ISSUE NINE
AUTUMN/WINTER 2014
INSIDE
Smoke and Mirrors Alton's Haunted House THE DUNGEONS GO STATESIDE MEET L UCI FEAR The History of Haunting Symphonies of Fear Full Contact Haunts Warwick Castle The LIfe of a Scare actor
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CONTENTS 4 6-7 8-11 13 14-15 16-17 18 20-21 22-23 24-35 28-29 30-31 32-33 36-37 38-43 44-45 46-47 48-49 50-51
FROM THE EDITOR SCARE NEWS DEAD AND BURRIED - History of Haunting SINISTER SHOWCASE - Nox Arcana Legion of Shadows FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Christmas Festevil FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Warwick Castle SINISTER SHOWCASE - Smoke and Mirrors FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - The Life of a Scareactor EVIL INTERVIEW - Chris Thomas – Symphonies of Fear SPLIT PERSONALITY - LuciFEAR FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - Tulley’s Shocktoberfest Scream Park SCARY WORLD - History of Halloween Horror Nights FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - The San Francisco Dungeon DEAD & BURIED - El Viejo Caserón SCARY WORLD - Full Contact Haunts FRIGHTFUL FEATURE - La’Mortis HOME IS WHERE THE HAUNT IS - Samedi Haunts GUEST REVIEW - The Blackpool Tower Dungeon Christmas Scare Entertainment Listings
Front Cover The Minister of Fear - Scare Kingdom Scream Park
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From The Editor Fellow Haunters, Welcome to the ninth issue of Scareworld - Europe’s only dedicated scare entertainment magazine. We are celebrating our fourth birthday with a re-brand and re-design 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 the new look! 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 ‘San Francisco Dungeon’, meet ‘LuciFEAR! – The Angel of Hell’, ‘Chris Thomas – Haunt Composer’ and get the lowdown on ‘full contact haunts’ from our US Correspondent PH Adoreart. Plus we have reviews on Michael Eley’s ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ and new haunt music collections.
Editor Jason Karl jason@scareworld.co.uk Designer Paul Howse paul@scareworld.co.uk Deputy Editor Jane Willis jane@scareworld.co.uk Staff Writer and Advertising Sales Manager Lisa Woodford
Listings Editor Katrina Marston Contributors in this issue Michael Eley Jenny Williamson Neil Hodkinson Chris Thomas Simon Sutcliffe Stuart Beare Mark Lofthouse
Our growing band of in-house and independent writers present features on ‘El Viejo Caseron’, ‘L’aMortis at Scare Kingdom Scream Park’ and ‘The Haunted Castle at Warwick Castle’, plus Jane Willis looks back in time at some early attractions which planted the seeds of scare entertainment as we know it today. The summer months have been alive with screams across the UK this year with ‘Horror Camp LIVE!’ in Lancashire and ‘Extreme Sleepover’ by Captiv8 in Sussex, and now as the evenings draw in, the season of screams is almost upon us! We have all the listings of Halloween events in Europe right here in these pages. 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 great Halloween, and stay scary! Jason Karl
Published by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment © Copyright Scareworld 2014. 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
Scareworld US Correspondent PH Adoreart
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Compilation period - January to July 2014 Following several attempts to sell the attraction over the last three years, Buccaneer Bay & The Sunken Village of the DAMNED re-opened to the public in July. The attraction was re-designed by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment in 2009 for a television series highlighting failing tourist attractions. More details at www.buccaneerbay.co.uk The York Dungeon launched their new experience ‘Tyrannical Tudors’ in the spring, and characters from the Dungeon cycled around the city promoting the Tour De France in July. Between July 25th and September 1st, The York Dungeon presents ‘Carnivale’ – a temporary seasonal overlay including a brand new Ringmaster character, and a chance to spin The Wheel of Fortune. Find out about the new ‘Dungeon Lates’ events and more details at www.thedungeons.com/york At The Edinburgh Dungeon, a new experience named ‘The Street of Sorrows – The True Story of Edinburgh’s Underground Plague Close’ opened. Presented by ‘The Foul Clenger’ the experience joins the Dungeon’s existing slate of attractions. More details at www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh Lee and Sarah Conway (Primrose Unknown Projects) presented a temporary scare entertainment overlay at The National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield between May 9th and 17th called ‘Caine – Who Am I?’ The production was apparently disturbed by the ‘real’ ghosts inside the building! More details at http://www.emergencymuseum.org.uk/caine. html A new Halloween experience named ‘Evac’ will take place at the same venue in October. Twisted Attractions, who created ‘The Morgue LIVE’ last Halloween, opened a temporary attraction named ‘The Facility’ in Birmingham. They will open two further attractions this coming Halloween season named ‘Ward 78’ and ‘The House of Insomnia’ at the same site. More details at www.twistedattractions.co.uk The Blackpool Tower Dungeon is opening a new entrance and facade, this time from the Blackpool seafront promenade. More details at www.thedungeons.com/blackpool Daniel Hatton, the owner of ‘Zombiexperience’, was convicted of criminal activity and sent to prison in July. At the time of writing, hundreds of people have been left out of pocket after booking tickets for his events which will no longer run. The company has ceased trading and the Facebook page has been removed.
Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire will become ‘WickSCREAM Park’ over the forthcoming Halloween season, with two scare attractions named ‘Panic Station’ – a family spook experience based on a train and in a woodland walk, and ‘Freakshow’ a more intense experience taking place in an old cinema. The park is being produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. More details at www.wicksteedpark. co.uk Scare Kingdom Scream Park in Lancashire has been taken over by ‘The Ministry of Fear’ for 2014. New attractions ‘The Oubliette 2’, ‘The Clonefields’, ‘Hellcatraz’, ‘Manormortis Covenstead’, Human Zoo’ and ‘Psychomanteum – Deeper Treatment’ have been announced. The park is produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. More details at www.scarekingdom.com Thorpe Parks Fright Nights 2014 have announced the return of Lionsgate Film’s ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘My Bloody Valentine’, ‘Cabin in the Woods’ and ‘SAW Alive’ attractions. There has been no mention of their ‘Asylum’ attraction, which was criticised last year for its theme. More details at www.thorpepark. com Carnesky’s Ghost Train, the unique theatrical scare attraction experience in Blackpool, closed its doors for the final time in April. Following four seasons at the coastal resort, the long-term future of the train is currently unknown. More details at www.carneskysghosttrain.com Merlin Entertainments’ hugely successful ‘Dungeons’ brand has crossed the pond for the first time, with The San Francisco Dungeon opening in June. The attraction features the usual ‘Dungeon’ staples such as ‘autopsy’ and ‘boat ride’ but also incorporates some unique new elements inspired by local history. More details at http://sanfrancisco.thedungeons.com/en/ san-francisco/home/ Tulley’s Shocktoberfest Scream Park are running a three hour long zombie survival event on August 16th, called ‘The Hunted’. Places are limited to 160 participants. More details at www.tulleysfarm.com/the-hunted At the time of writing, details of Alton Towers annual ‘Scarefest’ have not been released, but speculation online suggests that a brand new scare attraction may be part of the line-up, along with a sleepover experience. Keep up-to-date with Alton Towers’ public announcements at www.altontowers.com
AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment will, for the third year running, design and produce all the live performer elements for ‘Dusk Till Dawn 3’, a huge horror overnight survival game played by hundreds of young adults in Lancashire. The event is not open to the general public. Psychotel – the overnight sleepover in a haunted public house in Chester, returns on September 5th, 6th and 7th. More details at www.psychotel.co.uk Scare Kingdom Scream Park have announced the return of their seasonal make-over of Manormortis ‘Christmas FestEVIL’ with a new attraction named ‘A Christmas SCAREol’. More details at www.scarekingdom. com or www.atmosfearuk.com Frightmare returns this Halloween with ‘The Haunted Hayride’, ‘PANIC! Final Cut’ and ‘Fright House – Second Storey’ plus a new ‘Séance’ experience. More details at www.frightmare.co.uk Horror Camp LIVE! – the UK’s award-winning overnight horror camping experience re-opened for the third season with all new characters, sets and content. Produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment More details at www.horrorcamplive.co.uk Parque De Atracciones, Madrid, produced their summer ‘Horror Fest’ event with three separate scare attractions named ‘Hell’s Gate’, ‘Fast Blood’ and ‘Space Nightmare’ between the 9th and 19th. These three attractions opened alongside their reigning scare attraction ‘El Viejo Caserón’ that has been scaring thrill seekers for 25 years this year. More details at http://www.parquedeatracciones. es/ Dr Fright’s Halloween Nights will return again this year with attractions named ‘Depraved’ and ‘The Woods’. More details at www.drfrights.com Reaper – Drop Ride to Doom, has been removed from The Amsterdam Dungeon. This unique ‘Dungeon’ feature was the only one of its kind at any ‘Dungeon’ attraction.More details at www.thedungeons.com/ amsterdam/en
Secrets Beneath opened a temporary scare attraction in Jersey. The experience named ‘Torment’ took place between April 10th and 28th. More details at www.secretsbeneath.com Zombie Blitz London has moved into a new permanent home. More details at http://www. zombieapocalypselondon.co.uk/ Europe’s newest permanent scare attraction, ‘Labirinto Lisboa’, in Lisbon, Portugal suffered some damage after a fire broke out in a nearby building. The attraction has been temporarily closed while repairs are carried out, and is expected to re-open very soon. Labirinto Lisboa was designed and produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. More details at www.labirintolisboa.com A brand new zombie experience named ‘Azylum’ was announced earlier in the year, but according to their Facebook page it has been cancelled after negotiations with the venue broke down. More details at www.azylum.co.uk Woolley Edge October Screams will return this Halloween with two scare attractions ‘The Barn’ and ‘The Pit’. More details at www. octoberscreams.co.uk Castle Point Transport Museum in Essex have announced three new scare attractions for Halloween. ‘The Clownhouse’, ‘The Trauma Room’ and ‘The Slaughter Shack’ complete the bill of haunts for 2014. More details at www.castlepointghosttours.co.uk Farmageddon is back at Halloween with a new attraction named ‘The Meat Locker’. ‘Terror on the Farm’ and ‘Psychosis’ also return this season. More details at www.farmegeddon.co.uk Captiv8 Studios will present a summer scare event named ‘Extreme Sleepover’ in August, and later in the year resurrect Pitch Black Haunted House – more details at www.pitchblackhauntedhouse. co.uk
Marc Terenz’s ‘Horror Nights Freakshow’ will travel around Germany attending festivals including Oktoberfest this summer. More details at the Facebook page ‘Terenzi Horror Nights Official’. Tulley’s Shocktoberfest Scream Park returns for the Halloween season with ‘The Cellar’, ‘The Tunnel’ Hell-ements’, ‘The Creepy Cottage’, ‘Twisted Maze’ and ‘Haunted Hayride’. More details at www.halloweenattractions.co.uk The Halloween Adventure Scream Park returns for its fourth season with three all new attractions for families – ‘HEX in the Hollows’, ‘DEAD End’ and ‘ALIENation’ which guests must enter alone. Produced by AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. More details at www.thehalloweenadventure. co.uk GNG Entertainment present ‘The House of Detention’ between 24th and 31st October in Leeds – www.houseofdetention.co.uk, Fear Forest on the 31st October and 1st November in Mansfield – www.fearforest.co.uk, ‘Cusworth Zombie Experience’ on 25th October in Doncaster – www.cusworth-afterdark.co.uk and ‘Fear Fest’ on November 1st in Sheffield – www.visitmagna.co.uk Scare Kingdom Scream Park have announced the return of their seasonal make-over of Manormortis as ‘Christmas FestEVIL’ with a new attraction named ‘A Christmas SCAREol’, plus the fifth incarnation of the infamous full-contact haunt ‘Psychomanteum – Santa’s Sack’. More details at www.scarekingdom. com or www.atmosfearuk.com Scare Kingdom Scream Park have announced a new Valentines seasonal attraction under their ‘L’aMortis’ branding, the new attraction will be named ‘Necromance’ and include a zombie theme. More details at www.scarekingdom.com and www. atmosfearuk.com For all the latest scare entertainment news at it happens, check out the Scareworld Blog - follow the links at www.scareworld.co.uk
AHistory of Haunting by Jane Willis
What is it about scare attractions and ghostly coupled with people’s morbid fascination with haunts that make them places where people want death, the afterlife and a belief in the horrors of to populate and linger for pure entertainment? Hell and a terrifying eternal existence. The juxtaposing rush of fear and pleasure offered at scare haunts could be described as an addictive aphrodisiac perhaps akin to the desire that makes terrifying horror movies such a popular genre.
