorporated into next year’s event.

WHAT: Carnivale: The Dark and the Damned
WHEN: 31 October – 2 November, 2019
WHERE: Bunker 51 (3 Herringham Road, Greenwich Peninsula, London, SE7 8NJ)
PRICE: £5-30

OUR RATING: Chance It!

There were so many options for events to attend on Halloween itself, but, in the end, we chose an event that was a bit more local to us, had the perfect carnival theme and, most importantly, promised two scare mazes as part of the entertainment! We couldn’t resist.

The large underground nuclear bunker where this event was hosted was really an amazing space – we’d love to produce something there ourselves! The space was very fun, allowing guests to wander through a series of small carnival games, such as basket toss, hook a duck and Zolda – these came at a small extra fee, but if you won you got a drink ticket, so very worth it for the prizes and fun of it all. The best part of the event, hands down, were the mazes, which completely went above and beyond our expectations. The first maze, Freakshow, took us up and down and all around through the lost souls of the carnival, requiring us to crawl, climb, and squeeze our way out through the natural architecture of the bunker’s smaller spaces. Send in the Clowns was an amazing amount of fun and used a ton of gimmicks we hadn’t even seen in any of the professional mazes we attended prior to this. Unforgettable moments included a crazy clown on a zip wire, a balloon room, and even a slide!

However, there were a few aspects we weren’t too happy about this night – the event opened almost an hour late and the music was not very good whatsoever (and with only one dance floor we couldn’t explore any other options). This may not have been the best choice to celebrate Halloween night itself, but if Apocalypse Events put their heads into a more professional maze attraction we would definitely be first in the queue!

WHAT: Twisted Circus Halloween Festival
WHEN: 1 November, 2019 (10:30pm – 3:00am)
WHERE: The Clapham Grand (21-25, The Clapham Grand, St John’s Hill, London, SW11 1TT)

OUR RATING: Skip It!

Twisted Circus returned for its sixth year with death-defying acts, crazy characters and a raveyard dance floor. We attended this party after another event at The Clapham Grand so were able to stick around to witness this sold-out happening. Loyal readers to SFC might know that we aren’t the most keen guests for ‘twisted’ acts such as sword swallowing, wax pouring, and body stapling – all which were front and centre at this event. The performers were really into their acts and involved with the guests, which we definitely appreciated. We also enjoyed some (but not most) of the music, especially the remixes of popular scary songs, fun circus snacks, and a really sweet clown stilt walker.

Ultimately, however, we felt really let down by the event, having thought that the acts would be a bit more immersed in the event itself. Worst of all, the MC was absolutely atrocious, constantly making terrible rapping attempts and, worst yet, horribly sexist and inappropriate comments about all of the female circus performers. We finally got sick of all the disgusting and unnecessary harassing commentary and dreadful MC-ing and left the party early. We’d go back to The Grand, but not for this event!

Final Thoughts: There were so many options for Halloween parties this year, and to be honest, we’ll probably try a completely different batch next year. However, we’ll definitely keep a look out at all events hosted by The Mansion, Apocalypse Events, and The Clapham Grand, because while none of the events were perfect, we did enjoy ourselves a bit at each, and we’d like to see what they have in store next!

P.S.: We actually attended The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Clapham Grand the same night as the Twisted Circus party, so stay tuned for that review coming soon!

Posted in Do It!, Nightlife and tagged 2019, Halloween, London, parties

02 Nov 2019

Face Your Fears

WHAT: Face Your Fears
WHEN: 11 October – 3 November, 2019
WHERE: Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park (Hell Lane, Heath, Wakefield, WF1 5SG)
PRICE: £17-21

OUR RATING: Chance It!

Credit: Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park

Our Overall Scare Factor: 7
Overall Atmosphere Rating: 6

Welcome to Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park, a 24-acre estate where visitors travel through the dark woods of Yorkshire to come across five different mazes as they try to make their way to safe harbour. We had no idea that we would be gallivanting in the woods as part of the experience to get from one maze to another, with the concept being one complete journey through contrasting terrors rather than just going to disparate haunts – definitely a refreshing concept after all the mazes we’ve been to this year. Because of the nature of this haunt, we’ve given the attraction as a whole a scare factor and atmosphere rating rather than each individual maze, although some mazes were without doubt better and scarier than others, as we’ll highlight below.

We started our creepy trek through the woods, navigating our way through the dark trails of trees, never sure when or where anything would jump out at us. This was hands down the scariest factor of the haunt. Since there were no seen boundaries to the woods, the opportunities for things to come at us from any which way seemed endless, and we found ourselves checking for things behind us constantly, and when things did come at us, the jump and scare factor were quite high!

