Scareworld Issue 10

Labirinto Lisboa Grusellabyrinth Scare Attractions in Movies The Hidden House Down in the Dungeons The Vault of Souls Haunted House Games Room INSIDE

ISSUE TEN SUMMER

2015

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CONTENTS

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FROM THE EDITOR SCARE NEWS FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Labirinto Lisboa SINISTER SHOWCASE - How to Haunt Your House Book 4 FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Dr Fright’s Halloween Nights GUEST REVIEW - La Maison Hantee FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Alton Towers Scarefest 2015 Scary Tales FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Grusellabyrinth GUEST REVIEW - H311 SCARE ATTRACTIONS IN MOVIES GUEST REVIEW - The Hidden House GUEST REVIEW - Chester Shop of Horrors DOWN IN THE DUNGEONS GUEST REVIEW - Scare Kingdom Christmas FestEVIL 2014 SINISTER SHOWCASE - The Halloween Experience DVD SCARY WORLD - The Vault of Souls FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - The House of Nightmares HOME IS WHERE THE HAUNT IS - Haunted House Games Room SCARE ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS

Front Cover The House of Nightmares

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From The Editor Welcome to the tenth issue of Scareworld - Europe’s only dedicated scare entertainment magazine.

Kingdom Scream Park’ and ‘H311’, plus Lucy Teal looks at scare attractions in the movies.

We are celebrating our tenth bumper issue of Scareworld Magazine! Scareworld was launched in 2010, and remains the only dedicated hardcopy and e-zine publication for the European scare entertainment industry, we hope you enjoy our celebration issue!

The summer months have been alive with screams across the UK this year with ‘Horror Camp LIVE!’ in Lancashire and ScareCON at Thorpe Park, and now as the evenings begin to draw in, the season of screams is almost upon us! We have all the listings of current summer and permanent events in Europe right here in these pages.

You can now obtain Scareworld as a full size hard copy publication delivered straight to your door by ordering a copy via our website at www.scareworld.co.uk, or you can read the digital issue free of charge online, plus hard copy back issues are now available to buy if you have missed any earlier editions.

In this issue of Scareworld we take a look at the brand new ‘House of Nightmares’, delve into ‘The Vault of Souls’, take a tour of Alton Towers’ ‘Scary Tales’, unlock ‘Labirinto Lisboa’ and showcase ‘How to Haunt Your House Book 4’ and ‘The Halloween Experience’ DVD. Our growing band of in-house and independent writers present features on ‘La Maison Hantee’, ‘Christmas FestEVIL at Scare

Editor Jason Karl jason@scareworld.co.uk Designer Paul Howse paul@scareworld.co.uk Deputy Editors Mark Lofthouse mark@scareworld.co.uk Jane Willis jane@scareworld.co.uk Advertising Sales Manager Emili Peake

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Contributors in this issue Lucy Teal Elizabeth Louise Eaton Michael Eley

For all the latest scare news, reviews and listings, no serious scare attraction enthusiast or producer can afford to be without Scareworld Magazine. Remember Scareworld is your magazine, tell your colleagues and friends, it is free to subscribe to the digital issue online - and don’t forget to catch all the latest scare attraction news as it happens on our website at www.scareworld.co.uk Have a spooky summer, and stay scary!

Jason Karl Editor

Published by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment © Copyright Scareworld 2015.

All material in this publication remains the copyright of Scareworld and no part of it may be re-produced without the written permission of the publishers.

Materials not copyright to Scareworld are re-produced with permission and all rights are acknowledged.

To get in touch or to advertise in Scareworld please email: info@scareworld.co.uk

Summer 2015

Compilation period - January to July 2014

Labirinto Lisboa, Portugal’s only permanent scare attraction re-opened following damage caused by a fire in a building on the opposite side of the road, it is now open 5 days a week.

Full details at www.labirintolisboa.com

Universal Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood have announced a scare maze based on Guillermo Del Toro’s new gothic horror ‘Crimson Peak’.

Details at www.halloweenhorrornights.com

Horror Camp LIVE!, Europe’s original overnight scare experience re-opened for a fourth season at Scare Kingdom Scream Park in Lancashire, UK. Full details can be found at www.horrorcamplive.co.uk

Dr Fright’s have announced an ‘American’ horrors theme for their 2015 Halloween event, details can be found at www.drfrights.co.uk

Dreamland Margate, the new ‘vintage amusement park’ in Kent, have soft announced a Halloween makeover called ‘Screamland’, details at www.dreamland.co.uk Secret’s Beneath have announced ‘Helloween’ a Scream Park with four attractions in Jersey for the Halloween season 2015.

Details at www.secretsbeneath.com At the Merlin ‘Dungeon’ attractions, Jack the Ripper has moved in for Summer with multiple sites offering a close encounter with the Victorian serial killer, details at www.thedungeons.com Primrose Unknown Projects have announced ‘Skelloween Scream Park’ a new multi-attraction event in Yorkshire, details at www.skelloween-park.co.uk Twisted Attractions have released details of their new Halloween event ‘Terror Park’ with four new attractions in Birmingham. Information at www.twistedattractions.co.uk House of the Dead have announced a Halloween scare attraction in Manchester, full details can be found at www.houseofthedead.com

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McKamey Manor, the extreme haunted house in America has announced it is moving to a new state and has launched a crowd funding campaign to pay for the move.

Details at www.mckameymanor.com Six Flags Mexico has opened a permanent laser adventure themed around ‘Ghostbusters’. Created

by Sudden Impact Entertainment, the attraction pits competing teams against each other in a themed environment. Details at www.sixflags.com The eighth annual ScareCON event took place at Thorpe Park in Surrey and was a huge success attracting over 300 delegates. A smaller event will take place in November 2015.

Details at www.scarecon.org Scare Kingdom Scream Park in Lancashire have announced seven attractions for their seventh Halloween season, details at www.scarekingdom.com For all the latest scare entertainment news at it happens, check out the Scareworld Blog - follow the links at www.scareworld.co.uk *We list any events that we have been made aware of, if your event is not listed and you would like it to be, please send your information to us at listings@scareworld.co.uk

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FEATURE

Deep in the heart of historic Lisbon, an ancient evil has awoken; a permanent home for the hellish horrors of the capital’s haunted past...

BRINGING FEAR TO A NEW AUDIENCE In the summer of 2012, AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment won a successful tender to develop, design and produce Portugal’s only permanent scare attraction. The vision of our client, LBTE Entertainment, the attraction would be the first of its type in Portugal, capitalising on the huge tourism and native audiences who, following a feasibility study, were screaming out for an attraction which would both scare and entertain.

The creative team behind the project are no strangers to creating permanent scare attractions, having produced ‘The House of Fear’ in Greece, ‘The Sunken Village of the Damned’ in Cornwall, and ‘Manormortis’ in Lancashire, UK. Following a site meeting in Lisbon, the initial idea for the attraction was to place it over two floors in a former car showroom, with an elaborate facade that would hint at the atmosphere of the environment inside the building. Following closely the brief from the client, the development phase dictated that the attraction should be based on legends and lore of the capital city and its surrounding areas, but combined with plenty of artistic license to ensure the experience was dramatic and ultimately, frightening.

With a clear directive to design an experience which was scareactor driven, and not reliant on static animations or animatronics, a period of research and development was undertaken to select the very best stories, legends, and factual historical occurrences which would lend themselves to a horrific 8

interpretation inside the attraction. With more than enough source material to bring the attraction to life, a total of 10 separate narratives drawn from both fact and fiction were selected for story development, imagineering and further consideration.

With a series of unconnected scenarios, which crossed various time periods and geographic locations, the challenge to present the attraction with thematic continuity posed various problems with the design. The answer was to present each environment with interconnecting ‘transition’ areas, to allow guests to seamlessly navigate from one environment to another without any obvious jolt in the architectural and thematic narrative.

Mixing historical fact with legendary tales presented its own questions; how do you ensure guests engage with scenarios based on fact and fiction within the same experience? The answer was to present the experience ‘out of time’, in other words to place them in an environment where a simple narrative would explain that they were connected together and collectively cast into the abyss (Hell) for their dark deeds. Whether these characters were in fact ‘historic’ or ‘legendary’ made no difference, as each would be presented in the same fashion, engineering guests to accept what they were presented with, and not question the ultimate validity of each ‘story’ implemented. Ultimately the collective experience of ‘horror’ would become the focus, and primary memory of their journey, and not the individual story elements presented.

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UNIQUELY DIFFERENT Early on in the project, it was suggested by the creative team that the experience should perhaps incorporate some unique element which would ensure the attraction would stand apart from any other attractions guests might have seen. To this end, the concept of separating one guest from the others was developed, and eventually became ‘The Oubliette’ – a singular experience in which the room itself ‘hugs’ the guest within. With only one member of each group experiencing this element, it would encourage repeat visits, maintain an element of mystery, and ensure an interesting talking point. This is a unique feature which, to our knowledge, has not been presented in any other scare attraction in the world.

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Following 12 months of development, it was decided that the planned car showroom venue was not large enough to fully present the experience at its best, and subsequently a different, larger, venue housed the attraction, now named ‘Labirinto Lisboa’ (Lisbon’s Labyrinth).

This new space was presented over one floor, and thus required a complete re-work of the planned layout, so it was back to the drawing board to reinterpret the environments and stories which had been developed by the creative team for the new space.

It was decided that in order to engage guests with the narrative, but present an ultimately ‘jumpy’ experience, dialogue would be heavy at the beginning and end of the experience, with less emphasis on this throughout the rest of the experience. In order to take guests on an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ we added a heavily theatrical scene midway, and a comedic skit towards the end, therefore taking guests through elements which were intended to shock, revolt, scare and even make them laugh at certain points. The goal being to make them permanently ‘on edge’; never able to predict what might be coming next.