In late 19th century France this macabre and morbid vision of Hell was the theme of several well served Parisian ‘gothic entertainment’ joints where those seeking hellish gore could drink and ponder self mortality amid the concept of an eterIt is this same adrenaline that has driven supply nal darkness and the raging flames of an afterlife and demand of scare attractions for centuries for those condemned.
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the Pepper’s Ghost mirror illusion reflected a ‘life-like’ ghostly happening of a man One such ‘goth’ haunt was the Cabaret du seen entering an upright open casket from Néant (Cabaret of Nothingness) that was where he transformed into a skeleton before located in the red light district of central Paris disappearing completely before guests’ eyes. in the same Montmartre neighbourhood as the city’s famous Moulin Rouge where glam Can- It is a trick created in the late 1800s by John Can girls teasingly entertained the voyeuristic Pepper using an upright pane of glass facing the main stage scene and behind it a ‘blue punter. room’ reflecting a mirror image. The nightspots shared little in similarity but were equal in popularity as too was the nearby By using lights on a dimmer and angled in a Cabaret de l’Enfer (Cabaret of the Inferno), certain way the actor behind the glass would another of the French capital’s darker drinking appear translucent, or ghost-like, and was able to interact with other actors before fading out. destinations.
Cabaret du NEant
Inside the Cabaret du Néant guests were led to the Salle d’ Intoxication – room for intoxication or drinking – where plaster skulls of lost souls were buried deep into the walls alongside skeletons and grotesque images of tortures and bloody battle scenes. Imagery of death, decay, carnage and catastrophic happenings including guillotine beheadings were the signature theme of the Cabaret du Néant amid the venue’s dark and damp-smelling surroundings. Monks and funeral attendee character waiters served guests libations – drinks in memory of the dead – named after fatal diseases and illness as fright-seekers piled into the voice of an eerie chant instructing them to take a seat either side of randomly positioned heavy wooden coffins resting on biers.
The timing of the Pepper’s Ghost illusion is significant to the high level of terror it would have given Parisian scare-seekers of the time as it was the first of its kind and although developed upon today, the 19th century audience had a far less advanced knowledge of trickery than contemporary revellers and a more universal solemn belief in spirits, haunting and the afterlife.
“Welcome, O weary wanderer, to the realm of death! Enter! Choose your coffin and be seated beside it!” Once drinks had been supped guests were escorted to the venue’s Room of Disintegration where the feared atmosphere of anticipation spiralled quickly into one of raging fear as Autumn/Winter 2014
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Cabaret de l'Enfer Similar too was the level of fear that raged in the satanic scare haunt of the nearby Cabaret de l’Enfer where guests entered to an echo of gruff voices instructing them to: “Enter and be damned, the Evil One awaits you!” More theatrical in theme, the Cabaret de l’Enfer saw fiddlers and other musicians with stringed instruments making merry around a caldron suspended over raging flames and occasionally prodded by red imps clutching hot iron rods if seen to lag in their performance entertaining the guests. Within Cabaret de l’Enfer depictions of a hellish existence of the afterlife were far more vibrant than those at the Cabaret du Néant however, it is not surprising that the existence of Hell formed the basis of mass fright entertainment in 19th century Europe, as satanic rituals and dark tales of forbidden realms had long existed in the history of European Pagan religions. At the Cabaret de l’Enfer scare-seekers witnessed a snake transform into a devil, were threatened with screeches from Satan and repeatedly reminded of the scalding temperature of the smouldering walls that entombed them. With imagery evocative of the vampire bar scenes in Tarantino’s 1996 film, Dusk Till Dawn, bursts of flames randomly billowed from crevices in the rock walls inside the smoke-laced room, producing a volcanic odour. The red imps would dart back and forth to serve drinks, some stirred pots of ‘molten lava’ while others zipped around doing summersaults in high-speed motion. The Cabaret de l’Enfer’s portrayal of hellish, gruesome creatures paraded to stir terror among a fear-fuelled crowd is a theme that kept audiences entertained right up until the venue’s closure in 1952. But the Cabaret de l’Enfer was certainly not the only scare entertainment attraction to exploit people’s frightful visions of Hell and garish images of an afterlife in a pit of hot flames surrounded by evil satanic creatures.
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gasps in awe and a seemingly tame entrée for the remainder of attraction where guests were At the start of the 20th century Hell, demonic lowered on an elevator into the realms of Hades, depictions of satanic rituals for the damned the feared Greek King of the Underworld, ruler was a theme pedalled in Missouri, USA, within of death and the dead. The Hereafter club at the St Louis World Fair in The sound of rattling chains and deathly moans 1904. echoed throughout the chamber as guests This very early American scare attraction has stepped into a boat that drifted along the River been described as a cross between the Haunted of Death, a waterway filled with red stalactites Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean rides and stalagmites. at Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, and within the entertainment zone Narratives written by Middle Ages Italian poet guests encountered life-size mannequins and Dante were recited and all the punishments of Hades depicted, as guests were ferried nearer graphic imagery of a hellish afterlife. to Satan. Galleries of mirrors were used to confuse and shock as hoards of the ‘undead’ greeted scare- Skeletons fell from the ceiling at random seekers and led them to the Café of the Dead intervals ensuring shrieks and nervous laughter positioned at the end of a 40ft narrow corridor. from the male and female boat passengers and images of the condemned were seen running A central chandelier made of a skull, arm, and petrified from their torture in death. shin bones hung from the ceiling as guests sat at coffins akin to those used in the Cabaret du In other boat scenes guests witnessed those Néant and one reveller was served a meal of captured in Hell and the eternal tortures they specially prepared food – or a vision of it at endured in the afterlife. Fate had sealed their final resting place in the wrath of Satan as least! ‘reward’ for their misbehaviours in life. The stooge plucked at random would be requested to eat a platter of food and drink Encountering the Throne of Satan, a skeleton a beer prepared especially for him or her. added another fright by jumping out at an Problem was that neither meal nor beverage unsuspecting mortal in the crowd. Satan could be picked up and the volunteer’s hand appeared surrounded by sulphurous smoke would simply go straight through both plate amid the raging cries of the souls of the damned. and glass. Satan would laugh and shout threats as the boat
The Hereafter Club
The finale was a waiter smashing the volunteer on the head with a beer bottle only to vanish from view along with the platter of food and the glass of beer. A cleverly constructed illusion using backlighted projection but one that would guarantee
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continued to float down the waterway before the journey glided into a beautiful grove filled with flowers and trees and onto the serenity of Paradise where the Star of Bethlehem shone above silhouetted angels, floating into the clouds.
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A rise in popularity of the Ghost House attraction and train ride signalled an end to the sideshow entertainment of parading the disfigured and deformed in favour of more thrills in motion.
Orton and Spooner Ghost House
Other companies were quick to get a stake in this ‘must-have’ fairground attraction and more advanced devilish scare ride shows were created over the next 20 years mainly in the UK, US and Canada.
At about the same time in England there was a rise in carnivals and circus shows for entertainment where ‘the hideous and grotesque’ where wheeled out and paraded for the public’s amusement, John ‘Elephant Man’ Merrik the most universally known perhaps.
Summary
But as these freak sideshow, funhouses and museum of oddities gathered pace in popularity so too did dark amusement haunts with the first recorded haunted house being the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, created by the UK’s Hollycombe Steam Collection fair company.
Of course, using modern pyrotechnics and animatronics, the level of fear and trickery at contemporary scare haunts can be easily ramped up to the max and with prosthetics and life-like masks, the entire experience becomes far more vivid and terrifying.
Built in about 1915, the Haunted House (or Ghost House) was a classic Edwardian fairground attraction being almost completely pitch black inside.
But as audience’s continue to demand a rush of simultaneous fear and pleasure scare haunts are unlikely to fade from the entertainment circuit but continue to deliver wild and wonderful horror experiences thus preserving a history of haunting for centuries to come.
It was housed in a huge ornate building that had a menacing carved character decorated on the front from where the thrill-seekers would board a two-man moving mechanical carriage on a journey through depictions of human skeletal remains and spine-tingling haunting imagery.
Today, scare still sells despite people’s common belief in Hell and a gruesome afterlife being somewhat diluted compared to that in centuries past.
The bone-shaking train carriages would twist passengers through the darkness and slam open partition doors where new scares and horrors of fright were revealed amid the ghost house’s labyrinth of spine-tingling spectacles and optical illusions such as the Pepper’s illusion trick. 12
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SI NI STER
SHOWCASE NOX ARCANA LEGION OF SHADOWS Beyond the world of light, there exists a hidden realm where creatures of the night revel in the beauty of darkness. Nox Arcana invites you to enter the esoteric order of the Legion of Shadows to explore the mysteries of the night as you immerse yourself in a gothic soundscape of haunting melodies, eerie sound effects and pulse-pounding, symphonic orchestrations. Nox Arcana founder Joseph Vargo, who has been producing dark, haunting works with various bands and musical groups for over two decades, dedicates Legion of Shadows to his loyal listening audience. “To celebrate Nox Arcana’s 10 year anniversary, I wanted to create an album that was entirely dedicated to Nox Arcana fans -- our very own Legion of Shadows. Our fans are the best. They are a very creative group of artistic-minded people who find beauty in darkness. I get countless letters from fans relaying their own stories of how the music of Nox Arcana has inspired their own artistic spirits. Many of them have definite ideas and suggestions for concepts and musical themes. I took all of this to heart, and used their input as the basis for the tracks on the new album. “My goal with Nox Arcana has always been to create music from the shadows for creatures of the night, and I wanted this album to really reflect all aspects of this mindset. There will be a variety of dark anthems with a theme that centers around the mysteries of the night and it’s various haunted denizens, with an underlying story about lost love, melancholy memories of Autumn/Winter 2014
ghosts from the past, and forlorn souls who are empowered by embracing the darkness within.” In addition to Nox Arcana’s darkly romantic and haunting original pieces, the album also features Vargo’s gothic version of Bach’s classic “Toccata and Fugue.” Nox Arcana are a Billboard Top 10 charting artist with numerous albums that annually top Amazon’s Halloween best-sellers list. Over the past decade, Nox Arcana have released a total of 18 full-length concept albums, comprising more than 380 compositions, and have never rereleased any of their material on other albums. Legion of Shadows is no exception and contains 21 all new instrumental tracks. In addition to a vast array of lush, dark original artwork, Nox Arcana’s albums also offer elaborate hidden puzzles as an added bonus for their fans.