We came across the first maze, A.I., where we met a variety of cyborgs. Truth be told, this maze was not a great start. We’ll hand it to the actors, they were trying very hard, as was seen in all of the mazes here, but they just didn’t quite pull it off. It really felt like a school group was trying to put on their end of term scary theatre project without much being put into it. There was definitely an attempt at scenic elements and a nice interplay between real and fake cyborgs, but it was ultimately underwhelming and had us worried about the quality of the mazes that lay ahead of us.

We next came upon The Sewer – Mutation, which had much more outdoor elements than the previous maze. The mutants were…interesting. Not much set design to go along with this one, but its outdoor nature made it a bit creepier, and even when we thought the maze was over and we were back “safe” in the woods, we found the mutant creatures had still not had their fill of us.

Witchcraft – Bloody Mary is definitely where the attraction started heating up. This maze was quite extensive and took us through a very old and dilapidated village, encountering various characters warning us not to say Mary’s name and then later the witches themselves. Some of the small huts we had to navigate through were admittedly way too dark – this made walking a bit difficult, but it also added an obvious terror element as we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. There was also a really terrifying scene with two Mary’s, one which we assumed couldn’t be real until she moved toward us – certainly a great jump scare. We genuinely liked the set elements and characters in this one, and it surely didn’t hurt that we both are actually surprisingly superstitious of saying Bloody Mary three times – which both of us refused to do despite the characters hinting we should. That’s just one step too far for these horror fans!

Next on our journey, we checked into Hotel Hell – Undead Vacation. But this wasn’t your typical weekend away, for as soon as we stepped into the faulty lift and were plunged into blackness we knew our stay would be far from welcoming. With numbered hotel room doors and highly themed interiors full of scare actors waiting to terrify you, this was definitely one of the scariest haunts of the night. We’re pretty sure that it’ll be you served for room service!

Insane clowns – we love the idea! Clown Asylum mixes these two concepts effortlessly to give you a twisted and winding series of corridors where heavily made-up jesters might just snatch you away to join them. Many of the actors were cleverly placed in this maze and gave us some shocks, especially in the pitch black areas that left you wondering which way to turn.

At the end of this maze we were finally spat out into safer territory – at least after surviving one last chainsaw attack – to a hub of food at the end with a nice little Halloween shop to go along with it. We didn’t really stick around, but the characters roaming about seemed to be having a good time, and it gave us particularly great delight than one seemed to be dressed as Hoggle from Labyrinth.

Final Thoughts: While a bit underdone than we were hoping for, all in all we definitely think the walk through the woods concept of this attraction is one to experience, with a few good mazes along the way to make it more than worthwhile and a wonderful interaction between actors and a ton of animatronics. This park is also really great in that it is open more nights than any other attraction we’ve been to, even several Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and even Sundays, and quite lengthy as well, taking an average of 40-minutes to get through. If you’re in the Yorkshire area this is for sure a fun night out.

P.S.: On your way to Yorkshire, you’ve got to check out Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights for some more scares.

Posted in Do It!, Outdoor Attractions, Performing Arts, See It! and tagged Face Your Fears, Halloween, Wakefield, Yorkshire, Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park

30 Oct 2019

The Howl

WHAT: The Howl
WHEN: 5 October – 2 November, 2019
WHERE: Mead Open Farm (Stanbridge Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9JH)
PRICE: £10-50

OUR RATING: Chance It!

From the twisted minds that brought you Tulleys Shocktober Fest comes a more contained scare park with an ample selection of mazes to chill your blood. The Howl may be smaller than the Fest, but rest assured that it’s a superb introduction to haunts that are both well designed and (for the most part) frightening.

Toppers Twister
Our Scare Factor: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5/10

Mr. Topper is not a clown that deals in laughter, he prefers screams.

Clowns, clowns, nothing but clowns! While missing the 3D glasses from Tulleys, this maze was still quite a bit of fun. Highlights for us were a remarkably whimsical room with balls and a slide and a crazy rabbit on a bike – a great mix of creepiness and laughs, but not super scary.

Squealers Yard
Our Scare Factor: 5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5.5/10

Squeal, piggy, squeal! Did I forget to mention that it’s you they’ll be hunting?

The content of this maze is usually our least favourite at haunts, but this version had quite a bit to offer with lots of interesting places actors could pop out from, including the riveting use of space in the interior of a van guests had to walk through. This maze appeared to have a ton of mazes within it and was probably one of the lengthier experiences. We had a hilarious time making our way through a room of fog – the group in front and behind us were also getting lost and the actors probably thought we are all idiots – hilarious!