With the emphasis on live performance, the addition of multiple ‘scareactor ratruns’ and impact hatches, means that each performer is able to impact on the guests multiple times, giving the perception of many more live performers than are actually present.

AN EXPERIENCE TO DIE FOR Beginning with a historical scenario, guests enter a wood-pannelled Courtroom where ‘Cardinal Henry’, the Grand Inquisitor, condemns them to Hell, proclaiming that they must make their way through the terrors of Portugal’s dark past, until they ultimately meet the Undead King Sebastian, where they will be judged and one soul retained for eternity (and placed in The Oubliette). The scene is based on the historical inquisition and the Cardinal is a real character from the history books.

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After passing through a corridor, guests emerge in a mossy courtyard, and move around a blood-soaked wellway, where ‘Occulta’, a thief from an old Portuguese folk-tale, emerges and rips his face from his skull, providing the first revulsion scare.

Passing through a series of hanging body bags, guests find themselves in ‘The Ossuary’, an elaborate set comprised completely of skulls and bones, recreating the Chapel of Bones in the city of Évora. Overhead a cobweb covered bone chandelier, held by two skeletons, provide flickering candlelight to illuminate the scene, while guests must navigate around two tombs on which open coffins can been seen. One of these contains a live performer, while the other presents a dummy of the same appearance. These elements are not fixed, and it is therefore possible to alter which coffin contains the live actor based ‘scare’ and the dummy.

Next up is the Claustrophobia effect, which presses against guests as they move from The Ossuary into a ‘Trunnel’ (a triangular corridor) and emerge into The Sanatorium. This theatrical break from impact scares presents an historic location in Portugal – ‘The Serra da Estrela Sanatorium’, where the macabre ‘Dr Malum’ (only one L as in latin Malum - Evil is mid-autopsy on his latest corpse. After learning something of the horrors of Tuberculosis and its devastating effect on the human body, guests move into ‘The Haunted Hallway’ where digital effects bring portraits eerily to life as they scream and snarl as guests move past them.

The historical take of ‘Diogo Alves’ is the theme of ‘The Fiery Lair’ where guests find themselves in a dead end, and are required to reverse their direction of travel, meaning the leader is now at the back of the group, and the vice versa.

Here, Gertrudes Maria, the screeching accomplice of Alves, taunts guests as they navigate through a burnt-out mini-maze of crumbling lumber and flickering firelight.

Leaving the dark lair, guests move into ‘The Bloody Nursery’, an attic filled with broken dolls and the spoils of the infamous historical child-killer ‘Luisa de Jesus’ who, after attacking them with a chainsaw, chases them into her closet where guests must squeeze through shelves of living dolls which represent the souls of those who met their end at Luisa’s hands.

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Passing through a series of passageways, guests smell the salty stench of the sea as they find themselves in the Cavern of ‘Adamastor’ – a mythical sea wraith well know in Portuguese folklore. To bring this spirit to life, we commissioned an oversized ‘actormatronic’ puppet which sweeps the cavern with his huge claws as guests try to evade his grasp. Lit only by ultraviolet pulses, the presentation of this section is quite different from any other inside the attraction, providing a ghostly glow as the giant beast lunges around the cave.

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Providing some light relief, guests find themselves in a cosy ‘Bakehouse’ next, where the quirky and zany ‘Brites de Almeida – the baker from Aljubarrota’ provides a comic routine mixed with some historical horror. At the present time portrayed by a male performer, this female ‘heroine’ has been somewhat twisted for Labirinto Lisboa, as she flits between friend and foe in a schizophrenic fashion.

To escape the Bakehouse, guests are thrown into the ‘Oven’, where a long tunnel leads them into ‘The Freakshow’. Inspired by a European travelling carnival which visited Portugal many centuries ago, this ‘big top’ style scene incorporates an oversized clown hand which emerges from a curtain to clutch at guests as they pass, followed by ‘Svengali’, a living doll, which follows them into the final environment.

The lavishly decorated ‘Throne Room’ places guests at the mercy of ‘King Sebastian’, an undead King who selects one mortal to remain with him in the underworld, while the others are allowed to leave, their souls intact.

The guest chosen by the King is placed into The Oubliette for a full-contact encounter with the room itself, before being set free to rejoin their friends.

A TWO-YEAR JOURNEY After two years of development and planning, following the owner’s vision – Ricardo Rodrigues - Labirinto Lisboa opened to the public in 2014, but shortly afterwards was the victim of a local fire, in a nearby building, which consumed the roof and caused considerable damage to the interior of the building. The attraction was temporarily closed for refurbishment and opened once again in early 2015.

Labirinto Lisboa is now open throughout the year between Tuesday and Sunday each week. Full details, including special events, offers and more can be found at www.labirintolisboa.com Labirinto Lisboa was developed, designed and produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment, for details please visit www.atmosfearuk.com

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SI NI STER

SHOWCASE HOW TO HAUNT YOUR HOUSE BOOK 4 If you enjoy throwing lavish Halloween parties, creating your very own ‘home haunt’ or just scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting Trick or Treaters, then Shawn & Lynne Mitchell’s ‘How To Haunt Your House Four’ should be your ultimate go to guide for transforming your humble abode into the perfect haunted house.

The fourth in the series of the How To Haunt Your House books has a fantastic array of tips and tricks of how to create highly detailed theming, animatronics and special effects on a limited shoe-string budget. From ‘Flying Phantom’s made from PVC pipe and sticky tape through to a whole creepy forest with hanging moss, the book has step-by-step instructions on how to create a vast amount of special effects that will boost your immersive experience through the roof.

From page to page, the photo rich How To Haunt Your House Four captures readers attention with a huge amount of imagery showcasing each step of the theming transformations. This heavy imagery approach is very easy to follow and even the novice haunters amongst us will be able to create theming items beyond their wildest nightmares.

The book is not just for hobby haunters it should be mentioned, even professional scare attraction producers will pick up extremely useful tips and tricks through the 96 page book. The How To Haunt Your House book collection should be in the office of every scare attraction producer, Halloween enthusiast and home haunter working in the haunted attraction market.

How To Haunt Your House Four is available to purchase at www.howtohauntyourhouse.com Summer 2015

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FEATURE Dr Fright’s held four separate scare attractions all situated around a central ‘hub’ area where they sold merchandise, food and had their ‘Control Room Bar’ under a giant marquee.

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We decided to enter ‘The Woods’ attraction first; ‘The Woods’ was based on the ‘Aokigahara Forest’ aka ‘The Suicide Forest’ at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan. Now, I’m all for extravagant themes and thinking out of the box, but I’m not entirely sure basing an attraction on a place of mass suicides is the best of ideas. What was to follow was a series of construction fences cloaked in black plastic, foliage and the odd tent or two.

Dr Fright’s Halloween Nights is not based on beautiful sets and theatrical performances, instead you are bombarded by a horde of scareactors from every which direction. We left the attraction ‘warmed up’ and thought there was some very clever ideas but were shocked at the tightness of the corridors inside (they certainly aren’t friendly to your slightly larger guest).

After the short journey from Kettering to the event location, we noticed there was a lot of AA signage with directions making it very easy to find. We parked the car in the large open field and were welcomed with the sight of the huge ‘Dr Fright’s Halloween Nights’ lit sign and huge marquee housing the four attractions. I have to say, there was a certain electric atmosphere about the place with families and groups of friends mingling all apprehensive to the impending scares they were about to receive.

Following ‘The Woods’, we entered ‘The Grindhouse’, this attraction threw you in the deep end of a murderous redneck family adamant on making you part of their next meal. This attraction was again created using temporary construction fencing and black plastic sheeting with some purpose built sets and props every so often. There was a large outside section that was really bright and felt slightly disjointed with the rest of the attraction.

I have to say that the guest interaction inside ‘The Grindhouse’ was rather fantastic with

r Fright’s Halloween Nights has been scaring the public of Northamptonshire for a number of years, so being a huge scare enthusiast and being in the area, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see just what they had to offer.

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the characters wanting to taunt and talk with you – it made a difference to the other attractions and those performers should be complimented for making our evening that bit more enjoyable.

Upon leaving ‘The Grindhouse’ we entered ‘DepRAVEd’ which was set inside a nightclub of sorts with loud pumping music, lots of smoke, strobes and VERY tight corridors. This is probably one of the tightest attractions I’ve ever experienced in terms of guest navigation. What happened inside I can’t quite remember, it was certainly the one attraction that’s forgettable in terms of characters and what happened. I have to mention that some of the corridors were so tight that I had to squeeze between the walls (and I’m far from a large guy), this did add to the experience but I can just imagine in an emergency situation, it must be a nightmare.

The final attraction we ventured into was ‘The Devil’s Dollhouse’ or ‘The Dollhouse’ dependant on which sign you was looking at. This attraction transported you into a doll factory the likes of seen in the ‘Child’s Play’ franchise. Inside were hundreds of dolls littered around and characters dressed equally eerie ready to ask you to ‘Play with me’ (a lot…). The navigation was yet again created with temporary fencing and black plastic which really does take away from the other impressive theming littered around.

This attraction seemed a lot shorter than the other three and when we left, we were slightly confused if it was over or not. Just like the other three attractions, there was no ‘Finale scare’, it was simply you walk out of the attraction without some forceful gesture to make you run in fear – it’s just something we seemed to notice throughout the night.