Watch the Trailers
“We Are Legion” http://youtu.be/zpTZGlN8TGQ “Hidden Realm” http://youtu.be/xjOIqwa4T2c Download “Legion of Shadows” at: CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/noxarcana14 iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ legion-of-shadows/id724200337 Order “Legion of Shadows” CDs: Nox Arcana: http://www.noxarcana.com/legion.html Monolith Graphics: http://www.monolithgraphics. com/music.html Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ Legion-Shadows-Nox-Arcana/dp/B00FP8F97G
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
For just one weekend AtmosFEAR Scare Attractions reopened the doors at Scare Kingdom Scream Park for a limited of its brand new Christmas FestEVIL event. The event offered two of it’s most notorious mazes from Halloween as well as a chance to meet the despicably mean Satan Claws, who hosted a suitably creepy meet and greet near to the parks reception area. Our first maze was Manormortis, which had impressed the team back in October with its fully immersive theming and constant scares throughout. Before we’d even set foot inside the door, the soundtrack provided the perfect ambience to what lay ahead with a cleverly sampled loop of the Christmas song ‘Carol of the Bells’ in amongst a hauntingly industrial
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soundscape. It really lent itself to the maze and with such a short run it would have been easy to fall into the trap of using the same music as for the Halloween incarnation of the maze, but the change was a nice surprise. The maze remained fairly similar in its build, but for the Christmas period, our tour of the house was extended greatly. Theatrical storytelling in most rooms slowed our pace through the maze, and we really appreciated the chance to really take in the environment. At 20-25 minutes it really did feel like we were lost in the labyrinth of hallways and rooms inside the large gothic house, with little chance of escape. Rather than hinder the pace of the maze, the scripted sections actually meant that you were trapped within
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a room and very often were kept on your toes by a strong team of actors hidden away behind the scenes. We couldn’t decide whether we wanted to stay in the rooms longer to take in all the incredible design, or get out as soon as possible to escape the terrors lurking in the shadows of its bookcases and fireplaces! Manormortis is a quality attraction from start to finish from the rich and plentiful theming to the actors who work hard to breathe life into the old mansion and terrify us in equal measures. With being trapped in the rooms for so long it would normally be easy to spot inconsistencies within the quality of theming. This is not the case with Manormortis though, the insides of the attraction feel authentic through and through and you don’t have to look very hard to realise how much hard work, time and expense has gone into creating such a rounded attraction. Our final experience of the night was to be Psychomanteum. This extreme maze really divided the team back in October and I think this will be the case for most groups. It’s interesting to see how each of us coped and how our experiences through the maze varied as we were treated to “Deeper Treatment”. There were one or two small changes we noticed from the October version but the maze was more or less the same. The attraction is still a full on assault of the senses and the actors really do work hard to make the experience as unpleasant as it possibly can be. It’s sick, twisted and incredibly intense and although it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea you are clearly warned before the experience as to what you may expect once inside.
Standing apart from the weaker attractions of the main Scare Kingdom show, the high quality themes, atmosphere and sets create a very impressive experience. As we said in October – its’ a shame that the rest of the Halloween event isn’t to this standard and the team have set themselves a very daunting task to create a whole seasonal show of this standard. After we’d calmed down from our “treatment” in Psychomanteum, we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of Manormortis, which is just as impressive backstage as it is under normal show conditions. It was interesting to see how the team works behind the scenes and how each scare happens like clockwork. You could easily get lost trying to navigate the endless secret passages behind the scenes but the team make it look easy. Many thanks to ScareTOUR for allowing us to publish their review in Scareworld.
Even though some of the group didn’t find aspects of the aggressive sexual content scary, there were still some testing scenes and experiences which pushed them to their limits in several other ways, which after discussions with it’s creators was their desired effect. We all left with the same feelings of ‘What on earth did we just put ourselves through?!’ and in that sense, this show was a success!
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
The Haunted Castle
by Jane Willis
If you’ve never been to Warwick Castle for Halloween then it’s certainly one to pencil in your diary. It usually runs for a week either side of October 31 and includes lots of spooky daytime goings-on for the kiddies and last year opened up until 9pm for some after-dark ghoulish scares for the brave and bold!
But for hardened scare-seekers though Warwick is perhaps not the scariest haunt attraction in the UK but it is by far one that is worth a visit if only for the very impressive, gigantic scare projections on the castle walls which h are mesmerising and perfectly themed in a location of this age.
The annual fright fest at the ancient Warwick Castle has been running for several years now and annually it takes on an audaciously scary and all-round creepy atmosphere throughout the haunt season.
As a family Halloween venue Warwick certainly has lots to offer younger scare fans, as the entire castle is ‘dressed’ for ghoulish delight and there’s lots of daytime entertainment including themed dining.
By day spooky characters parade the grounds and mingle with the ‘dressed for Halloween’ family crowds out to enjoy light-hearted scare thrills.
Junior witch wannabes could enjoy writing spells and dressing up in witch robes and pointy hats at The Witches Tower where ‘real’ witches had besieged the Princess Tower on the hunt for young new recruits.
But by night the tourist venue is transformed into a hellish place of doom with projections of scare illuminating the ancient castle walls where booming fright music and the eerie racket of sound effects ravish the grounds. In the castle’s Guys Tower paranormal twists were heard as recordings of strange sounds alleged to have come from within the castle walls sparked debate about whether they were echoes from beyond the grave! 16
Spooky Halloween family entertainment was on the menu at the Skeleton Family Breakfast while scare characters served up a delicious feast of fun at the Spooky Family Supper. After dark revellers were invited to Dine Through Time with evening entertainment that took on a fiery Guy Fawkes twist. Given its rich history it is not surprising that the past comes back to haunt present-day Autumn/Winter 2014
revellers during Warwick’s Halloween season starting last year with The Duelling Deed sword fight in the main courtyard as an authentic demonstration of death-defying Georgian swordsmanship. The daytime and after dark walk-through maze attraction Haunted Hollows was housed in a purpose-built scare zone and took on an eerily winding route through a dimly lit, abandoned but well themed foggy castle, aided by a few strategically placed smoke machines. It included a menacing meander through castle rooms, past a scary swamp and spider’s lair and culminated in a trip to a spine-tingling graveyard from where the Skeleton Ball spooky daytime and evening party awaited fright-fans young and old. Exclusive haunted castle tours including a horrifying trip to the Castle Dungeon where a scary Séance was played out in the Gaol. Gory fictional history and gruesome tales inside the Castle Dungeon attraction included Henry’s revenge against the murderers of his wife 100 years previous. Now the beheaded remains of six bodies have been unearthed inside the castle grounds prompting the ghost of Henry to make a haunting return. Autumn/Winter 2014
Meanwhile in the ghost walk attraction Séance in the Gaol the castle’s reputation as a haunted building brought imaginations to life as the ghost of Mary Black joined scare-seekers on route through the different room scenes. The opening video provided the back-story for the Séance scare zone and a guided tour through corresponding rooms featured scenes from the film. Up a flight of stairs and the scare attraction included plenty of ghostly thumps on doors, rattling door handles, scenes of pitch darkness and effective spooky sound effects that sent shivers down the spine. Visit www.warwick-castle.com for details about Warwick Castle’s Halloween events for 2014. 17
SI NI STER
SHOWCASE
SMOKE AND MIRRORS THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF ALTON TOWERS by Michael Eley
When the UK theme park Alton Towers invested millions of pounds in their ground-breaking Haunted House, a new era of dark rides was born. The spectacular attraction amazed and spellbound theme park enthusiasts and dark ride fans for many years, with its breath-taking illusions and state-of-the-art technology. The original concept was retired in 2002 to make way for the interactive zombie blaster, Duel. However, the Haunted House left a lasting impression on some of those intrepid riders who braved the Poltergeist Room and were scared witless by the Grand Hallway’s grinning demon. Michael P Eley was one of those riders. Through the pages of this book he guides you back into the darkness, offering behind-the-scenes insights into the making of creator John Wardley’s ‘laff in the dark’ attraction, as well as serving up a brief history of dark rides and haunted houses. We received an advance copy of this book at Scareworld and wasted no time in plunging into the fascinating world of what is, for many, the most elaborate haunted dark ride the UK has ever given the world.
author to both chronicle and record the history of Alton Towers’ dark ride. Michael Eley is fascinated with the attraction. He has spent countless hours updating his website devoted to the same, and even has a Haunted House inspired room in his home. Perhaps readers would like to see a feature on this in a future issue of Scareworld? For the theme park buff, trainee ride designer or scare entertainment enthusiast Michael’s book deserves a place on your bookshelf. Written in a friendly and readable style ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ is an excellent record of the progression from traditional ‘ghost train’ to once state-of-the art interactive adventure. Whether you love the new version of ‘Duel’ or long for the old Haunted House, be sure to put Smoke & Mirrors on your Christmas list this year. It is available from www.amazon.co.uk
Beginning with a foreword by renowned theme park attraction design John Wardley, the book places the reader in The Haunted House’s past – looking in detail at concepts and plans which might have made it into the attraction, but never saw the (dark) of day. Using never before seen plans and photographs, the book is a testament to the dedication of the 18
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
Life as a Scareactor
As darker nights begin to draw in, there’s a distinct smokey nip in the air... Dusky evening skies smoulder into inky twilight, burnt orange leaves crackle and fall to the ground. Everything becomes slower, calmer, more beautiful. It is the time of the year when we all dress a little warmer, wrap up a little tighter and stay in a little longer. Well, most of us. Not all of us. There is a small but distinctly unhinged creative of individuals who are, at this time of year awakened out of their seemingly monotone regularities and drawn together through a mutual love and passion for one thing; scare acting. When the world around us is slowly drawing in for Winter, I along with my fellow ‘darklings’* am preparing for a new season of spine tingling excitement that will often push me to my absolute limits as a performer. Hello, my name is Jennifer Louise Williamson and I am a scareactor. It has been 2 weeks since my last performance and yes, I am already craving the freezing cold nights, hair that has been backcombed beyond repair, the permanent stench of coffee from the gooey and sticky concoction that is homemade blood, and most of all, a continuous loop of ‘Scream;Laugh;Scream; Laugh;Scream;Laugh’! Scareacting is without doubt, an unusual occupation and I’m often asked ‘How on earth do you even get in to it?’ The answer is: rebellious thrill seeking. As a former Disney performer, I 20
by Jenny Williamson
found myself craving something a little edgier, a little darker. Something that would provide a scaredy cat like me with an opportunity to face new challenges - one of them being alone in the dark, a long time fear of mine. I was first introduced to AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment as a guest at their 2011 Halloween attraction at Scare Kingdom Scream Park, Lancashire. Following a successful audition, I began rehearsals for the 2012 season. The rehearsal process for an attraction like Scare Kingdom Scream Park is an educating insight to the blood, sweat and tears (pun intended) shed by not just the actors and producers but the entire creative team behind AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. The moment you are welcomed into their world, the stench of passion hits you right between your bloodshot eyes. And what a world it is. Beautifully intricate costumes, eerie melodies, peculiar smells (‘Liquid Ass’ being my all time favourite) grotesque props and terrifyingly realistic latex heads are all the norm in the Scare Kingdom Scream Park green room. Actors, unrecognisable in full makeup and costume, rehearse loudly whilst producers frantically buzz around perfecting every detail for a flawless evening of terrifying delight. Aside from being part of such a unique industry with all its grandeur and spectacular visuals, the thing I love most about AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment is getting to work with such a diverse bunch of side-splittingly hilarious fruitcakes, who never fail to crease me with Autumn/Winter 2014
laughter, even after a potential week from hell at the ‘day job’. For me, it’s the people that make scareacting such an addiction. I have been fortunate enough to play a variety of characters during my time at Scare Kingdom Scream Park, from street theatre witches such as Alice Nutter, to the sexually grotesque Nurse Vyra Wart in the much acclaimed and controversial attraction, Psychomanteum. Each role is challenging in its own way, some are extremely physically demanding and others require you to visit dark places in your mind. Some require extensive script work, whilst others are completely unscripted, forcing you to rely on ad lib and quick wit. Regardless of my part, the one thing I crave is guest interaction. It is incredibly liberating scaring the shit out of people, and I have to say, I absolutely love it! Some of the reactions I have witnessed are priceless. I have seen and heard everything from ear piercing screams and desperate attempts to escape, to violent physical reactions including but not limited to; vomiting, fainting, hyperventilating, terror induced pee squirts, the projectile release of a number 2 and in some extreme circumstances by some seriously over excited gentlemen in Psychomanteum, raving erections that yes, are visible even in a very dark and smoky room!
went haywire as I gave the cue for a guest to enter my scene. I was completely unable to see the person approaching until he was 2 inches from my face... I screamed, he screamed and we scared the living hell out of one another, a memory that still makes me laugh now. However with the highs, come the lows and these often present themselves as guests who are determined not to enjoy their experience and who saunter towards you with a fixed look that says ‘Go on then, scare me’. Well I will always take that challenge and consider it a personal best when 6’’2 beefcakes scream like little bitches. That takes me to my happy place. And as our last victims leave the park and we begin to clear our attractions, I begin to assess the damage. Frozen feet? Check. Raspy voice? Check? Limbs aching with the fire of a thousand burning souls? Check. Yet all I crave is the following night, to hear the words that are a tinkling little melody to my sick and twisted ears: “All scareactors to attractions, Scare Kingdom Scream Park is now live”. And it’s showtime! *A term of endearment used by Lord Satan** when referring to actors and production team. **Lord Satan = the boss.