The Shed
Our Scare Factor: 1.5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5/10

So where do unwanted ‘arrivals’ go? Why, The Shed of course.

Unfortunately the timing was incredibly off with our group. Perhaps there were either too many people in front of us, or perhaps the group ahead was too slow, but whatever the reason our group missed out on most of the scares we assume were in this maze. We instead came upon a lot of empty rooms – although because they were empty of actors we had the chance to appreciate the lovely scenery and lighting. There were also some surprisingly cool chainsaw effects near the end!

The Attic
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6.5/10

What happens in The Attic after dark is too gruesome to imagine.

We really appreciated the narrative of this maze, which began with us being welcomed into a hotel and navigating some really frightening and extremely well-themed rooms before climbing up to the haunted attic. The characters were genuinely fun and very well thought out, and with such a complete concept from beginning to end this turned out to be a very well executed maze.

Red
Our Scare Factor: 4/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10

Step into the woods if you dare. Happily ever after doesn’t exist.

We were really looking forward to this maze as it had a much less cliched concept than your usual haunt. The story was unique and the characters were very well realized. There were a few fun jumps and a return to a great effect we experienced at The Coven at Tulleys Shocktober Fest with fog and lasers, except this time we ourselves got to ‘go for a swim’.

Final Thoughts: In general, The Howl rates their mazes at a much – MUCH – higher scare factor than us. While we are admittedly more difficult to scare than your average guest, we still think these mazes were some of the more docile we’ve been to, and the much younger average age of guests at this event than at others we’ve attended seems to go well with this lower key scare factor. The mazes are definitely shorter, tamer, and less well executed than big brother Tulleys, but we really appreciated some of the more unique themed mazes like The Attic and Red and the great quality of the set builds. Definitely a top place for those experiencing haunts for the first time!

P.S.: If you don’t mind travelling a bit further north, Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights offers a bit more fun and a lot more scare factor!

Posted in Do It!, Outdoor Attractions and tagged Halloween, Horror, Leighton Buzzard, Scare Park, The Howl

28 Oct 2019

Phobophobia 13

WHAT: Phobophobia 13
WHEN: 25 October – 2 November, 2019 (6pm-10pm)
WHERE: The London Bridge Experience (2-4 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2SY)
PRICE: £31-60

OUR RATING: Chance It!

This year, we returned to The London Bridge Experience for Halloween and their latest iteration of the attraction, Phobophobia 13, after attending a similar event several seasons ago. With the term phobophobia meaning the fear of phobias and the sensations associated with those phobias, and mentions of monsters, clowns, snakes, insects and more, we were quite excited to see what the most central to London Halloween maze had to offer.

We remember creepy performers and hospital beds rolling down the street as we queued up last time for the event, but this year they had a much different approach – karaoke? With lyrics projected onto tunnel walls, a very entertaining Steampunk gent invited the crowds to sing along with popular songs. Most of the line seemed to enjoy it during the long wait to enter the attraction, but it mainly had us really confused how karaoke – and not even Halloween themed karaoke – had anything to do with the attraction, nor did it prime us to anticipate anything scary!

Perhaps due to the popularity of the event, the organizers chose to put everyone in groups of ten to enter the maze – this is by far the greatest number of people in a single group we have experienced, and in our opinion much too large to be able to traverse a haunt properly.

There are two parts of the maze, an upstairs themed space, which we assume changes drastically depending on the theme that year, and the lower London Tombs, which itself becomes part of the maze. While the first intake room with snakes was a bit of a miss (and we wonder how pleasant for the snakes involved), we soon entered a seance calling forth a victim of Jack the Ripper; a thoroughly unsettling happening. The upstairs as a whole was a bit hit or miss, with the most unappealing part of the night being a hillbilly wedding where a character physically and somewhat sexually harassed one of the men in our group. Perhaps it was supposed to be creepy and funny, but it was just really off-putting!

The best part of the night was once we got through the first half of the maze and entered into the tombs, which are such an amazing setting for a haunt. However, there was a downside – here we were asked to put our hands on the shoulder of the person in front of us. Little did we know then, but the rest of our group were so terrified that we basically jogged the entire way through the maze in order to keep up with everyone in front of us – thereby missing most of what the lower part of the tombs had to offer.

However, what we did experience was quite hair-raising, with actors emitting terrifying shrieks and groans, and emerging out of the most unassuming places. Another huge difference with this maze compared to the others we’ve attended this year is that not only did these actors touch us, they grabbed us, and two creatures completely physically overwhelmed one of the girls in front of us who had gotten cut off from the rest of the group (again, since everyone was basically running, there is only so much we could all do to hang on and keep up!) Since we’ve gone to so many no-touch mazes this year already (usually our preference), having the actors touch us was so surprisingly terrifying.