So with having done the attractions in just over an hour, we were on the road again and discussing what we had experienced. If you like to just be scared in the dark by characters and don’t care about narrative of scenery – you will love Dr Fright’s Halloween Nights; it truly caters for the average customer who just wants to be terrified. If you are a fan of storytelling and theming, I wouldn’t recommend travelling a vast distance to experience it, but if you’re in the local area – try it out!

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GUEST

pneumatic system rigged to a timer, and guests are fore-warned to pass quickly through each door, or become stuck where they are for a further 6 minutes!

After reading the conditions of entry (no cameras, no eating or drinking etc) guests pass from the holding area through a door to a dimly lit passageway. Here a winding staircase, lit only by a chandelier (badly covered with red gel!) leads to a hallway from which several doors ‘appear’ to present a challenge - which one to take? Moments later one of the doors creaks slowly open, and guests pass through into the next chamber which is enveloped in total darkness. After clambering around to find the exit, a low-level ultra-violet light illuminates the room, allowing guests to witness one of the walls slowly closing in, compressing them against the remaing wall. Subtle sound effects accompany the pneumatic Scare attractions can be found in effect, which then re-sets itself by returning to its the many cities and theme parks of Europe. From the original position ( i felt the air release!). A crudely beautifully themed ‘Gasten Ghost Hotel’ of Liseberg in painted ‘ghost’ seems like an after-thought on the XXX, the elegantly eerie ‘Phantom Manor’ at Disneyland ‘moving wall’, but makes the movement easier to see.

Resort, Paris and the american style ‘Le Manoir de It is an impressive simple effect, which elicits screams Paris’ also in France, but one haunt which has escaped from those I have been partnered with for my journey the attention of the scare entertainment industry is through the attraction. the surprising ‘La Maison Hante’ (The Haunted House) situated in a bustling backstreet of the medieval city Making our way through the exit door, we leave ‘The of Carcassonne in the Languedoc region of southern Shrinking Chamber’ and find ourselves once more in France. It is an unlikely spot for a permanent scare total darkness. This ‘Chambre Noir’ is unsettling, as attraction, but draws a constant crowd of screaming uni-directional sound gives the impression that some guests throughout the summer season, offering a huge growling ‘thing’ is pacing around the group. A traditional mix of live scareactor led startles, with well-executed startle scare by a live scareactor adds to some intricately designed environments and simple the fear, before another door opens and guests bundle pneumatic driven animatronics. into an elegant wood panelled, and well lit, ‘Library’.

REVIEW

, e e t n a H n o s i a M La Carcassonne, France

It is clear from the exterior that the attraction is housed inside what used to be a residential building. The various windows and shutters all bolted permanently closed to give no indication of what awaits inside!

With no facade to speak of, the attraction blends seemlessly into the attached heritage buildings, the only identification can be seen on a large hanging sign which rocks gently in the breeze. No pounding music, no billowing smoke effects, and no street theatre costumed performers mean that many drift past, oblivious to the presence of the attraction, yet the small queue for entry is practically permanent.

Spread across two floors, the attraction is selfautomated via a series of doorways which open and close for 10 seconds, allowing guests to navigate around the house. Similar systems have been used in other scare attractions, often accompanied by red and green lights to alert guests when to pass through the various doors. Here, the doors are operated by a 16

Looking around for any obvious ‘scareportunities’ a large window seems the obvious point of entry for a scareactor or effect, and a bookcase looks very much like a concealed doorway, but it is the huge dresser at the back of the room which performs the major scare here. A rumbling and creaking sound effect matches its movement perfectly as it appears to collapse on top of guests, with a well-timed ‘blackout’ at the point of total collapse. Moments later the lights return, and the dresser is back in its first position - the speed of re-set here is impressive, and confuses guests... As expected, the bookcase in the corner of the room swings open allowing passage through to a darkened hallway, which leads to the next chamber. As guests exit, a solemn figure might be glimpsed in the corner of the Library the scareactor has followed and is now pursuing guests (perhaps we are moving too slowly?)

We emerge into an ‘upside down room’ where a table and chairs hang from the ceiling, giving the impression Summer 2015

we are upside down, but it is a momentary pause here as snother doorway has opened, and granted access to what appears to be a ‘lift’.

Perhaps slightly jarring to the ‘haunted country house’ theme, the lift predicatbly shudders and shakes as a projector effect on the floor gives the impression we are hurtling down a lift shaft at great speed. Sadly the projector was badly out of focus, and the effect therefore under-performed, nevertheless the mild motion sickness created is an interesting effect to add into the mix.

Leaving the lift, guests descend down a steep staircase, giving the strong impression that we are entering a ‘cellar’, at the bottom, an impressive chamber with a huge fireplace, various cluttered artefacts, and a ‘sleeping’ chevalier (knight) can be seen. The ‘snoring’ soon ceases as the animatronic chevalier comes to life, looks around the chamber with his red eyes, and subsequently raises his axe in a threating manor before standing in ‘attack’ pose to ‘threaten’ guests. He soon gives up though as he goes back to sleep, as the fireplace itself swings inward, giving access to the ‘Alchemist’s Laboratory’.

An impressively themed room, the Laboratory is filled with bizarre equipment, vials of strange liquids and alchemical papers strewn across the floor. An obvious ‘scareportunity’ here is not utilised, despite clearly being designed for a scareactor to enter the room and stand behind the alchemist’s desk (perhaps this is used in another version of the experience?).

The Laboratory opens up into another hallway, where eerie manikin pieces are stuffed in a medical cabinet - the perfect visual diversion to allow a live scareactor to perform another startle scare from a closed, and visually uninteresting, doorway. It works.

Guests scream, as the next doorway opens, allowing sunshine to flood into the room - is this the end of the experience? No, but it is a clever way of giving the impression that you are ‘safe now’.

Outside, we emerge into a courtyard, from which we can see the nearby ‘chateau’ with visitors on a history tour! A huge dead tree stands next to us, seemingly unimpressive until it comes to life, reaching down to us with its clawlike branches. Although not scary, its an impressive animatronic, and certainly one which i didn’t see coming!

The next doorway opens, and we enter the dark once more, emerging into a cobweb covered crypt.

Attention is drawn to the back of the room, where a coffin creaks open and a very sad looking vampire stutters into action. He has clearly seen better days Summer 2015

and is not coping well in the afterlife! (time for a replacement perhaps?). As he emerges from his tomb, the sound of bats flitting around becomes louder and louder. A similar effect to the Chambre Noir, these sounds seems to encircle the group carefully located speakers and uni-directional sound dragged this room from the dead!

Passing through another doorway, guests find themselves in a tight winding passageway which is illuminated by an ultra-violet light which highlights ‘gunge’ on the walls. This simple effect gives the impression that the walls are dripping with slime, in fact it is dry and purely a paint effect.

Guests emerge into a grandly themed ‘Drawing Room’, where an old movie projector, mirror and fireplace take centre stage. Suddenly a ‘ghost’ appears, seated on a chair. This is a Pepper’s Ghost effect, but sadly fails as the sightlines of most guests do not match the projection and it is necessary to stand in one corner in order to receive the impression he is sitting in the chair.

The seated ‘phantom’ tells a tale of love and death, of an alchemist who found the key to ‘life and death’ on the night of a total eclipse. It is a well-crafted narrative, but strangely delivered near the end of the experience, when perhaps it would have been better at the beginning? The artwork used on the attractions flyer and outdoor signage now makes sense - it is a hand holding a key...

After the window doors swing open, guests flit through a dim passageway, as the final scare is performed by a live scareactor, ensuring a great ‘scream’ as they rush through the exit door, and into the street.

Although a little rough around the edges, and in need of some tender loving care, the attraction is a fun and spooky experience which offers guests the opportunity to immerse themselves for 15 minutes in a unique ‘haunted house’ which is well worth the entry price of xxxxxx. Souvenir t-shirts are also available.

Guest groups are dispatched every 6 minutes, with an average group size of 8 guests. Variations of the experience are made available for younger guests, in which (i assume) the live scareactor elements are dropped? The attraction is open between 10am and 10pm during the summer months, and although it has no dedicated website, information can be found on various tourist websites which provide information on the city of Carcassonne and its various attractions.

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RE Alton Towers FEATUScarefest 2014

Halloween at Alton Towers Resort continues to grow each season, and in 2014 the addition of another free ‘Scare Zone’ was introduced, bringing twisted fairy tales to life as ‘Scary Tales’...

Scary Tales was a free flow attraction where you enter in large groups of a constant stream of people. This undoubtedly makes it hard work for the actors, but they did incredibly well. There wasn’t one cut in concentration and the actors

were clearly ready for scares at every moment.

At the entrance to the attraction, a mist clad oversized storybook and two crumbling stone pillars presented a brooding and quirky atmosphere.

Set as a woodland walk, cordoned off in the middle of the park, we were lead through twists and turns and met various familiar faces. The first couple we were set upon were Hansel and Gretel, outside of their trademark Gingerbread House – but of course it’s not quite as inviting as the one we remember from the story book! There were decaying bodies in cages cluttered all around and Hansel was enticing people in with a doughnut on string (lovely!).

As we ventured further it was apparent that Snow White was the next character on our journey.

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Resort Scary Tales Broken mirrors hanging from trees and poisoned apples and up ahead, a mirror maze. We finally met Snow White herself, she was covered in blood and definitely not the meek and mild maiden we have come to love from the fairy tale. I loved the mirror maze in the middle of the woods, it was very disorientating and kept you guessing as you had no idea what was coming up next.

Up next was the Huntsman looking for a heart for the Queen. He was very intimidating and in everyone’s faces, not easy to do in a crowded area but executed very effectively. Next was Little Red Riding Hood, again bloodied and unpleasant, hissing at passers by, and warning of the fate of the wolf.