Tears, vomit and boners in check, my all time fave is when the screaming subsides and hysterical laughter ensues. It makes the freezing temperatures, long evenings and multiple bald spots caused by humongous clumps of blood caked hair being ripped out of my cranium during the post show groom, all worth it. Well, almost. As a scareactor, it is important to stay in character and in control at all times, no matter what. Even when you trip and fall headfirst into an enormous ditch full of cow crap. In full costume. Directly next to a line of punters. Not my best moment but I maintained my French accent and seemed to provide a few minutes of comedy to the 20 or so people stood by. Occasionally, technical issues can also cause hiccups, as I experienced when a smoke machine Autumn/Winter 2014
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EVIL
INTERVIEW
r a e F f o s e Symphoni Chris Thomas
Scareworld caught up with American haunt HOW DI YOU GET INTO WRITING MUSIC FOR composer and accomplished movie score writer SCARE ATTRACTIONS? Chris Thomas, who recently scored the awardI took a visit to the nearby Los Angeles Haunted winning Manormortis UK scare attraction… Hayride, and was especially impressed with TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOU… their production. My only concern was the outdated and synthy track looping over the Since childhood, I’ve loved all things strange PA system. Their show was brilliant, and they and twisted. Halloween is my holy night. Alfred deserved better! I called to leave a few musical Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman, and Nino Rota were my prophets. I grew up writing sinister music for school productions like Arsenic and Old Lace or Jekyl and Hyde. Today, I am a film and TV composer in Los Angeles. Every October I visit around 25 local scare attractions. Now, I hope to provide music for all of them! CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL STYLE IN THE HAUNT WORLD? My most unique quality is in how I collaborate with haunters. As a film composer, I see a piece of film and tailor music to its needs. For haunters, I compose brand-new, customtailored soundtracks written specifically for their attractions. This includes making sure the music matches in style, visual and auditory depth, and seems to grow from the very scene before you. Its the same idea behind music being so crucial to cinema. The scene and the music must be one in the same! 22
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suggestions for next year, and was shocked when they called back and asked to “speak with the guy who called to complain about the music.” It turns out they were artistically concerned about getting the music right. We met briefly to talk music, and that meeting turned into a plan for a 30-minute original score. They gave me permission to really explore the depths of how music can be used to create terror. Every year we continue ever deeper into the horrible, unholy depths of sound and music. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS INDUSTRY? My passion for scare attractions and my musical life suddenly collided. My career in film music supplies me with Hollywood-scale musical resources and talent that I put to work on scare attractions. My motivations also stem from creative concerns. We have all experienced attractions that spare no expense to provide the highest quality - expensive lighting, robotic monsters, numerous actors, amazing costumes and prosthetics. Suddenly, the theme song from Halloween comes on over your high-end speaker installation. Just like that (poof!), your mind is out of the attraction and wanders off to the movie. How about cheesy, outdated, synthy haunt music that has no business in that location? You’ve undermined your hard work
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again. This is what I saw going on everywhere! I join the haunting community with hopes of inciting a break from stagnant music. This is my mission. Haunters now bring Hollywood-grade, cinematic production to scare attractions. Yet music lags far behind. Music should match the level of artistic quality now expected in every aspect of scare productions. I’m not saying that I will be the definitive voice in this matter, but I aim to make music a relevant conversation among all quality haunters out there. I want haunters to expect the most from their music! They truly deserve better!! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED FOR HALLOWEEN? This Halloween is full of fun and diverse music. Some music will be voices of lost, ghostly children in a dark forest. Others will be epic orchestra and choir hellscapes for an apocalypse. What excites me the most is that my plate is not yet full. I hope more haunters come forward to bring new and unexpected challenges. At the moment, I just bought some guitars and violins to punch holes through and transform into grotesque, sound-making creatures. I’m not sure what they will sound like when I’m through, but it will be horrible and surprising! Find out more about Chris by visiting his website at www.musicforhaunts.com
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T I L P S
Y T I L A N O S PER
LuciFEAR
l e H f o eTh Angel
LuciFEAR – The Angel of Hell, played by Simon Sutcliffe, has been the ‘spooksperson’ for AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment for the last three years. He has been featured on countless posters, websites and digital media productions. 2014 is his last year of service, as he will be replaced by the new ‘Minister of Fear’.
FIRSTLY PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO OUR READERS AND TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
bear my mark, the sigil of severance and totem of terror... WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB? I enjoy ensuring no one else enjoys anything, EVER. WHAT OTHER JOBS HAVE YOU HAD? I have no job, I have only a purpose, and it is dark. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SCARE?
I am the Lord of Darkness, Ripper of Dreams and Weaver of Nightmares. I am The Master of Fear and Supreme Architect of Evil, the voice in your head and the devil on your shoulder.
Every scare is memorable, I thrive on the screams of mortals.
I am the Reaper of souls and Tormenter of the Damned. Fear me, for I am Legion, resurrected from the pit of decay, and manifest in the world of mortal minions. I am Fear itself and known by many names...
Nothing, as the Angel of Hell I decide what scares you, nothing created has or will ever scare me.
In the dead of night, it is I who stands at your bedside and whispers twisted terrors into your soul, and it is I who brings the screams of horror, the madness and the mayhem, the carnage and the chaos. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE SCARE BUSINESS? Scare is my business, as the Lord of Darkness I was born into evil and my destiny is to work at creating the world of Fear in everyone. Within the boundless catacombs beneath the Terrortower I create your worst fears, and give them life. King of phobia and bringer of tears it is I, LuciFEAR, who commands you to
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WHAT SCARES YOU?
WHICH SCARE ATTRACTIONS HAVE YOU VISITED, EITHER IN THE UK OR FURTHER AFIELD? WHICH ARE YOUR FAVOURITES AND WHY? Scare Kingdom Scream Park is my domain and the only real evil is there, although I do place my mark on all AtmosFEAR! Scare entertainment’s scare attractions in one way or another. WHICH TWO PEOPLE, FROM FACT OR FICTION, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU INVITE TO DINNER, AND WHY? Aleister Crowley – The Great Beast. He was a great mimic and shadow of myself. The other, Anton Szandor Lavey, the self-proclaimed King of the Church of Satan. His heart was in the right place.
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WHAT IS YOUR MOST ANNOYING HABIT? By being the voice in your head, I am continuously annoying and ever present. Other than that I don’t do ironing. WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? Time is a construct of your world, in my world there is no time, only fear. HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN? By delivering my daemons, by creating the chaos and by attraction hoards of mortal minions to my scare attractions, where their screams of terror fill my empty soul with pleasure. TELL US A DEEP DARK SECRET ABOUT YOURSELF! My secrets are not for your ears… WHAT IS COMING UP NEXT FOR YOU? My mission to terrify the mortal world is eternal and never ends. For 2015 I have dreamt up a twisted collection of scare experiences, including one that I am particularly looking forward to, Snuffhouse…
Simon Sutcliffe
FIRSTLY PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO OUR READERS AND TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. I am Simon Sutcliffe and I am the Director of Creative Realisation for AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. Basically it’s my job to make real the sets and props that our imagineering team conjure up. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE SCARE BUSINESS? Strangely my wife was looking at acting jobs for me and found that AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment were auditioning. I applied and from that day been a part of the team. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB? For me, scaring people and seeing for that brief millisecond the person behind what they portray outwardly! People always act differently around others, their mum, their grandma, their friends, but by scaring them they will react naturally without cover. That’s what I like to see. WHAT OTHER JOBS HAVE YOU HAD? There is no part of the theatre I have not worked in from selling ice-cream at intervals in a show to Stage Manager and Director. I have owned my own cafe and alternative clothing shop. I now scare people for my own amusement. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SCARE? I once jumped out on a couple of women about to enter the toilet area with a prop shotgun. I screamed, they screamed and one of the women claimed she no longer needed the toilet anymore as she has already wet herself! She was hysterically laughing as the announced this and had to walk away so I did not laugh in front of them. WHAT SCARES YOU? I have long had a fear of burning alive! I don’t know why I have never been burned as a child... Strange that I now perform as a fire breather.
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WHICH SCARE ATTRACTIONS HAVE YOU VISITED, EITHER IN THE UK OR FURTHER AFIELD? WHICH ARE YOUR FAVOURITES AND WHY? I haven’t really visited any scare attractions in the past 10 years or so other than the ones I have performed in. I visited The London Dungeon a very long time ago, but don’t really remember much of it now. WHICH TWO PEOPLE, FROM FACT OR FICTION, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU INVITE TO DINNER, AND WHY? How very philosophical! I suppose it would have to be Jim Henson and Guillermo del Toro. I would just like to talk about their creature work and see if I could get a part in one of Guillermo’s films as some strange being! WHAT IS YOUR MOST ANNOYING HABIT? Most annoying habbit? Wow...........erm. Well I made the mistake of asking my wife to help me answer this. After a lengthy character assassination she... we... came to the conclusion it was, I leave cotton buds everywhere!... apparently. WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? I have little ‘spare time’ but when I do I usually make things, wooden wands or pagan charms, scenery for war-gaming clubs, chainmail armour and jewelry. HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN? I celebrate Halloween by working at Scare Kingdom Scream Park. We used to have a big party at home and scare the children of the area silly but now I just do it else were and get paid for it. TELL US A DEEP DARK SECRET ABOUT YOURSELF! Ooooh and you haven’t even bought me dinner yet! I am very good at keeping secrets..... shhhh, tell no-one. WHAT IS COMING UP NEXT FOR YOU? Well I’m currently performing as Abraham Cleaver in Horror Camp LIVE!
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
Tul eys ShocktoberScream Fest Park
by Stuart Beare
Background
US Connection
In 1995 an event called The Pumpkin Festival was created in order to market the farm’s pumpkin crop to a public that didn’t know that they even wanted them! The events instant success was astonishing and the popularity of the season quickly developed as people embraced the idea of the fun, novelty and scares of the Halloween season.
In the last 15 years Stuart has made a further 45 trips to the US and Canada to attend conferences, tours and road trips to gain further insights and invaluable experience into the US Fall Festival and Haunted House industries.
In 1994 a fruit farm in West Sussex grew some pumpkins. Growing them wasn’t a problem but selling them was! At the time Halloween wasn’t celebrated in the UK and “that’s American isn’t it?” was a regular reaction to the idea. It was a time before the web, and way before social media had made the world a village.
Tulleys first haunted house attraction opened in 1997 in an old converted barn, in its first season the very basic scare attraction took more revenue than the pumpkin sales. The penny had dropped that Halloween and the entertainment surrounding this traditional US holiday season might just take off in the UK. The first Harry Potter book was also published in 1997 and this is widely attributed to making Halloween a popular season in the British calendar. 28
In 1998 Tulleys Farm owner Stuart Beare made a trip to an Agri-tourism conference in the US that was business changing. The friends, insights and connections made opened up a vision for the future that fast tracked the development of Tulleys Farm into the seasonal entertainment venue that is has now become.