Final Thoughts: In terms of haunts, we can’t say that Phobophobia 13 has been our absolute favorite this year. However, if you are limited to London it is by far your best option for a scare maze in the centre of the city. The experience is possibly contingent upon your group attitude: if they decide to run through the maze, the price of admission might be considered a tad steep. If, however, they are willing to absorb the terrors within like a fine Amontillado, best savored, you will have a far better adventure.

P.S.: If you are able to travel a small while outside London, Tulleys Shocktober Fest is where you want to head for a night of trepidation and terror.

Posted in Do It!, See It! and tagged Halloween, London, London Bridge, London Tombs, Phobophobia

25 Oct 2019

Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights

WHAT: Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights
WHEN: 17 October – 2 November, 2019
WHERE: White Nurseries (Clay Lane, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, NN6 0EP)
PRICE: £16.95-33.95

OUR RATING: Do It!

Credit: Dr. Frights Ltd

Welcome to HorrorTown – an indoor township of terror buzzing with four scare attractions, a food stall, a bar, and an electric atmosphere uniting them all. This haunt promised to be a mix of fun and fear – and boy was it! There was such a great feeling to this place, and while there were a few patrons that threatened to ruin the experience for us (shrieking children and drunk adults), we definitely soaked up the Halloween atmosphere at this scream park’s 10th anniversary.

There’s Something in the Woods
Our Scare Factor: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10

Storyline: Take a harrowing journey through the dense, dark woods that surround St. Agatha’s boarding school. Discover the terrifying presence possessing the nuns and students that live there.

This maze was a great start to our evening – we trekked through ‘the woods’ and ended up at a creepy Catholic school, with real scares along the way. There were some significant jump scares and so many parts where we didn’t know where the actors were appearing from. The best moments were when we questioned which bodies and shadows were real and what were just props, with all aspects having a great sense of timing and an amazing grasp of light versus dark. It will take us a while to forget terrifying screaming nuns!

Hollywood Horror: Director’s Cut
Our Scare Factor: 6/10
Atmosphere: 8/10

Storyline: It’s time for you to take a trip through some of the most iconic moments in horror cinema.

It was so much fun to see classic monsters from the cinema – creatures from scary movies of our childhood – returning in front of our very eyes. There were some wonderful interactions between music from the films and the characters themselves. Iconic moments included reliving the movie house scene in Scream and some really disturbing mimicked laughing from Pennywise the Clown. Super sinister!

Redneck Redemption
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere: 4/10

Storyline: Mumma Beef’s gang has evaded capture and taken up residence in an abandoned mining town. Encounter murderous, blood fueled hillbillies on a rip rollicking journey.

We are so surprised that this maze lives in the same attraction as the three other great mazes, as this one was a severe let down. Unlike the others, this maze was very open and bright, and we could see all the other guests moving around us as well as many scenes and…hillbillies…coming up – which meant that nothing was a surprise to us, not to mention the extreme cliche of the entire theme.

Killer Clowns on a Spaceship
Our Scare Factor: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10

Storyline: The killer clowns are back! And this time they have gone intergalactic! All you need to know is they want you dead. So your mission is simple… escape!

With the absurd movie an inspiration for this maze we expected it to be a bit bizarre and fun – and indeed it was! The labyrinth certainly wasn’t your typical clown and fun house theme, but rather a few clowns meets ridiculous sci–fi equipment meets … techno music! There was an amazingly effective use of strobe lights in this haunt, as they turned down the frequency of strobes and thus aided actors in moving about in surprising and intimidating ways. With the nature of the maze and the fun music playing on the speakers, we ended up in quite a hilarious mood in this one, dancing during the drop to Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’ in order to get past a crazy clown – definitely a memorable moment!

Final Thoughts: With an awesome mix of chills, laughs, and totally mad theming and characters, Dr. Fright’s is completely different from anything else out there. Now running for 10 seasons, this is one horror series you can’t afford to miss.

P.S.: Need another haunt to get your blood pumping? Try Hallowscream at York Maze for some more terrifying encounters.

Posted in Do It!, See It! and tagged Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights, Halloween, Haunted, Horror, Northamptonshire

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Archive for the tag “Halloween”

Face Your Fears at Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park – 2022

Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2021

Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns

Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights: World Tour

Festival of the Dead — Halloween Returns

London Halloween Parties 2019

Face Your Fears

The Howl

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