We headed through an abandoned hut and under a covered walk-way with ivy hanging down straight into what I thought were some of the most unnerving characters in the maze. The Three ‘little’ Pigs. Grotesque creatures with human eyes, pig faces and pot bellies. One large one seemed to tower above me (although I am quite tiny) – great casting in the costume as it really did put me on edge. More of the woodland walk and we had made it out alive.

As a stand-alone attraction I thought Scary Tales was great. The creepy music, and up close characters made it a freaky walk through and even better as you didn’t have to pay extra for it. With the amount of characters in the maze and how responsive they were it made it really effective as a free flow attraction.

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FEATURE

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rusellabyrinth (Horror Labyrinth) is a brand new permanent scare attraction based in Bottrop, Germany. It is the latest manifestation of the Grusellabyrinth brand and was previously located in Kiel for the last 12 years.

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Targeted at families, this theatrical horror adventure for those aged 8 and above, is called ‘Im Bann der Finsternis’ (The Curse of Darkness) and features detailed environments, strange live characters and a gripping narrative which is presented in three dimensions.

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The attraction opened on Friday 13th February 2015 and is operational Thursday-Sunday.

Guests enter the attraction in groups of up to 25, and the experience lasts around 100 minutes. At the end guests may recover in a Snack Bar.

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The story presented in the experience sits comfortably in the ‘fantasy’ genre, with clear inspiration from Tim Burton and Disney films. Unlike other scare attractions, there is no presentation of ‘blood, guts and gore’, here the narrative is subtle, strange and spooky.

The attraction is located in an old warehouse, which appealed to the operators for its old and spooky natural atmosphere. After investing over one million Euro, the attraction has high production value, with its main emphasis on theatrical storytelling, rather than full on ‘scare’.

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Using up to 11 live performers each operational period, Grusellabyrinth allows physical contact with guests, meaning you can and will get touched by the scareactors.

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Tickets for Grusellabyrinth range from Euro 19.50 for adults and Euro 17.50 for children. Group discounts and offers are available on the attraction website at www.grusellabyrinth.de

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GUEST

REVIEW H311

With promises of ‘controlled’ drug induced hallucinations and dance music there seemed no reason not to visit GNGs latest attraction : H311. And it didn’t disappoint.

Although set on a scare attraction premise there were no ghosts and ghouls lurking round the corners in this maze.

Just a range of trippy characters making you question your sanity.

We were greeted by a lab assistant who advised us we were there to test the new drug H311, which has been reported to have side effects of hallucinations when coupled with dance music. We took our 10ml dosage and were sent on our way, being told to document our findings at the end.

The door opened and hardcore dance music billowed out as we followed the path. The first character we saw was a larger than life, broken faced, porcelain looking doll. Very dainty looking, holding an oversized lolly pop. She tottered towards us wide eyed as we swiftly continued through the maze of smoke filled barrels.

Our next encounter was perhaps the worst of the lot. It really made our stomachs turn. We were met by an old lady with a Zimmer frame who blocked our path. She held a bedpan of what can only be described as gruel. In-between 26

yelling she would take mouthfuls of the contents. This probably seems a little mild, but on closer inspection we saw that it also contained bones, which were also going into her mouth whilst she enjoyed her meal. This was an uncomfortable scene as she blocked the path so perfectly we weren’t exactly sure if we were meant to continue or join her in feeding time.

The scene that followed was my favourite visually. The room was completely dark with the only illumination being from a black light. UV patterns filled the space, as you entered you could see a female figure in a long black cloak.

When removed this revealed a bikini wearing dancer also painted in the same UV patterns. She performed for the group, spending time with each of us as we passed through.

We were then plunged into a strobe and smoke filled corridor. Unable to see our hands in front of our faces, we were very surprised the actor in there was able to correctly identify us and our location. Being held there definitely messed with our senses, which was probably the idea given the task ahead, a good old-fashioned coconut shy. The reason behind this being, if you were to be hallucinating then your mind may take you to a bizarre carnival environment. The bare-chested, tattooed carnie gave us Summer 2015

each a ball and we were tasked to hit the coconuts, difficult having just emerged from smoke.

Revelling over the fact that we’d successfully cleared the shy we entered the next stage of our hallucinations where we found ourselves dancing with animals in suits. The characters were like something out of The Clockwork orange. Business looking men with faces of animals. I was held there whilst Gary was allowed to pass, going ahead alone. After a while of po-going I was then allowed to complete the journey. Ahead lay screams from all directions and jump scares from characters in rooms filled with confusion.

The last part of the maze polished off the hallucination experience wonderfully. A spinning UV tunnel covering a bridge to the exit. The brain tells you you’re walking in a straight line but your eyes tell you differently.

Back on still land I was greeted by another research assistant, there to take reports on strange things I had seen. Advising her that everything I saw had been completely normal, I was given an information leaflet and escaped.

I loved how different this attraction was, not your ‘usual’ scare attraction. GNG always seem to have a great way of testing different extremes and genres outside of the Halloween season. No blood and gore but still enough to make you jump, put you out of your comfort zone and come out wanting more.

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e know Scareworld Magazine readers love horror movies, spooky stories and scare attractions... but what happens when the two are combined? Scareworld Magazine hunted high and low for a selection of films that feature scare attractions to see what happens when film directors get hold of the ‘house of horrors’ premise. Can scare attractions be accurately portrayed in films or do they all become a stereotypical murdering blood bath?

House of Fears, The Maze, Scare Zone, Dark Ride, Shock Labyrinth, The Houses October Built and Dark House were under the microscope of our little investigation.

All of the films listed revolve around scare attractions or use scare attractions as the backdrop, often overlaying theming and interactive elements for their impressive sets. Out of the selection of movies chosen, I personally would say there is only one of the movies that creates the plausible realistic feel of scare entertainment – Dark House. Although the concept of a house full of holograms that interact with audiences and actors is somewhat futuristic, the idea that holograms such as ghosts, clowns & flaming skulls (to name a few)

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could change any scene at the switch of a button is incredibly unique and interesting.

As of yet, I haven’t witnessed a scare attraction create such an effect aside from the trusted Victorian ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ illusion – if this type of technology would be available in the future, it would be a game changer for the whole industry.

The movie ‘Dark Ride’ takes place on a Ghost Train designed with ‘25 of the most terrifying rooms for your horrific pleasure’. It’s advertised as a horror attraction and is host to papier-mâché dummies and animatronics – perfect for a ride by ghost train. As opposed to many other horror related scare attraction movies, Dark Ride consists of a vast amount of dummies, mannequins and animatronics that are controlled from a staggering amount of pulleys and a fly floor, meaning there’s not a lot of murdering psychopathic killers on the loose to create the jump scares. It was really nice to see this style of movie, using old techniques from the heritage of ghost trains and scare entertainment as opposed to technologically advanced style scares.

On a very similar wavelength, ‘House of Fears’ is also based on a purpose built attraction with a large variation of themes and styles revolving around 9 of your darkest fears; death, ghosts, monsters, darkness, clowns, bats, spiders, losing your mind and of course - sharp knives. Some of the scenes in the movie showcase incredibly detailed sets and theming which include the façade of a gothic mansion – it’s evident that the creators of the attraction had a vast construction budget. House of Fears shows a lot of the backstage areas of the scare attraction with actor rat-runs and shows how each scene is connected to the next, it’s fantastic to see this in a movie geared towards general horror fans and not just the niche market of scare fanatics.

‘Shock Labyrinth’ is a Japanese horror movie showcasing the breath-taking sets of ‘Senritsu’ or ‘Horror Hospital’ in Fuji-Q Highland, near Mount Fuji in Japan. Senritsu can take guests up to 45 minutes to escape the massive labyrinth of corridors and rooms, with dead ends and corridors that take you back to the start of the experience, it is a true ‘horror maze’. In terms of horror movie fans, you may struggle to follow just what’s happening on screen, but you’ll find the spooky sets and theming to be extremely impressive.

The next movie in our list is ‘Scare Zone’, which takes place in a seasonal ‘quick build’ attraction as opposed to an extravagant permanent haunted house. What is unique about this movie is that it shows you the operational side of 30

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scare attractions and we follow the owner throughout – it’s a novel twist on the usual type of scare attraction movie. Scare Zone’s interviews with the owner of the attraction provide great comedic relief for scare attraction experts and producers alike as his ‘use of real murder weapons’ including knives, axes and chainsaws is something that’s frowned upon in the scare industry.

Moving away from ‘traditional’ haunted houses and away from the blood and guts of the previous movies, ‘The Maze’ takes place in ‘The USA’s largest corn maze’ and is much more family orientated. There’s a guillotine, pumpkins, scarecrows and dolls. The areas are well lit by fairy lights in places and guests enjoy and mud-less visit around the paths (probably because of the weather). The movie takes place when the attraction isn’t in operation at the time of the filming, but it’s great to see that such a popular concept of attractions such as cornfields are making it into movies.

Last but certainly not list is ‘The Houses October Built’ that sees a group of hard-core scare enthusiasts travelling across American states in the hunt for the scariest attraction available. What I really enjoyed about this movie was the different styles and types of events that the characters visited – ranging from haunted houses, zombie paintball events, kill houses and extreme attractions. For the viewers that haven’t had the chance to go to many scare attractions, The Houses October Built entices you to visit attractions for the fright of your life. The movie touches on a subject that is vogue in the scare entertainment industry - extreme haunts. Extreme haunts contain simulated torture, hooding, restraining, interactive elements and force from the characters exerted on them – an example of this would be Psychomanteum at Scare Kingdom Scream Park voted ‘The UK’s Sickest Attraction’ is an example of this experience. The movie shows the characters desperately trying to search for an underground haunted house experience that is only permitted by invite – of course, being a horror movie and all, the characters fates aren’t all too bright as they finally enter ‘The Blue Skeleton’ attraction.