Growth
From the late nineties into the early noughties Tulleys Halloween event grew steadily by a few thousand visitors each year, and in 2002 the early version of the iconic Haunted Hayride was introduced, and in 2005 The Field of Screams. In 2009 two more scare attractions were introduced, It’s Curtains, a disorientation clown maze and The Cellar, the flagship impact scare maze. 2009 was the year that Tulleys Halloween event became Shocktober Fest Scream Park and professional actors and directors were employed to ensure the best quality scare entertainment possible. Autumn/Winter 2014
Scream Park
Since the introduction of Shocktober Fest, the event has gone from strength to strength and has seen a number of changes, not least the original week-long event now runs for the whole month of October. Hell-ements, the world’s first hooded maze was introduced in 2011 and The Field of Screams has appeared in a number of different guises and themes. Every attraction has one or two small or large modifications each year. Each attraction contrasts with the next and offers a range of different styles of scare to a diverse audience. Six different attractions is quite a lot to see in one evening visit, but the Haunts alone do not make the festival. They create the right atmosphere with bonfires, food courts, fairground rides and a horde of street theatre performers and speciality acts. Last year a stage with live music was introduced to add to the festival feel, and for the last two years world record attempts have gathered large groups of zombies and vampires to the farm. All this makes sure that those who may be a little uneasy and don’t wish to visit every Haunt can still have a fun filled evening. But Shocktober Fest does not stand alone, the daytime event, Spooktober Fest, for younger visitors offers a similar festival feel but with fewer attractions (just two) but more fun shows, storytelling, competitions and puppets! Over the years the younger visitors have grown with Tulleys’ event and graduated from the daytime to the night time event.
Success
In 2013 51,000 people visited Shocktober Fest. As well as new visitors, many return year upon year, including a whole spate of celebrity guests who enjoy a great scare! Stuart believes that the secret of this success is a professional and committed team who believe in and care about the event. From the operational team to the technicians, builders, actors, managers, PR, catering, security and medical, they are a family. “We believe in bringing people together,” says Stuart, “Nothing unites people more than being scared silly and screaming together!” Autumn/Winter 2014
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WORLD By Neil Hodkinson As darkness descends over Universal studios Orlando Florida this usually family themed park which is home to such characters as the Simpsons , Woody woodpecker and Harry Potter has something more sinister and macabre lurching in the shadows because between the months of September and October Universal studios host’s Its annual event Halloween horror nights. The event which will celebrate its twenty fourth year this year. It started in 1991 under the name Fright nights and ran for three nights and based the event around Its familiar and Iconic Universal monsters characters such as the wolf man ,Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula. The event only had one haunted maze which was called the dungeon of terror and it wasn’t until 1992 that Universal studios changed the name to Halloween horror nights and also upped the quantity of the mazes which has risen in the years to eight haunted mazes. The events themselves are themed and 30
sometimes involve what Universal studios call an Icon who will front the seventeen as the maniacal Jack the clown who hosted Halloween Horror Nights 17 with his carnival of carnage and also The Caretaker Dr. Albert Caine who will would do an autopsy on you whether you were dead or alive. These characters usually appear in TV commercials, on memorabilia and even have a haunted maze of their own or even a stage show which Jack the clown even had at Halloween horror nights 17 to just show how popular some of these characters have become. Halloween horror nights have brought some of horror’s most Iconic characters and locations from film to life in there mazes, from the boiler room of a Nightmare on Elm street to the slaughtered lamb pub from American werewolf in London to the cabin in the Evil Dead showing so such amazing detail that you believe your submerged in that very world as the screams of the victims, sorry visitors will attest to .The American werewolf in London maze for example which starred at Halloween horror nights in 2013 was overseen by the director of the American werewolf in London film himself Mr. John Landis to make sure every detail of the film was brought to life an example of this is when John Landis told Autumn/Winter 2014
Universal that in the adult cinema scene they recreated that they had to have the movie See you next Wednesday playing just as It was in the film ( the film was played but a blurred out version due to younger event goers ) although you probably wouldn’t notice as you’re too busy being pounced on by the undead attendees! The event uses some of the biggest names and biggest Intellectual properties In the business with the hit TV show ‘The Walking Dead’ being home to Halloween horror nights for the past two years and the park was used to give event goers what Universal studios called The walking dead experience by not having any set scare zones but have Walkers (aka Zombies) roam the park freely through alleyways into stores and even eating areas leaving no place safe. In recent years they have had static scare zones appear around the park each individually themed from acid assault In which they used projection tricks to make it look like buildings were crumbling in front of you to a twisted version of Alice in wonderland with a demoted Alice waiting to slice you waiting to slice you with her carving knife!!. Halloween horror nights is not just about movie house’s they have recently in 2012 and 2013 been home to the video game franchise’s Silent Hill and Resident Evil which have been popular with the younger event goers. Some of Halloween horror nights best mazes have been the original content mazes such as Dead End and Winters night which thrown you into surroundings such as a poltergeist infested haunted house and a cold snow surrounded macabre cemetery. Universal have even started a new franchise for Halloween horror nights which is called Urban legends in which each year the will take a well-known Legend and put their very own spin on it and let their art and design team bring it to life, in 2013 the franchise was born with the maze la Llorona which was based on the Mexican legend of the weeping woman who drowns her two children in order to stay with the man she loves, the extent of this attraction even went as far as having the children floating motionless in a lake in one scene which was not for the faint hearted. Autumn/Winter 2014
Halloween horror nights also has two live shows each year one of which is always the Bill n Ted live Halloween adventure (based on the characters from the hit film Bill n Ted excellent adventures) the show usually centres around slapstick tongue in cheek satire mocking popular shows and movies that are popular that year. The show has featured at Halloween horror nights since 1992 becoming a prominent feature of the event. The other shows have varied over the years from gruesome magic shows to freak acts but the most notable show which will be returned again this year is the amazing Rocky Horror Picture Show. The show is thirty minutes long and includes all the famous scenes such as the ballroom time-warp scene and as proved to a massive fan favourite. So what does the twenty forth Halloween Horror Nights hold in store for us this year you may be asking... well Universal studios have announced that AMC’s The Walking Dad will return for its third year In a maze which Universal studios are calling the biggest in its history. The maze will be home to double the amount of scareactors ever used in a maze before and will take you on the journey of season 4 of the hit TV show where you will start in the prison where the infection spread and then through such places as the country club which was overrun by walkers (zombies) to the big spot location with the crashed helicopter leading you to the finale at Terminus. The rest of the event is yet to be announced but be sure to note that Universal studios will bring some of Horrors past and present Iconic shows and films to life at this year’s 24th Halloween Horror Nights.
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
by Jason Karl
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The hugely popular ‘Dungeons’ brand, owned by Merlin Entertainments, recently crossed the pond to open the first Dungeon in the USA. Set in the historic district of San Francisco, The San Francisco Dungeon blends traditional Dungeon staples (autopsy/boat ride etc.) with some new effects and scenes. We caught up with Dungeon Master ADREA GIBBS to delve into the dungeon darkness… SCAREWORLD - FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW, WHAT IS THE SAN FRANCISCO DUNGEON? Adrea - The San Francisco Dungeon is a journey that transports guests from the earliest days of the California Gold Rush in 1849 to the Alcatraz of 1907 when it was a military prison, before becoming a Federal Penitentiary. The authentic stories of the San Francisco Bay Area’s dark past are told by actors through gripping storytelling in 360 degree settings that have the look, feel, even smell, of yesteryear. Infamous characters from early San Francisco, most of whom are based on real individuals or are amalgamations based on research of certain characters that have remained nameless but are imbedded in the regional history through their deeds, send you deeper and deeper into The Dungeon on this most curious of history lessons. Being scared has never been so much fun! SCAREWORLD - THIS IS THE FIRST TIME MERLIN HAS OPENED A ‘DUNGEON’ IN AMERICA, HOW DO YOU THINK THE CONCEPT WILL TRANSLATE TO AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE? Adrea - I can honestly think Americans will love it, but it can be very challenging to describe. Already we have been getting rave reviews from those who have gone through the attraction. There are live actors telling these amazing, gripping stories of the old San Francisco Bay Area from 1848 through 1907 in a 360 degree environment with sounds and smells that place you right in the centre of the tale. The stories are dark, but authentic and in itself, has a great appeal. It is really something you have to experience. SCAREWORLD - DO YOU THINK MORE ‘DUNGEONS’ MAY OPEN IN AMERICA? Adrea - I believe this will have a huge appeal to American audiences. While America a relatively young country by comparison to much of the world, we do have great stories to share about some of the horrible parts of our rich history. One of our cornerstones is that the history of any story be at least 100 years old so cities like Boston, New York, Chicago, Autumn/Winter 2014
New Orleans are just a few of the places that a Dungeon could very easily call home. SCAREWORLD - HOW DOES THIS DUNGEON DIFFER FROM ITS EUROPEAN COUSINS? Adrea - The wonderful thing about all the Dungeons is that they are regionally specific. The London Dungeon is very different from The Blackpool Dungeon or The York Dungeon so even though they are all in the United Kingdom, the experiences are very different because the tales are taken from that area. For example, The London Dungeon has Jack the Ripper, but The York Dungeon has notorious highwayman Dick Turpin. And while Sawney Bean is serving up pickled humans in Edinburgh, Miss Piggott in San Francisco is setting folks up with a “Miss Piggott Special” that is sure to get you shanghaied. It is all about how each story keeps you on a knife’s edge, nervous and laughing at the same time. SCAREWORLD - DUNGEON’S MIX FACT AND FANTASY TO BRING STORIES TO LIFE, SO WHICH STORIES AND CHARACTERS WILL WE MEET IN THE SAN FRANCISCO DUNGEON? Adrea - Guests will meet the likes of Colonel Jack Gambler or Madame Jules Simon, notorious confidence artists, Sam Roberts or one of his senior crew members, the infamous leader of the “The San Francisco Society of Regulators,” also known as “The Hounds,” Nikko, a slave runner, Scabby, ratcatcher and plague specialist, an Alcatraz guard who shares the mysterious story of Private Matthew Hayland in the time before it became a Federal Penitentiary and a couple more unexpected characters….but I don’t want to give it all away. The thing that is most important to remember about these shady rascals is they are either based upon real individuals or amalgamations of figures that were identified but remained nameless. It is all about sinking our teeth into the local culture and bringing it to life. SCAREWORLD - THE SAN FRANCISCO DUNGEON HAS WORKED WITH SEVERAL LOCAL SUPPLIERS TO BRING THE ATTRACTION TO LIFE, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT ASPECTS YOU USED LOCAL TALENT TO CREATE? Adrea - There are two that come right to the forefront, Daniels Woodland and Wee Scotty. Daniels Woodland has done the theming in The San Francisco Dungeon and it is spectacular. The wood that is the foundation of many of our scenes is all reclaimed, the props harken back to days gone by, and it sets up each and every scene the moment you walk in. They are 33
located down in Paso Robles, California. They are also featured on Animal Planet’s “Redwood Kings,” series and the film crew was up here shooting for one of their upcoming episodes in the new season. Very exciting. We are also working with Wee Scotty and owner Lynne Gallagher who took the original designs for our costumes and brought them to life. She spent copious hours researching fabrics and designs, buttons and props, and the results are amazing. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the organizations that helped us with our rat colony. All of our rats have come to us through the help of three Bay Area rat rescue organizations. Debra Mendelsohn, of The Animal Care and Adoption Network, Tahna Meyers of Rattie Rats, and our rat champion, Jennifer Paz of Coastside Cavy, who fostered all sixteen of our rescues to create an amazing colony. We are very fortunate to have worked, and continue to work, with such great people. SCAREWORLD - THE CONCEPT OF ‘HAUNTED ATTRACTIONS’ IS WELL ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA, HOW CLOSE IS THE DUNGEON TO THESE TYPE OF ATTRACTIONS? Adrea - Our attraction is something different, in fact, we don’t refer to ourselves as “haunted” at all. We are definitely scary fun, but our scares come out of our unique combination of sets, sounds, special effects, costumes, lighting, and most of all, our actors who breathe life into the experience. We are story-based, steeped in dark Bay Area history from 1848 to 1907. We have our surprises, our startles, our scares, and our laughs, but we are much closer to theatre.