As a fan of extreme haunted attractions, it was fantastic to see the level of detail the movie shows of this type of experience and the reality behind what is such a blurred line of ‘entertainment’.

My aim of researching scare attractions in movies was to see if this type of entertainment was appropriately portrayed or if they tried to make the whole industry into a gimmick. I was delighted to discover that each of the movies shines a light on a small section of the industry and instead, heavily promotes this type of entertainment. Each of the movies stated are visual delights for horror and scare fans and some of the ideas created with computer generated imagery show just where the industry could be heading and personally – I cannot wait.

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GUEST

REVIEW

hT e Hidden House

by Elizabeth Louise Eaton

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ust when you thought the scare attraction season had come to end, with Halloween attractions around the country hanging up their fangs and pulling down their cobwebs for another year shortly after October 31st, the UK has started introducing immersive scare mazes for Christmas! Last year AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment started the ball rolling with Christmas FestEVIL, with fantastic results and a second run set for 2014. Queue, immersive entertainment company Unlocked Vision’s latest venture in partnership with Westfield Stratford City, London; ‘The Hidden House’- A brand new immersive experience for families and friends based on the Grimm Fairytales.

We arrived, excited and ready to see what Christmas style scares were in store for us. It was clear immediately that all the stops had been pulled out with the advertising, with promotional banners on all the mall’s doors, and on the large electronic billboard at the entrance. Setting the bar high before we even entered the mall.

Located in the central food court area, the pop up attraction which will run from 19th November until 4th January, consisted of a large log cabin and outside area surrounded by a curtain of dark green velvet.

Two glasses of champagne and two gold VIP wristbands later we were in the queue. Exterior theming was excellent, wood effect walls with overgrown ivy and snowflakes on the window corners. Gorgeous down to the last detail. Batching was in nice small groups of between five and eight people. Once inside, we were introduced to the story line; snow white was dead, the queen had lost her mind and little red riding hood was being held captive by the big bad wolf, referred to only as “him” by the terrified and deranged looking villagers who gave us our introduction. We were then hurried out of this room and into the forest. Pushing our way through the trees we then entered another house- where we faced with a riddle and the choice of three doors. After selecting wrongly and ending up in a small dark room with no way out, we quickly recalculated and entered another door, separating us from the other half of our group. Now we entered Snow Whites Funeral scene, and gingerly began walking between the pews of hooded figures waiting for one of them to jump to life. Again, fantastic attention to detail in this section, down to the engraving on the glass coffin, the level of guest interaction and the high standard of scares and all round theming as our journey through the Grimm fairytales continued.

As we made our way through narrow corridors we re-joined the rest of our group, and under the guidance of another deranged villager, we entered a small dimly lit room. The door slammed behind us and we were shut in. We soon felt like we had stumbled into a human furnace- one side of the room lit up in a screen of flames, while the other began to pour smoke onto us. Panic filled the room, the “obvious scare attraction virgins” previously mentioned were beside themselves with fear at this point, adding wonderfully to the sense of entrapment and terror. After two or three minutes we were directed to crawl to safety and onto the next scare. The next part took us in confusing and terrifying circles, guided by a number of witches hell bent on adding us to their boiling cauldron! Managing to escape the three hags, we were beckoned into another dark room by a timid, hooded figure who turned out to be none other than the captive little red riding hood. Her voice trembling with fear, she built us up for the ultimate scare, the grand finale, her captor then addressed her, demanding to know who she was keeping secret from him. A booming roar, a bolt of lightning and a flash of Red’s scarlet cape later we ran screaming for our lives out the door and so our experience came to an end.

All in all, The Hidden House proved to be a beautiful balance of scares, theatrical storytelling, immersion, and first class actors in every single scene. The theme of a middle ages, fairytale environment remains strong and detailed throughout the entire attraction, with set designs, lighting and technological aspects all adding to the overall experience; exciting, enjoyable, immersive, and a perfect addition to the London shopping scene this Christmas.

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GUEST

REVIEW

TShe hoCp heofsteHr orrors

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was intrigued to hear about a new permanent scare attraction opening in Chester city centre with the name ‘The Chester Dungeon’ in January 2015.

Without any website, facebook presence or phone number, getting in touch with the attraction operator was a challenge!

The Chester Dungeon, located on Watergate Street is the brainchild of Ed Walley, a local entrepreneur and business operator who set up ‘The Crocky Trail’ at nearby Waverton.

The attraction is located in a former shop and is constructed with a series of black partition walls which create a short passageway through which guests walk.

The attraction features a series of small ‘coffins’, wheelie bins and hanging skulls which are illuminated by LED lights as guest pass by. The effects have all be designed and realised by Mr Walley himself. The experience of the attraction takes about 2 minutes to complete and costs £4.00 per guest.

Aimed at guests over 9 years old, the attraction is open on selected nights of the week, and we suggest checking in advance to see if it will be open.

The odd choice of name for the attraction as a ‘Dungeon’ has caused some bewilderment in the scare entertainment industry, with industry giant Merlin Entertainments using the name to brand their excellent scare entertainment attractions in London, York, Warwick, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Berlin and San Francisco.

Having visited the attraction on two different occasions, it is difficult to compare it to anything else. It resembles a ‘home haunt’ that often pop-up in private houses at Halloween, but as a permanent scare attraction charging admission, I am not sure it cuts the mustard.

Shortly after opening the attraction changed its name to The Chester Shop of Horrors, which is even stranger as it is not a ‘shop’?

Further information is available at https://www.facebook.com/pages/ Chester-SHOP-of-Horrors-51-watergate-street/355733574627745

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DOWN IN Our brand new regular round-up of Merlin’s Dungeon attractions.

The Green Lady at The Edinburgh Dungeon from Spring 2015 The capital’s dark and deadly history has been brought to life like never before as The Edinburgh Dungeon unveiled a brutal crime of passion in its new show The Green Lady in March.

A tale of love, loss, betrayal and death, The Green Lady is now a permanent fixture on the renowned Dungeon tour. Revisiting one of Edinburgh’s more mysterious ghost stories, the Dungeon’s latest tale is rich in haunting drama and spine tingling intrigue.

The new show signals the award winning visitor attraction’s biggest investment since the Drop Dead: Drop Ride to Doom was introduced in 2009. Over £250,000 has been dedicated to creating stunning sets, breathtaking special effects and theatrical costume.

Johnny Campbell, general manager, The Edinburgh Dungeon commented: “We have a really fun, playful side at The Edinburgh Dungeon but this year we were keen to explore the capital’s darker stories uncovering Auld Reekie’s sinister past.

For more information visit www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh

Master of Tricks at The London Dungeon over Halloween 2014 The home of Halloween opened its doors for five weeks of twisted revelries when The Master of Tricks took up residence at The London Dungeon where he presided over a season of screams, inducing trick or treating.

Guests could expect mischief, mayhem, costumes, pumpkins, hair raising scares, jump through the roof surprises, terrible tricks and dastardly dares - plus a few unexpected treats thrown in.

Despicable, dark and downright double crossing, The Master of Tricks set up shop with his wheel of dares, his boxes of scares and his games of deception. Forfeits galore were in store for those who land a dare on the giant trick or treat wheel, unexpected sense-ational surprises where offered inside his trick or treat boxes and guests were duped and bamboozled by his trick laden game of cups. And the trickery didn’t end there.

Once inside the depths of the Dungeon, guests were dealt trick or treat cards to determine their fates as they journey’d through 1000 years of London’s dark past. Would they get a yummy pie from Sweeney Todd’s sidekick Mrs Lovett? or a place in the torturers’ chair? The cards decided.

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Dig up the Dead at The London Dungeon during February 2015 Grave robbing was rife at The London Dungeon this February half term when the live action attraction was over-run by The London Burkers, a criminal gang of grave robbers famous for making a less-than-honest living digging up the dead. But, be warned, when demand outstrips supply these ‘Resurrection Men’ may even kill for a body to sell – guests were advised to keep their wits about them.

It’s 1840s London and grave robbers prowl the capital’s cemeteries digging up bodies to sell to hospitals for research. But when the bodies are in short supply these scoundrels turn to unscrupulous means to provide fresh corpses for hard cash. On entry to the Dungeon, guests were dealt a ‘donor card’ that would decide their fate when they come face to face with John Bishop, the most reviled of all grave robbers and the gang’s lethal leader. At this fearsome encounter in a Victorian graveyard, Bishops demanded guests surrender their card. Those with ‘full body’ cards were eligible for dissection in the Doctor’s surgery, where minimal damage means maximum cash. The Doctor demonstrated the most valuable of organs, and how they can be removed to ensure the biggest reward.

For more information visit www.thedungeons.com/london

Death by Chocolate at The York Dungeon at Easter 2015 A visit to The York Dungeon promised an exciting adventure over the Easter holiday season, as it launched its Death by Chocolate attraction for unsuspecting visitors.

Guests could well find themselves falling victim to a sweet poison, as the unique attraction launched Poisonous Pasts – a brand new pop-up show that was guaranteed to trick those taste buds.

As they arrived at the Dungeon, a pop-up Victorian Sweet Shop and its enticing sickly owner greeted guests, who were encouraged to be on their guard and prepared for a darker twist. With jars of tempting sweets on offer, all was not as it seems and there was a strong chance that people wouldn’t leave smiling. Would it be a lucky or yucky dip?