SCAREWORLD - WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE TO OPERATE SEASONAL EVENTS, SUCH AS HALLOWEEN AND CHRISTMAS AT THE DUNGEON? Adrea - We are in the throes of preparing for the forthcoming holidays. No details to share yet, but I can tell you it will be fun! SCAREWORLD - THE DUNGEON INCLUDES A BOAT RIDE, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT PART OF THE EXPERIENCE? Adrea - The boat ride is just one of our many scenes that tells the tale of when people were shanghaied in San Francisco from the Barbary Coast. When sailors came into the Bay, many of them jumped ship for their own chance to find gold. Captains needed crews to continue their work, particularly as it pertained to travel to the Far East, and the early entrepreneurs of the city found a way to capitalize on unsuspecting folks who suddenly found themselves captive on a boat. It is, literally, a vehicle for storytelling. SCAREWORLD - WHAT IS THE SIZE OF THE DUNGEON, AND HOW MANY ‘SHOWS’ DOES IT INCLUDE? Adrea - We have nine shows and nine actors in The San Francisco Dungeon creating an experience in which guests are at the centre of the tales. The best part is with over 36 local, and I might add very talented, actors, every time you go through The San Francisco Dungeon your journey will differ. From the earliest days of the Gold Rush and Sutter’s Creek to the time before Alcatraz became a Federal Penitentiary guests will be part of the show for their 60 minutes sojourn through some of the region’s horrible history. Many thanks Adrea, for taking the time to speak to Scareworld Magazine for this interview. You can find full details of The San Francisco Dungeon at http://sanfrancisco.thedungeons. com/en/san-francisco/home/
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El Viejo Caser贸n
by Mark Lofthouse
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After an impressive life span of over 2 decades, ‘El Viejo Caserón’ (The Old Big House) at Parque de Atracciones Madrid is set to close its doors and transform into a newer, fresher scare attraction… With the huge success of their original attraction in the mid 1980’s in Buenos Airies - Argentina, Master Production Entertainment set off to dominate the permanent scare attraction industry for several years with their now mostly defunct, El Pasaje Del Terror franchise. Master Production Entertainment produced ‘Pasaje’ in over eight countries around the world, and in doing so created a new genre of entertainment. One of the earliest versions of Pasaje produced was El Viejo Caserón at Parque de Atracciones Theme Park, Madrid. El Viejo Caserón first opened in 1989, and was hugely popular, entertaining over 5000 guests per day. Guests flocked to the theme park to be terrified by such monstrosities as vampires, mad scientists, ghosts and the undead, all portrayed by live actors in theatrical settings, and largely inspired by horror movies. This new, and live,
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form of entertainment, placed guests on a journey through darkened corridors to come face to face with the scariest characters from their wildest nightmares. For over 20 years, El Viejo Caserón remained one of the highlights of the park, and was one of the most popular attractions. The attraction featured an impressive number of scenes and 12 live performers as guests were invited to take a 10 minute journey into terror. It is true that all good things must come to an end, and with the end of the 2014 season comes the end of El Viejo Caserón. Parque de Atracciones have given exclusive details to Scareworld Magazine that they are to close the current attraction and replace it with a newer, better, scarier attraction. Plans and details are being kept well under wraps, but what is known is that the attraction will be open for the start of the Halloween event at the park and will join the list of many other scary features. You can find more details of the new attraction at http://parquedeatracciones.es/espectaculos/elviejo-caseron
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BeyoBndlackout WORLD
Exploring Full Contact Haunts
by PH ADOREART – Scareworld US Correspondent
Horror needs a gimmick or it just won’t work. In this context I’m echoing horror legend William Castle.
It seems as if the scare industry is evolving, one can’t help but think that we’re really just adjusting to what the market will bear. We’re living in a post 9-11 world. Zombies run, vampires sparkle and nothing is what it seems. We either take things to their highest extremes or reduce them to….Well, sparkly skinned bloodsucking boy band members…. Scare attractions are no different. After years of attractions in the US and around the world absorbing the culture they were brought up in and inspired by, things were getting as stale as the air in a crypt. For some, Mutant Hillbilly’s and Killer Clowns are going the way of Mummies and Frankenstein’s Monster. But, it’s more because of how our attitudes evolve as a society as to what is scary and what is just a cheesy prop at a seasonal Halloween shop. Pressure was building and coming to a big, red head. We needed a change and we got it. Throughout the US and abroad, new attractions are opening up. Branded as “Full Contact” these shows offer a more “mature” look and feel to the usual haunt and while many within the industry wish and believe this trend would and should go away; right now, we’re going to avoid the politics and focus on the fun, because that’s what this is all about. For the duration of this article, we’re going to explore the creativity and diversity of some attractions that offer this slice of creepy horror.
CHAMBERS OF HORROR
Atlanta, Georgia
Hell is real and it’s in the Peach state. Chambers of Horror is heavily adult themed attraction and is not at all for casual haunt-goers. If you want to
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see zombies and killer clowns, go somewhere else and stay there! CoH takes horror to an all new immersive level with this sly 6,000 sqft attraction set behind a popular nightclub. Tightly packed and all together one of America’s most disturbing attractions; Chambers of Horror has something to offend everyone and maybe even make a few sick ones smile. If you’re a fan of misandry, you may enjoy seeing male genitalia being severed off but don’t wear your best outfits ladies, that rubber wiener will start spraying blood all over those who attend so, leave your prized Lilith Fair shirt at home. It just gets worse from there I’m told by the show’s curator, Lucas Godfrey who is a horror film buff and doesn’t mind showing it. Godfrey’s themes seem to be directly lifted from the most twisted horror films he can find and that makes sense as he’s worked in the horror film industry and helps run the Buried Alive Horror Film Fest year round. Godfrey claims that the attraction “differs from most other haunted houses in that it is truly like being fully immersed in a sick and twisted horror movie” Godfrey also tells me the sets are designed by TV and film professionals, adding a “very realistic feel to the show”. Their scares and interactions with consumers are nothing short of a live retelling of Faces of Death and Eli Roth’s Hostel films…By the looks of it, there is some Mad Max post apocalyptic emphasis in their also, which is pretty insane and all out terrifying when given a thought. Now, you’re probably saying to yourself…”This attraction takes place in the Bible belt, how can they get away with such acts of blatant terror?” Well, let’s ask Godfrey himself “We have a very unique situation at our attraction. We have a great relationship with the city, the music venue we are partnered with, our fire marshals, police, and being in the very open-minded downtown Atlanta. Without all of this we would never get away with what we do. “
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Despite that, Chambers of Horror is met with mixed reviews and upon reading a few of the more hate filled ones, their reception with fans who I like to call “Those Who Get It” are favourable to say the least. NYCTOPHOBIA Anywhere NY You are probably confused by now, Anywhere NY? “That doesn’t make sense at all” you’re telling yourself. You’re wrong. You’ve grown up to believe that a scare attraction needs a brick and mortar building to support it. That there can be nothing without walls. You’re wrong again. What started like any other attraction has skillfully evolved into one of NY’s best interactive haunts and it probably has the better of the attraction names in the state. I’m talking about Nyctophobia. No longer using the term “haunted house”, Nyctophobia is now more of a promenade theater event. It has a story line you must follow, actions you must complete-at least that was 2013 and 2012’s show. Who knows what Eric Striffler, Nyctophobia’s creator, has in store for the few who get to see it and it is a FEW. We’re not talking people conga lining through hallways and scares. Nyctophobia is a timed event so the throughput is really low and the ticket price higher than most but, it is the experience you pay for. Chatting with Striffler about his show is always a pleasure because it will never-not be interesting. When asked to explain Nyctophobia he quickly responded “It is an experience that changes completely every year in every way; story, location, scares, etc. It mixes classic elements from existing haunted attractions with experimental new ideas that sometimes work and sometimes don’t, but we like to take risks. We expect our guests to be risk takers as well. We don’t want them to know exactly what to expect, and we don’t quite know what to expect from them, so it’s a very exciting experience for all involved.” For the last two years Nyctophobia has left the walls behind and broke into the real world, involving storylines like paranormal investigations, solving the mystery of who killed the rich girl, time travel and government experimentation wrapped up in ghost stories and done craft fully through a scavenger hunt. Prior to storyline, Nyctophobia was tad more visceral with their scares, locking people up in coffins, putting them in the back of a would be “rape van” and driving them off into a location to where the attraction was, Striffler says “People had to make a decision whether or not they could trust us, and apparently all of them did” Nycto was probably one of the first full contact shows on Long Island and it was only the first year
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they advertised themselves as such. Striffler states “After that it just felt expected, so we haven’t relied on coming into contact with guests to sell the event. When attending Nyctophobia, it should be expected that you will be immersed to the point of contact if necessary. No barriers between you and the actors.” So, don’t expect Nyctophobia to sell the show on being full contact to get you in the door. In fact, Striffler has a few words to say about full-contact shows in general “I no longer think it matters whether or not a haunt touches their guests. If you can scare the shit out of me or give me an incredible experience without ever coming close to me, more power to you. If physical contact works into the story that we create then we’ll touch you, but if not we won’t touch you just for the sake of it. The “full contact” trend has already grown enough to no longer be unique, which is a good thing because it places less importance on the contact and more on the content. When every haunt is eventually “full contact” they’ll have to work harder in other areas to stand out, and that just means there will be more exciting more innovations. Couldn’t agree with you more, Eric, couldn’t agree more.
D E A D OF N I G H T
Hauppauge NY
What started off as a joke has now grown into a well anticipated event for 2014. No, Dead of Night is not a haunted attraction at all but it does take place in one and it is still haunting to go through. Produced by Chamber of Horrors NY, Dead of Night is an interactive play set within the last two operating nights of Chamber of Horrors NY’s 15 sqft scare attraction located in the suburban Hell known as Hauppauge NY. Dead of Night is meant to satirize the full contact trend as well the commonalities found in the haunted attraction industry. It has a loose story that follows a cult Hell-bent on taking over the world and each year the theme reflects a piece of that esoteric story.
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2013 was Dead of Night’s madden voyage and while many thought it would strike an iceberg and sink, it did the opposite pulling in consumer support in high numbers and for only two nights; needless to say, the producers were as happy as the guests who came to experience the show. Focusing more on what scares people who expect everything you throw at them during a haunt season, Dead of Night’s creator Will Puntarich had this to say “Haunting will always be fun. I will always love doing it and being part of the scare. It is a big inside joke. We didn’t want to give away the whole picture with our advertising so we kept it minimal. Giving people hints here and there. We considered the story something like a “What If?” tale. What if everything went wrong at a scare attraction and you were separated from the people you came there with, how would you get through it not knowing anyone one you were with and knowing there was no longer a barrier between you and what’s hiding in the dark?.” Dead of Night is all about surprise and creativity. Pulling inspiration from the most unlikely of places, government conspiracies, real world human atrocities and film; Dead of Night was a cocktail of fear, social commentary and S&M. “What separated Dead of Night from other shows of that nature was mostly how people entered the attraction. We went for a very Orwellian approach, almost like brainwashing-and we did just that! You were bombarded with droning sounds and orders carefully written to hide the iron handed slaps to the face we were putting out.” According to Will “the entrance and line to an attraction is as important as the entirety of the show” When entering Dead of Night you were asked for your “papers” but in a polite fashion, asked to sign a waiver exempting the owners from any liability if you were traumatized by what went on inside. Once in, you’re greeted by someone who slaps duct tape over your mouth and draws a number which is how you’ll be chosen. You’re separated immediately from your friends and placed in numbered rows. Instructed by various forms of propaganda to stay within your row, watch the screen, don’t speak and most of all “We’re here to protect you”. On screen grainy imagery of police brutality, secret society references superimposed over video of children playing, families being together and just happy moments that contradict what is really going on. “This part was important. It is the set up for the next act” said Will. While you’re paying attention to the screen, the sound cuts out and is replaced with an air raid siren, unsuspecting doors swing open and outcome jump suited men with guns and gasmasks, if this doesn’t sound crazy to you how about this “We were using misdirection here and though we knew the first round up was going to be the most jarring, we knew that overtime, every random person we took would be replaced by someone who hasn’t seen it yet. This was us telling a story about living in a police state mentality.