Helen Douglas, General Manager at The York Dungeon, said: “History has revealed tales of shop keepers and sweet sellers in the late 1800s using sweet tasting treats to poison their victims. In fact, Mary Ann Cotton, one of the most notorious sweet poisoners in history, had links with York. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. The city also has strong links with the chocolate industry and so we are very excited to draw on this inspiration for our latest attraction, which promises to be an entertaining and interactive experience.”

Rascals and Rogues at The York Dungeon during May 2015 The York Dungeon will be taken over by charming ‘rascals and rogues’ who will be trying to recruit new members for their mischievous gang in the attraction’s new interactive half-term May show.

Visitors will step into a dark and eerie world, winding their way through the back streets of York. They will be shown ‘Wanted’ posters by the Dungeon’s local constable who will introduce the rebellious rogues and tell tales of their troublesome behaviour.

Guests might have been warned but nothing will prepare them for a surprise meeting with Samuel Gregory – leader of the notorious Gregory Gang! Confident, quick, brash and full of beans, Samuel’s dreams are as big as his ability to entice innocent victims to his fearless mob.

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As they are taken to the cellar of The Old Cock Inn, the secret meeting point for Gregory Gang members, the potential recruits must be on their guard.

Following their encounter with Samuel, guests will continue to meet some of history’s most infamous rascals, be swept away by their charms and lured into a world of criminal escapades.

These charming and devious characters are going to take visitors on a thrilling adventure and give them the skills to ‘hold up’ a carriage and become the ultimate rascal.

With an amazing cast of theatrical actors and special effects, guests can meet Dick Turpin, the most infamous English highwayman renowned for poaching, burglary, horse theft and murder.

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GUEST

REVIEW

cS are Kingdom k’ eam Par ScrChri stmas Festevil 2014 40

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he only fair way to review Scare Kingdoms Christmas event is to tell is as a tale of two halves.

The evening starts off with the promise of a festive fright with an immerse 20 minute theatrical scare entertainment experience for all – and it delivers. I went in wondering what they could possibly do to an already dark tale but A Christmas SCAREol provided a frightful twist on a story usually filled with joy and heart warming lessons. Entering as part of a group of 10 we were lead into the familiar first room of Manormortis. It was filled with stacked up cases and trunks. Dickens began to tell us the tale of woe, of how the changed Ebenezer we knew and loved had set back to his wicked ways of exploitation and cruelness. The tale came to life before our eyes as Scrooge woke from his slumber and addressed us as his new workers – due to work on Christmas (whether we liked it or not). As in the original tale Marley appears and heeds him that his wicked ways will be punished as once again the ghosts were to appear before him on this very night. This time however, there will be no second chances and there will be a new spirit to face!

We follow Ebenezer through the tale as he encounters the familiar apparitions of the spirits that visited once before – this time with a more daunting message to convey. We meet the airy Ghost of Christmas Past who glowed beautifully in her white gown and glistening pearls, the Ghost of Christmas Present - towering over group with wild eyes and a booming voice, and The Ghost of Christmas yet to be, dressed like the grim reaper complete with scythe to give the journey and even darker edge – along with the antagonising duo of Want and Ignorance, the light-fingered Mrs Dilbert (offering some much needed comic relief) and most frightening of all – The Ghost of Christmas Nightmares! A magnificent mythical looking beast with horns and fawn legs. He ended the tragic tale for Ebenezer, ending his miserable suffering and finishing the tale with a chilling lesson. I loved how there was constant interaction between characters and the longer scripts and festive but dark music really did draw the audience into the scenes.

As with the last Christmas show from AtmosFEAR! the main character was played in relay with Actors taking the role on in turns. This made it queue flow beautifully with minimal wait during the busy period of the evening.

The building of Manormortis is visually stunning and I can see there is not much room for change when it comes to lighting but there are always added extras to be seen during every visit. This time I loved the way a UV light was strategically placed to illuminate each Summer 2015

spirit to give them a ghostly glow. This along with the stunning make up and costumes really did bring the characters to life (or death).

A Christmas SCAREol was a brilliant sequel of an old tale we know so well at this time of year and gave a great insight to a view of what happened after Ebenezer was left to his own devices and was executed beautifully in the surroundings of Manormortis.

Now.... Psychomanteum – what can be said about Psychomanteum?? Well, it’s like Marmite in my opinion. You’ll either love it or hate it! Me? Well, Santa should have me on the naughty list this year as (I should be ashamed to say) I loved it! (but then again I’m not ‘normal’). Having successfully avoided all of its previous incarnations I chose to take the plunge and partake in a visit to Santa’s Sack – well it was Christmas!

Psychomanteum is not for the faint hearted or the unprepared. Due to the waiver signed before I entered I am unable to give out full details but I can say that this is not a comfortable experience. Unlike the rest of the family friendly attractions you may see at Scare Kingdom this is for over 18’s only – and ID may be requested. The Waiver clearly states all you ‘may’ be subjected to once in the vicinity of the ‘clinic’ and of course - you MUST go in ALONE. You are however equipped with a safe word should things get too much.

This is the one thing that you chant over and over in your head as soon as that door opens but daren’t vocalise in fear of taking the walk of shame out to the bar. It’s a true battle of wits in your heart between fear (I must get through this no matter what) and pride (Dare I end this all with the safe word).

With tight spaces, compromising positions, forceful characters and uncomfortable situations this attraction really does sort the men from the boys (as it were).

Every year Psychomanteum gets bigger and better and I fear AtmosFEAR! May not have even scratched the surface of things to come with this. All I have to say is if you are currently on the fence about whether to go through or not – I’d visit it now to warm your senses to what may be next.

Psychomanteum is definitely a tick off the list for me and has to be experienced by anyone who enjoys and extreme attraction.

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SI NI STER

SHOWCASE THE HALLOWEEN EXPERIENCE VOLUME 2

Have you ever wanted to experience scare attractions from the comfort of your own home? Well here is your chance, with the release of ‘The Halloween Experience DVD Volume 2’.

Throughout the 35 minute DVD, viewers virtually visit 5 of the USA’s most-terrifying scare attractions that include; ‘The Empty Grave’, ‘Labyrinth of Lost Relics’, ‘Perdition Home’, ‘Haunted Hollywood Sports’ & ‘Scream in the Dark’ scare attractions.

The Halloween Experience DVD showcases the best each scare attraction has to offer, with creepy effects, music and editing to boot. Each of the different attractions were filmed in an array of different shots, from set-up character interactions through to POV (point of view) filming, showing you how highly detailed (and scary) each attraction is.

Our tour guide ‘Bloody Ben’, the vampire, takes us on a whistle stop tour in a highly comedic fashion, akin to the Scary Movie franchise. Bloody Ben is a great form of introducing each of the attractions and breaks up the rhythm of the DVD perfectly.

The first attraction we visit is ‘The Empty Grave’ in Laguna Hills, California. This impressive home haunt takes guests deep into a paranormal story of epic proportion. Bloody Ben then introduces us to ‘Labyrinth of Lost Relics’ Corona, California. This attraction has some of the best sets, costumes and makeup that I have ever witnessed – it’s certainly not to be missed. The following featurette is of ‘Perdition Home’, for a home-haunt Perdition certainly packs a hell of a punch with a vast amount of scareacters and fantastic theming. Haunted Hollywood Sports is a 23 acre scream park located in Bellflower, California.

The scream park houses 7 separate attractions, the DVD showing just two: Venom & Cannibal Caverns, both of which are very impressive. Last but not least, the DVD transports us to ‘Scream in the Dark’ in Bakersfield, California. This ‘traditional haunted house’ features a staggering amount of scares and hordes of blood-thirsty scareacters.

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Scareworld have been talking to the producers of the DVD who promise us that there is many other volumes of The Halloween Experience DVD on their way, showcasing all sorts of attractions across the USA – and just maybe, across the globe. Keep your eyes peeled readers.

I think it’s fantastic that the producers are travelling across the USA showcasing different scare attractions so audiences at home get a chance to experience just a glimpse of what they have to offer.

The Halloween Experience DVD is available at www.hauntedtelevision.com, so get your copy now.

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cott Swenson, former creative director for Busch Gardens seasonal Halloween event ‘Howl-OScream’ is breaking new ground in haunted attraction production across the pond in the USA, with a bold and unique haunted house attraction that promises to immerse guests in an opulent high-end experience merging traditional haunted attraction tropes, escape games and site specific immersive theatre.

‘The Vault of Souls’ will be unlocked for the first time in October 2015, and promises guests an entire evening of elegant terror, presented in the atmospheric interiors of Exchange National Bank in Tampa, Florida.

Guests will discover a paranormal world that transcends both time and space. They will experience a richly themed cocktail area in the original marble lobby of the bank, presented as a 1920’s style ‘Speakeasy’ with floating candelabra and haunting music. When their number is called they will be escorted in small groups into the subterranean ‘Vault of Souls’ itself. Masked and unable to speak, they will wander freely through catacombs in a non-linear exploration with no ‘correct’ route.

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characters they will encounter are the evil echoes of a nearly forgotten past. If they find their way out, they can continue their festive night of fear in a sinister speakeasy or calm their nerves and get personal readings from local psychics in The Readers Query.

“This is the most immersive and personalized haunt experience I have ever developed.” says Scott Swenson, Creative Director. “We were able to take historic elements of the raucous roaring 1920’s and envelop them in wicked paranormal fiction to create a story that just might be true. I must admit that I’m no longer sure which elements actually happened and which were created for the event. It just all seems so real.”

Essentially a lavish ghost story, the narrative presents the ‘Vault’ as a repository for the souls of wealthy aristocrats, a safe-haven where their ghosts may rest.

Each October, a grand ritual is undertaken whereby new souls may be admitted, or may not…

The Vault of Souls will utilize state of the art technology to create convincing paranormal universe.

Due to the event’s exclusive nature, elements can and will be changed throughout the night to personalize the experience. Professional actors and variety performers will bring life to those no longer living.

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There is no set pathway through The Vault of Souls, so guests will discover scenes in their own order creating a non-linear nightmarish quality. They will be encouraged to explore and search through the multiple layers of thematic detail in order to discover hidden messages, intriguing subplots and perhaps even their own name.

Split into three distinct scenarios, the evening begins at 7pm where guests must present their bankbook to gain entry to the Speakeasy. Waltzing spirits, a solo cellist and an aerialist will bring the space to life as the three-dimensional story begins to unfold. Once called, guests will descend into the vaults where, masked – so as not to allow the spirits to identify them, they will explore a series of connected chambers and passageways, before ascending back to the Speakeasy. Those who wish may commission a reading from a psychic in The Readers Query, or watch other guests in the Vault via a series of ‘peep shows’ (live video feeds).

The experience culminates at midnight, but Scott has hinted that it may not be the end of the experience…

The Vault of Souls will open on selected dates during October 2015, tickets start at $100 per guest and rise further for VIP deals.

Visit www.thevaultofsouls.com for full details.

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FRIGHTFUL

FEATUBaRd DEreams At e s u o H s ’ d n u L a n o r G S of Nightmares wedish theme Park Grona Lund opened their brand new scare attraction ‘The House of Nightmares’ in April 2015. The attraction, which features live performers, animatronic effects, CGI video projections, live wire illumination, pepper’s ghost effects, ultraviolet illumination and a strong narrative, represents a 3.4 million dollar investment for the park, and was designed and produced by Sally Corp, based in the USA.

Presenting the attraction for the launch, Grona Lund said “You are standing in front of a desolate and abandoned house. No one knows what is waiting inside, but one thing is certain – something evil is lurking in the dark. The nightmare experiments once conducted by the legendary Dr. Morphio have come to life and roam the hallways and rooms of the house. Do you dare step into Dr. Morphio’s House of Nightmares and face your worst nightmares?”

THE STORY OF DR. MORPHIO’S HOUSE OF NIGHTMARES Our dark story begins in 1953 in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), where the noted scientist Dr. Morphio was conducting research into the human subconscious and the nature of dreams. It was at a time when television began to take its obvious place in people’s living rooms and Dr. Morhpio was already far ahead of his time. He created a television program called Dreamland, in which he interpreted his guests’ dreams...and nightmares.

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Summer 2015

The program was very popular and Dr. Morphio quickly became a well-known and respected television personality. But when he was at the peak of his career came the revelation that shocked everyone. It turned out that his research was profoundly unethical, illegal and inhumane. He had conducted experiments on human subjects where with forcible and brutal methods he tried to extract the dreams from their consciousness in order to bring them to life.

Dr. Morphio fled from the outraged American population and retreated to a secluded old house near the Stockholm harbour. Unfazed by criticism, he continued his controversial and dangerous experiments hidden behind the house’s facade. He documented everything on video, and it was rumored that he actually managed to create living beings out of his patients’ worst nightmares. A couple of years ago, a documentary film team, hoping to learn the truth about Dr. Morphio and his terrible experiments, arrived at his secluded house. But the doctor had vanished without a trace.

Instead, the team found something truly horrific. The rumours were true. The nightmares that the doctor had succeeded in bringing to life were still lurking in the dark, infesting the house’s rooms and hallways.

What happened to Dr. Morphio remains a mystery, but his house is still standing. No one knows what is waiting in there. Are you ready to come face-to-face with your worst nightmares? But be careful – the living nightmares might follow you home and invade your dreams...you may never sleep again!

Following a development phase which began in early 2013, the creative team from Sally Corp presented three concepts for the re-development of Grona Lund’s old haunted house attraction, including a haunted hotel and a museum of horrors, but it was the story of Doctor Morphio and his House of Nightmares which was chosen for project.

The House of Nightmares is now open at Grona Lunds, and offers those brave enough to enter a unique encounter with the twisted Doctor and the nightmares he has extracted from the minds of his subjects.

Visit www.gronalund.com for further details.

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Back in 1992 John Wardley and Alton Towers created a new breed of dark ride ‘the Haunted House,’ with its state of the art transport system and its myriad of ghostly goings on. The ride cost over 3 million pounds to build and incorporated many great features. One of those features was the tilted drawing room with its huge windows and focal point fireplace. Within the room hung a multitude of creepy portraits, haunted dolls house, severed hand within a display case, a ghostly rocking horse, and the incredible illusion of Sir Henry Alton within the flickering flames of the grand fireplace. The ride lasted in its original form for ten years before being given a make over, gone were the eerie portraits, the dolls house lost its vocal and Sir Henry was alas banished to the afterlife. It is here where my story begins.

I HOME

IS WHERE THE

My Haunted House Games Room

Having taken the Haunted House attraction for granted, I honestly thought that the ride would always be there for my enjoyment and when I turned up on that March day back in 2003 I found that the haunted house was no longer the same. I couldn’t understand why they would change it and I wrote several letters to Alton Towers to find out why the ride had been changed and what had happened to the portraits that once hung within the queue line. My investigation became a bit obsessive as I hoped that the portraits were safe within the Alton Towers Archives. Alas, they have never been seen since and it is believed that they were crushed within the newly installed compactor situated behind the ride building.

During my search I started to collect images and information about the Haunted House and created 48

HAUNT IS

by Michael Eley

a website to show what I had found. The website became a catalyst for my obsession as I started to scan the internet to see if I could find the people who had built the ride and see if they had any images or information about the portraits and the ride itself. It was at this point that I looked at building my own home in the style of the haunted house; my wife was not impressed with the direction of my obsession and put a stop to that idea. Having a building background, I thought I would convert my old games room within our property into a Haunted House style room loosely based around the drawing room. First, I built a replica fireplace and used props from the same suppliers who had previously supplied Alton Towers.

The next thing was to panel out the room. The build Summer 2015

took around 6 months and originally included several paintings that I recreated using my own painting skills, but they did not create the same atmosphere as the ones that hung with the original ride. I contacted an artist to set about recreating the one that had spooked me out back the Haunted Houses days.

Through my research, I had made contact with many of the original members of the construction team and they kindly passed on picture documents and video footage. Two pieces were missing for me and Alton Towers kindly supplied both, these included the Emily Alton dolls house effect and the lost Henry Alton effect. I managed to recreate the fireplace and installed the video of Henry Alton, the next challenge was then to create the haunted dolls house which was quite tricky but with a little patience the dolls house was recreated and Emily walked through the drawing room of my new haunted house games room and her haunting lullaby was heard again.

The games room became a bit of a talking point and was a great room to use during our annual Halloween haunts. Along with the many mazes, we built for the season.

The room was dismantled and stored away back in 2013 as we had decided to move house and it is only now that I have had chance to recreate the room for a second time in our new home in the village of Alton itself. The room has had to be adapted as the space is much more confined but it still has the sounds, smells and feel of the original drawing room.

Many people have asked me why I am obsessed by this particular ride and it is hard to say, although I have many reasons going back to my childhood. My dad was always interested in travelling fairground and would take me and my brother Mark to visit these attractions, where my older brother would take me on the little ghost trains that were there. I can still remember him putting his arm around me to protect me from the ghosts and ghouls and I would cover my ears as not to be scared by the traditional ghost train siren. We would always make a beeline for the ghost train rides, I recall the one that was within Joyland at Bridlington, the Wonderland ghost train at Cleethorpes and my favourite as a child was Blackpool’s very own and first ever ghost train ride. I always rode them with my older brother and we would laughed and scream together. My mum and Nan would take us to Alton Towers as kids back in the 70s before the theme park and we would ride the travelling rides there. I can remember the old ghost train ride that Collins provided for Alton Towers back then and this may have been the first haunted attraction I can remember I was around 5 at the time. So as you can see the humble single track two person carriage ghost ride was part of my happy childhood. They were happy times spent with my brother and my family Summer 2015

and I can still recall the laughs and screams we had together. Unfortunately, my brother died at the age of eighteen in 1987 and we never got to ride the Alton Towers Haunted House together. I remember thinking how he’d like the ride and how much the atmosphere within the ride was far more intense than anything else I had ever experiences and after the redevelopment of the ride in 2003 I wanted to keep that original haunted house spirit alive and to save a little bit of history.

I have been lucky to be able to find such supportive people through my quest and was left with quite a lot of Haunted House information from Sparks Creative services, Alton Towers, Rex studios and of course the legendary John Wardly himself who was the man behind the Haunted House. His inspiration and support prompted me to put some of the information I had gathered into a book, which is available through Amazon, entitled Smoke and Mirrors the Haunted House of Alton Towers.