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Swarmed by warnings and empty promises by authority about buzzwords like protection, and safety; we’re really saying “Those who are here to protect you may not have your best interests at heart. This is an actual fear that a lot of people don’t think about but it is more likely a reality than a zombie outbreak. Be afraid of the government thug banging your door down and maybe not so much the Killer Clown”-Though we did have clowns when you got inside”. After your armed encounter you’re either getting your head bagged, dragged, body bagged or thrown into a casket and brought inside a dark room where you’ll face the unknown with three complete strangers “When you exit the roundup area you’re being kind of thrown into a world of depravity. It is complete fucking anarchy and all you have is a flash light and three people you’ve never met-Who can you trust? That is what this is all about. What is scarier, zombies and killer clowns or reality? Your pick.” This year Dead of Night is exploring their cult theme more with the concept of initiation. Be sure to check them out.
MCKAMEY MANOR
San Diego, California
Here we have a legend in full contact scare attractions and believe it or not, it is all done in the comfort of the owners home. Extreme haunting is a hobby for owner, Russ McKamey and he does it for a good cause too but, what goes in inside is anything but “good hearted” and much more sinister. With a slew of great reviews from those who attended the home haunt, we gather that this super “In your face”, three to four hour personalized experience in insanity isn’t anything short of the word. Guests are screened on their mental and psychical condition and there is an age restriction too. There are no safe words here either. Once
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you are in, you’re in and there is no getting out unless you’re actually dying…. McKamey Manor has no pathway and the experience is controlled but has variables depending on the audience. You’re separated, have no control over what happens to you during the three to four hour experience and if you’re a trouble maker, you get locked away in a meat locker or worse until the operators say you can leaveTHEN- They fill up whichever personal prison you’re in with spiders, snakes which we’re told are all part of the experience but at least you get fed a seven course dinner, right? NO. You’re going to indulge in eating many lil critters and grossness while you’re there. Now, remember…This home haunt is also full contact and it is more extreme than a lot of full contact shows but God Damn, do we love variety and here is what the owner, Russ McKamey has to say about being one of the few full contact shows in the states…” “McKamey Manor was always leading in this direction from the very beginning. We have always been pushing the limits in one way or another for years. Every year the audience demanded more and I felt it was our job to ramp up the experience year after year ... it’s been a logical natural progression. Trying to entertain the audience and give them those “what the heck” moments, becomes very challenging as the creator of the haunt. The audience nowadays is very sophisticated and it takes something special and unique to capture their attention. Doing the same thing year after year just won’t make the cut. This is particularly true for the fans of extreme haunting. Once they get a taste of this genuine excitement ... it’s very difficult for them to return to a basic “boo” haunt. This means we have our work cut out year after year to bring something new and special to the table. The main reason that we have gone in this direction is because it’s entertaining for all concerned. We have to be really motivated to put on such a large and demanding show. Something that requires my attention 24/7 - 365 days a year ... and all for free! Every actor knows the rush they get after they scare their first person. Think of the rush we receive bringing true terror and fear (in a controlled fashion) to our unique audience. If you think going “boo” is exciting ... just step in our shoes and witness extreme haunted house thrills. It’s pretty tough to go back to saying ‘boo. There is definitely a market for this ... rather being an extreme physical haunt such as ours, or a more theatrical experience such as Delusions.” Russ did go on to say that while they provide a quality full contact haunt experience, they’re not ever likely to go to the extremes of some which involve sexual themes and in his words “There is no place for that here”.
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I must give the guy credit. I’m not even a fan of nudity in horror movies. For McKamey Manor, the fun is in the scare and it is wholesome enough to where you just don’t need sex to sell it. Godspeed, Russ!
ALONE: AN EXISTENTIAL HAUNTING
Los Angeles, California
Not everyone is going in the same direction with their full contact attractions. Some are taking a different approach and using theatre to separate the experience from that of a traditional show. Alone is that kind of attraction and they’ve made a big splash in the industry’s over populated pool. Creator’s Devon Paulson and Lawrence T. Lewis are ALONE’s had this to say: “The main thing that sets ALONE apart from not just theater but also other new interactive horror-theater around is our eschewing anything narrative. Whereas in most forms of theater, horror or otherwise there is some sense of linear flow, in ALONE one moves and is moved through disparate spaces and experiences, each with a specific intent––to unnerve, discomfort, terrify, dislocate, keep one off-guard, etc.––but without a narrative apparatus for one’s logical brain to grasp onto and feel comfort within.” So in this sense, they operate a lot like a regular scare attraction via their randomness of scenes and experiences but that is where the comparison ends. “Two of the key things we try to make sure to do are to disorient our participants and to violate their personal space. One experience we created that very successfully achieved both of these was laying someone down in a bed in a very dark space. After a beat, an old man starts speaking. The participant quickly realizes that this creepy old man is lying in the bed right next to them. We heard time after time from our participants that this was indeed one of the most unnerving, and unexpected parts of the experience”. That is a terrifying concept. Laying about in a bed and you turn over or you hear or see someone beside you that wasn’t there before. It is something that I have felt myself. It is like catching something in the corner of your eye, the hair on your neck raises and the tingle of sudden fear… ALONE seems more and more about the human
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experience and simulating such instances referenced above over simple jump scares…Or does it? “In a classic type of haunted house the participant knows cognitively that they cannot be touched by the actors and so knows they are truly safe, even if they get startled from time to time by someone popping out. If they, however, know that the event is full contact then that feeling of safety has been removed; replaced with an unnerving allbets-are-off type feeling. Our approach was to explore the full range of contact. Anywhere from a soft (and possibly sensual) brush of a finger on someone’s neck, to an aggressive bear hug to take full control of their movements and push them into the direction we want them to go.” This is all done is a space of only 2,000 square feet…There is a lot happening in such a small space but each square foot is used to maximize the scare. Chock all we know now up with the fact you enter all by yourself and you have a recipe for cerebral horror and the creators like it that way. “There is a fine line we are always balancing when it comes to a full contact experience. We don’t like the fact that the full contact event falls into an “extreme” haunt category. And that these “extreme” events feel the need to keep getting more and more extreme. We want our event to be unnerving and weird and interesting and arty but not necessarily “extreme” just for the sake of being “extreme”. We use full contact for the element of surprise and to catch people off guard and make it frightening knowing that we can touch you and move you. We actively do not use gore or nudity in any regard; in fact, we define ourselves against it. We specifically push back on gore and other tropes of Halloween and the horror genre in the hopes of creating something new. So, it’s not important as a thing in and of itself but rather its part of a whole host of things that ALONE can say that we are not…and then begin building up what we are from there” I can appreciate what these guys are doing with their show. ALONE is old school fear with really cool packaging. If you’re ever in LA, check them out!
PROJECT: FEAR
Sheffield - UK (temporary) This feature has been a lot of one thing and not enough of another...And that other “thing” is scare attractions in the UK. Now, I’m a total anglophile and I’m pretty proud that I have English blood running through me. If it is British, it is OK with me. I’m a fan of Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Bottom(R.I.P Rikk Mayall) and a slew of amazing British Horror films from Hammer and more, imagine how happy this yank was to hear that the U.K had haunted...I mean scare attractions?! I was fucking enthralled. My American brain
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couldn’t even fathom that Halloween-I mean how we do it here in the states, had leaked over into the U.K but, I was wrong about that...I mean, what was I thinking? This is the U.K! They know horror better than a lot of people. I had the pleasure of learning about one show in particular too and that was Project: FEAR and I asked the curator of that show for some info and what I got back was something more frightening than I could have imagined or written myself so, I didn’t touch it because it was perfectly scary and to the point the way it already was.... Here is what Gary Crompton, curator of Project: Fear had to say: “Horror beyond everything else you have experienced in a scare attraction is promised to guests enduring GNG Entertainments’ ‘Project: FEAR’ attraction this weekend near Sheffield. But if you are expecting to be bought to your knees with fear, worry not... the attraction opened last night and is fun, freaky and fast, but won’t leave lasting scars... It’s always hard managing expectation based on your marketing strategy and delivering an experience which lives up to your promise, stays within the law, and pushes boundaries. Project: FEAR delivered some unpleasant content, but was mixed with a healthy dose of hilarity which makes it both a fun, and frightful, experience that will have you laughing as much as it does screaming. Guests enter the experience alone - a brave move as this severely hinders potential throughput, and therefore revenue, but money was not at the forefront of the creator’s minds when deciding to produce this attraction for them it was more about experimenting with new forms of scare. Prior to entry guests are given an escape word. Saying this word aloud in the attraction means the content will stop and you will be escorted out, but no-one last night was pushed far enough to say it, despite the ‘tortuous’ element at the beginning of the attraction. It was perhaps misplaced to put this element at the beginning of the show, as anyone saying the escape word will most likely say it during this scene, which would mean they would miss out on the second, more theatrical, part of the attraction, which would be a great shame as the scare actors and team behind the show have put a lot of effort into creating something new and different. Parallels to ‘Black Out Haunted House’ in the US, could be made, as it is clear the inspiration for the overall concept has come from here, but it’s unlikely any of Project: FEAR’s guests will have seen that show, and so no benchmark has been set in the UK for this style of horror experience. Themes include those of a sexual nature, and are dealt with in sensitive ways - both verbally and visually. The
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promised nudity is mild and quick, but the forceful physical nature of the navigation of the show is well executed, as is the use of a relatively small space in which several different ‘scenes’ play out. Guests expecting an experience similar to Alton Towers ‘Scarefest’ or a ‘Dungeon’ type experience will find the attraction very extreme, but hardened enthusiasts will find it less of a torture and more of a new and different way of presenting ‘scare’. Project: FEAR was great fun. It’s good to see new ideas being explored in the UK scare entertainment market, and the team behind the show is to be commended for producing something which I found entertaining, fun, freaky and clever.” When this British loving American gets the opportunity, you know where I’m going? Do I even have to elaborate on this?