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SCARE LISTINGS

EUROPEAN SCARE ATTRACTION & SCARE ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS PERMANENT UK SCARE ATTRACTIONS Bram Stoker’s Dracula Experience Whitby, Yorkshire www.draculaexperience.co.uk Buccaneer Bay & The Sunken Village of The Damned Newquay, Cornwall www.buccaneerbay.co.uk Dungeon Labyrinths Illfracombe, Devon www.watermouthcastle.com Horror Crypt at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Lancashire www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com Manormortis Blackburn, Lancashire www.manormortis.com Pasaje Del Terror Blackpool, Lancashire www.pasajedelterror.co.uk Scream at Madame Tussauds London, England www.madametussauds.com Terror Tombs Rhyl, Wales www.palacefuncentre.co.uk Terror Tower Scarborough, North Yorkshire www.terrortower.co.uk The Black Chasm at The Silver Mountain Experience Ceredigion, Wales www.silvermountainexperience.co.uk The Blackpool Tower Dungeon Blackpool, Lancashire www.thedungeons.com The Castle Dungeon at Warwick Castle Warwick, Warwickshire www.warwick-castle.com

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The Edinburgh Dungeon Midlothian, Scotland www.thedungeons.com

Dr Frights Halloween Horror Nights at White’s Farm Northamptonshire, England www.drfrights.co.uk

The Haunted Cellar at Simon Drake’s House of Magic London, England www.houseofmagic.co.uk

Evac National Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield www.emergencymuseum.org.uk

The London Tombs London, England www.thelondonbridgeexperience.com

Farmaggedon at Farmer Ted’s Ormskirk, Lancashire www.farmaggedon.co.uk

The Lost Cellars at Alnwick Castle Alnwick, Northumberland www.alnwickcastle.com

Farmaphobia at Causey Farm Co Meath, Ireland www.farmaphobia.com

The London Dungeon London, England www.thedungeons.co.uk

Fear Fest Sheffield, South Yorkshire www.visitmagna.co.uk

The York Dungeon York, Yorkshire www.thedungeons.com

Fear Forest Mansfield, Nottinghamshire www.fearforest.co.uk

SEASONAL EUROPEAN SCARE ATTRACTIONS

Freaky Fortnight at Mead Open Farm Billington, Bedfordshire www.meadopenfarm.co.uk

Horror Camp LIVE! At Scare Kingdom Scream Park Blackburn, Lancashire www.horrorcamplive.co.uk

HALLOWEEN EUROPEAN SCARE ATTRACTIONS Alton Towers Scarefest Alton, Staffordshire www.altontowers.com Broadwitch HauntFest at Broadditch Farm Southfleet, Kent www.spookycastle.co.uk Church Farm Frights Thurstaston, Wirral www.churchfarm.org.uk Cursed Basildon, Essex www.thecursed.co.uk

Fright Night at Thackray Museum Leeds, West Yorkshire www.thackraymedicalmuseum.co.uk Fright Fantastic at Adventure Island South End on Sea, Essex www.adventureisland.co.uk Fright Hike in Epping Forest Various Locations, England www.fright-hike.com Fright Night at Bristol Zoo Gardens Bristol, England www.bristolzoo.org.uk Fright Nights at Walibi World Biddinhuizen, Holland www.frightnights.nl Frightmare Halloween Festival at Over Farm Market Over, Gloucestershire www.frightmare.co.uk

Summer 2015

Frightwater Valley at Light water Valley Ripon, North Yorkshire www.lightwatervalley.co.uk

Halloween Spooky Spectacular at Sacrewell Farm & Country Centre Peterborough, Cambridgeshire www.sacrewell.org.uk

Ghost Trains at Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Halloween Spooktacular Festival at Longleat Cumbria, England Warminster, Wiltshire www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk www.longleat.co.uk Ghost Train at Swindon and Cricklade Railway Halloween Spooktacular at Oakwood Theme Wiltshire, England Park www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org Pembrokeshire, Wales www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk Halloween at Aden Country Park Aberdeenshire, Scotland www.adencountrypark.org.uk Halloween at Cantref Adventure Farm Powys, Wales www.cantref.com Halloween at Coalhouse fort Tilbury, Essex www.coalhousefort.co.uk Halloween at Muddy Boots Farm Fife, Scotland www.muddybootsfife.com Halloween at Port Aventura Tarragona, Spain www.portaventura.co.uk Halloween at Rainbow Magic Land Roma, Italy www.magicland.it Halloween Express at South Devon Railway Devon, England www.southdevonrailway.co.uk Halloween Festival at The Big Sheep Bideford, North Devon www.thebigsheep.co.uk Halloween Ghost Night at Kents Cavern Torquay, Devon www.kents-cavern.co.uk Halloween Ghost Trains at East Lancashire Railway Lancashire, England www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk Halloween at Heide Park Lower Saxony, Germany www.heide-park.de Halloween at Hidden Valley Launceston, Cornwall www.hiddenvalleydiscoverypark.co.uk

Halloween Spooktacular at Thurleigh Farm & Adventure Playground Ltd Thurleigh, Bedfordshire www.thurleighfarmcentre.co.uk Hallowscream at York Maze York, Yorkshire www.yorkmazehallowscream.co.uk Halloween-Tram Seaton, Devon www.tram.co.uk Haunted Spooktacular Co Meath, Ireland www.hauntedspooktacular.com Halloweenspektakel at Belantis Leipzig, Germany www.belantis.de Happy Halloween at Holiday Park Plopsa Pfalz, Germany www.plopsa.be House of Insomnia Birmingham www.twistedattractions.co.uk Horror Nights at Europa Park Rust, Germany www.horror-nights.de Liverpool Scare City Liverpool, Merseyside www.liverpoolscarecity.co.uk Mission of Fear Telford, England www.junglelandtelford.com Nevendon Manor Halloween Essex, England www.nevendonmanor.co.uk Nightmare Realm Cork, Ireland www.thenightmarerealm.com

Halloween Half Term Fun Week at Kent & East Pitch Black Sussex Railway Tunbridge Wells, Kent Kent, England www.pitchblackhauntedhouse.co.uk www.kesr.org.uk Halloween Hocus Pocus at Chessington World of Adventures Resort Chessington, Surrey www.chessington.com Halloween Horror Fest at Movie Park Kirchhellen, Germany www.movieparkgermany.de Halloween Horrors at Fort Amherst Chatham, Kent www.fortamherst.com Halloween House of Horrors at Tayto Park Co Meath, Ireland www.taytopark.ie Halloween Howl at Millets Farm Nr Abingdon, Oxfordshire www.milletsfarmcentre.com

Summer 2015

Screamfest Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire www.halloweenadventurefarm.co.uk The House of Detention Leeds, West Yorkshire www.houseofdetention.co.uk Spooky World at Apple Jacks Farm Cheshire, England www.spookyworld.co.uk The Creep Wallasey, Merseyside www.thecreep.co.uk

Horror House at Luneur Park Rome, Italy www.luneurpark.it Horror House at Movieland Park Verona, Italy www.canevaworld.it Hotel Krüeger at Parc d’Atraccions Tibidabo, Barcelona, Spain www.tibidabo.cat

The Haunted Castle at Warwick Castle Warwickshire, England www.warwick-castle.com

Krake Lebt! At Heide Park Lower Saxony, Germany www.heide-park.de

Phobophobia at The London Tombs London, England www.thelondonbridgeexperience.com

Labirinto Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal www.labirintolisboa.com

Spooktacular - Zombie Apocalypse Meriden, Warwickshire www.heartofengland.co.uk

Maison du Tourment Charmes, France www.maisondutourment.free.fr

Thorpe Park Fright Nights Surrey, England www.thorpepark.com

Nightmare in Budapest Budapest, Hungary www.nightmareinbudapest.com

Tulleys Shocktoberfest Scream Park Crawley, West Sussex www.halloweenattractions.co.uk

Phobia at Mirabilandia Ravenna, Italy www.mirabilandia.it

Vampire Beach at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Lancashire www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com

Spokhuset at Grona Lund Theme Park Stockholm, Denmark www.gronalund.com

Ghost Train at Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway Co. Ltd Nr Ulverston, Cumbria www.lakesiderailway.co.uk

The Amsterdam Dungeon Amsterdam www.thedungeons.com

Ward 78 Birmingham www.twistedattractions.co.uk WickSCREAM Park Kettering, Northamptonshire www.wicksteedpark.co.uk Woolley Edge October Screams at Beacon Hill Farm Wakefield, South Yorkshire www.octoberscreams.co.uk Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park Wakefield, West Yorkshire www.scaregrounds.co.uk Xtreme Scream Park at Twinlakes Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire www.xtremescreampark.co.uk

Psychotel Chester, England www.psychotel.co.uk

PERMANENT EUROPEAN SCARE EXPERIENCES

Scare Kingdom Scream Park Blackburn, Lancashire www.scarekingdom.com

Demonia at Rainbow Magic Land Roma, Italy www.magicland.it

Scaresville - The Haunted Village at Kentwell Hall Long Melford, Suffolk www.kentwell.co.uk

Grusellabyrinth Kiel, Germany www.grusellabyrinth.de

The Halloween Adventure Scream Park at Stockeld Park Yorkshire, England www.thehalloweenadventure.com

PrimEVIL at Dinosaur Adventure Lenwade, Norfolk www.primevil-scare.com

Scarefest at Castle Point Canvey Island, Essex, www.castlepointghosttours.co.uk

Gasten Ghost Hotel at Liseberg Theme Park Goteborg, Sweden www.liseberg.com

Dystopia Haunted House Vejle, Denmark www.fantasyfabrikken.dk

The Berlin Dungeon Berlin, Germany www.thedungeons.com The Hamburg Dungeon Hamburg, Germany www.thedungeons.com The House of Fear at Allou! Fun Park Athens, Greece www.allou.gr The House of Horror Budapest, Hungary www.houseofhorrorbudapest.com The Manoir de Paris Paris, France www.lemanoirdeparis.com Underground Fear Budapest, Hungary www.undergroundfear.hu La Maison Hantee Carcasonne, France No Website Psaiho Riga, Latvia www.psaiho.lv

El Templo del Terror at Isla Mágica Sevilla, Spain www.islamagica.es

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