PSYCHOMANTEUM
Scare Kingdom Scream Park – Permanent, open throughout the year on selected dates and Halloween season. This part of the feature is a lot of fun. Maybe it is because it sounds like a show I’d put on myself, it speaks to me or maybe it is the media storm that came with a complaint by a rape charity which I find hysterical-Not that I find rape hysterical or anything like that but, I do find peoples sensibilities to be more than humourous. What is Pyschomanteum? It isn’t really a scare attraction. It is indeed an experience though. For a 3 minute ordeal, it sure did raise a lot of press and concern. You’re on your own through this interactive horror stunt and it just gets worse (in a good way) from there. First thing you need to really know is that the show is 18+ and that should say a lot to you already. If you’re putting an age restriction on an attraction or event…You should expect it to be way different than anything you’ve normally went through. Once you’re in the show…You’re in it and I mean in it because you have to interact with where you are. Moving on your own through different parts of the attraction, you’re faced with themed rooms and themed situations like having a blood soaked nurse hood you, you’re crawling on all fours through tunnels and your face being shoved in a toilet. You’re followed by three characters through five Godless environments where the goal is make you feel disgusted, vulnerable and of course uncomfortable-Pretty much to scare the ever living piss out of you.
this to say: “Although the headlines over-stated the content of the attraction (it does not, and never will, feature any content related to ‘rape’ themes) it did not harm us in any way. When we decided to produce this attraction we knew that it may provoke a reaction, and the publicity we received greatly increased our attendance at Scare Kingdom Scream Park. We were ecstatic to see that the negative views of the minority helped to boost the positive opinion of the majority. During our rehearsal days we put five cast members from other scare attractions through Psychomanteum to eradicate any possible teething problems before opening; the reactions were absolutely hilarious. One of the females exited laughing, then after a few seconds, ran outside to be sick, the actual psychological effect of the attraction only hit her after she had time to react to it. From the generic screamers, criers, laughers through to cases of sickness, revulsion, total panic, utter shock and disorientation, every night brought new reactions. It was great fun to sit and watch. Plus there were those that didn’t manage to complete the experience, those people that said the ‘safe word’ ended up on our ‘Board of Shame’ for all to see”. Oh! The Board of Shame…This is pretty awesome. I can see a lot of show starting one of these of their own and why not? It adds to the vision of what we love anyway, scaring people so bad they cannot for the life of them take it! When leaving Psychomanteum, you can see at the Pyschobar, all the names of those who couldn’t muster the spit to finish the show. This proved to be a great media tool for the curators as like many young adults using social media, guests would start tagging their names and friends alike which created a proper buzz and over what? A name on a board. If you are wondering if Psychomanteum will return again, check out this little blurb from AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment’s Director of Imagineering - Mark Lofthouse: “Because the attraction has been a resounding success for the park, it will be back bigger and bolder with all new characters and content for 2014. We have already begun imagineering the second version of the attraction which we are currently calling ‘Psychomanteum – Deeper Treatment’, in which Doctor Goodkind will be performing more of his disgusting aversion therapies upon patients. And this time, ‘sausage’ can’t help you!”
There was a point where the media, doing what they do best, tried to spin the show into something it wasn’t and Mark Lofthouse, a mover and shaker at the attraction had
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F R IG H T F U L
FEATURE
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Forget the roses, chocolates, cards, and snuggles in front of the television. This Valentine’s day gaze into your partners eyes as they widen in fear, hold their hand as they squeeze it in terror and take a romantic candle lit walk through a house filled with vampires. Terror Attractions visited L’aMortis on the 14th of February to celebrate St. Valentines day in the most unconventional way. Inside L’aMortis- House of Darkness, vampires from around the world gather in celebration of ‘Lupercalia’. Greeted by Professor Vivian Van Helsing in the Great Hall of the house, we are given a candle and instructed not to drop it - a difficult task with hands akin to a pair of wet fish. However, the candle being our only source of light through the darkness, we managed to cling onto it tightly, very tightly. As a couple we venture forwards crawling through the brick fireplace, we find ourselves lost in the middle of this blood sucking festival without any garlic, or holy water - the only water around was the sweat dripping from our clammy hands. Complete darkness made it difficult for us to see where any predators were lurking, but that didn’t stop them from finding us. L’aMortis is a maze of elongated corridors, slanted rooms, crawl spaces and tight squeezes, all filled with scare after scare. There were so many jumps throughout the attraction it was hard to catch your breath. The scares came left right and centre in this attraction and some were very intense. On a couple of occasions we found ourselves almost dropping to the floor! Hesitating as we entered each room we found we were fighting with each other as to who would go first, and ended up clinging together stripped of any masculinity.
makeup was amazing, although some of it was lost in the darkness, all of it was very visual as expected from AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment attractions. The only criticism is that the final scene was quite anti- climatic in comparison to the extreme scares in the rest of the attraction, this can be narrowed down to a few points, either we are all so used of being chased out with a chainsaw, or there is something missing in the final room; the actor was high up on a platform, and it was something to “watch” rather than be scared of. However it’s fantastic for a theatrical attraction and that final scene is a small dent in what was again an amazing night of scares from AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment. So if you are the knight in shining armour, the damsel in distress, or even a bit of both, L’aMortis can guarantee you and your partner a Valentine’s Day to remember - but it’s not promising to get you laid.
A scene which we recall vividly was encountering an enormous, dominating 7ft tall creature, whose extremely long hooked hands flailed wildly attempting to reel us in. In a panic we attempted to get past him by adopting some weird squatting position and quickly flustered onwards like two terrified ducks. There seemed to be a lot of actors, all of them superb in their roles. It was difficult to tell how many but the amount of scares were fantastic. The costume and Autumn/Winter 2014
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I E M O H E THE IS WHER
T N U A H
Samedi Manor IS
by Jane Willis
In the southeast part of England lies a lovely little town called Calne. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty where you’ll find lush green landscapes, rolling hills, gardens filled with rosy flowers and the odd garden gnome. But wander down Northway and tucked away in the grounds of an old end-terraced house you’ll discover something quite different in comparison. For here lies the Samedi Manor yard haunt, owned and operated by the Trout family, which opens its doors every Halloween for loads of scary fun and chilling thrills.
It is a haunt that started out with a couple of cardboard tombstones on the front lawn as a Halloween thrill for their two ‘trick-or-treating’ young children. Dave later made a costume for a full head zombie mask son Jay had brought home and propped it in front of the make-shift graves. “I thought I’d done something novel and really cool,” said Dave, a mechanical engineer, “until I discovered internet forums and found that the USA haunters had been making them for years! “It was from here that the Samedi Manor haunt started.” Gothic and horror film fan Dave gradually transformed the family’s backyard into a Halloween haunt that annually attracts 100-plus scare-seekers. Baron Samedi Dave, the haunt’s creative director, said: “Samedi Manor is a yard haunt primarily designed for local people, so entry is free. “Our front yard is decorated as a creepy graveyard, with tombstones, pumpkins, black cats and some store bought decorations. It’s a creepy but not-so-scary area for the younger trick-or-treaters or those not brave enough to enter the main haunt. We have staff in costume out there, but no scares. “From the front yard, those brave enough can enter through the curtains into a dark alleyway between the two properties. “We often have a scare or two hidden down there to prepare for the main part of the haunt which people enter through a door at the end of the alleyway.
Known locally as ‘The Halloween House’, it is the brainchild of London couple Dave Trout and wife Dawn who have run their ever expanding home haunt for about 14 years since moving to the town. 46
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“Our backyard is the main part of the haunt, and at this point, the gloves are off! With scares increasing in intensity, culminating in a door leading to a covered area at the end, where we hit them with the big shock scares! “Just recently, we have expanded to take in a lane at the back of the house and visitors exit a covered area where we ‘hit them’ with a parting scare using a remotely triggered strobe light which shows up the zombie horde that descends on them and the scare character Leatherface revving a real chainsaw coming at them from the other direction.”
achieve this including shock, surprise, threat and intimidation through sight, sound and touch. “From the handful of trick-or-treaters we had in the early days, on a typical Halloween night, we will now have maybe 100 or so visitors to Samedi Manor, although not all are brave enough venture through to the main part of the haunt. “The last time Halloween fell on a weekend night we had over 200 through and that was before we were advertising the haunt, so we’re gearing up for a big turnout again this year.”
Samedi Haunt, a name Dave said is inspired by the Haitian voodoo deity Baron Samedi, Lord of the cemetery who guides all the recently departed souls to the next world, is very much a family affair. Son Jay, 23, is make-up artist and crew boss and helps with the set design and build. Many of his friends are also performers in haunt. Daughter Donna Marie, 28, acts as our haunt admin manager and deals with publicity and PR while mum Dawn keeps the 16-man crew fed and watered on haunt nights but isn’t shy to cast a critical eye on props to make sure they look the business! Dave said: “We concentrate a lot on live scares as props and decorations can only set the scene. Most props are made from salvaged or recycled materials but it’s the actors that bring the haunt to life. “We’re not a high tech haunt and we use mainly static homemade props, I have a couple of animatronic head turning props built on old desk fans, but as it’s an outdoor haunt, we’re at the mercy of the English October weather, so lighting is usually battery powered or torches. “We also use strobe lighting but keeping things simple means our outdoor haunt can operate in all weathers. “We try to change up the haunt every year and explore a different theme or aspect of fear and like to use a mixture of scares in the haunt to
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GUEST
REVIEW
hC ristmas Spirit by Jason Karl
Being a long-term fan of Merlin’s ever-growing slate of ‘Dungeon’ attractions – London, York, Edinburgh, Warwick and Blackpool in the UK, Hamburg and Berlin in Germany, Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the brand new San Francisco version in America, I was delighted to visit these ‘old haunts’ to take a look at their 2013 seasonal overlays in London and Blackpool for Scareworld Magazine.
THE ‘NEW’ LONDON DUNGEON
Running between December 2nd and January 5th, and promising to turn the clock back over 200 years to 1789, The London Dungeon’s seasonal ‘Ghost of Christmas’ overlay placed guests in the middle of a crime scene, where an icy murder mystery would unravel around them. Leering snow men and a dramatic reconstruction of a ‘body’ entombed in ice on the River Thames ensured the waiting area felt distinctly different than ‘usual’. The promised ‘over-zealous investigator’ who might have added some drama to the scene, was sadly not present, and this left guests around me somewhat oblivious to the intended impact or explanation of the snow covered tableaux. After entering the Dungeon itself, guests were haunted by the Ghost of Christmas incarnate – presumably the vengeful spirit who has arisen 48
from her icy grave in the q-line? A short delivery of dialogue quickly wrapped up the ‘Christmas’ element, before we were plunged into the darkness below, to meet with the unsavoury and hilarious standard denizens of the Dungeon – all brilliantly portrayed with frightful vigour and hilarious horror! Considering that this was the first yuletide offering from the ‘new’ London Dungeon, I was surprised that the overlay did not extend further into the attraction itself, instead it left me somewhat confused and disappointed that I had not fully understood or engaged with the narrative.
THE BLACKPOOL TOWER DUNGEON
The wind-swept seafront at Blackpool can be a scary proposition in itself during the winter months, but I decided to brave the elements and descend into the ‘Dungeon’ located in the catacombs ‘below’ Blackpool Tower, to witness their regional variation of ‘The Ghost of Christmas’, and I was in for a real Christmas treat… Guests were plunged straight into the ‘Christmas Cheer’ with an onslaught of cobweb dusted Christmas Tree’s and a brand new character whose impressive delivery and perfect timing presented the seeds of the tale of a tragic lovelorn Autumn/Winter 2014
woman, known only as ‘The White Lady’. After ‘descending’ into the depths of the main Dungeon (the attraction is actually ‘above’ the entrance!) the tale continued in the Dark Chapel, where a ‘Dickensian’ street urchin imparted further elements of the story, explaining that the White Lady’s suitor had been tragically killed at sea when the ship’s Captain mistook Blackpool Tower for a Lighthouse, and steered his vessel into the rocks at nearby Little Bispham. The White Lady’s ghost now lingers here, at The
Blackpool Tower Dungeon, eternally awaiting the return of her love, after dying broken-hearted. Clusters of clever Christmas theming including aged fir wreaths added to the overall seasonal atmosphere, and following an eerie encounter with a disembodied spirit, signalling that The White Lady was near, guests were ushered further into the chambers to encounter the other Dungeon denizens – (un)safe in the knowledge that the spirit of The White Lady was drawing ever closer and that she may appear at any time… After a visit to the leech-infested Plague Doctor’s chamber and the twisted Torturer, the Christmas spirit kicked back in, as guests find themselves in a twisting Labyrinth of mirrors. Secondary effects including pulsing light and ambient haze added a frisson of fear to this area, and guests crept through the maze in search of escape.
tale which was the inspiration for the attractions Christmas offering. In stark contrast with The London Dungeon, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon’s ‘Ghost of Christmas’ overlay was engaging and exciting in equal measure. Expertly crafted, well delivered and seasonally spooky it was the perfect Christmas ghost story, which I hope they repeat this year. For full details of all Merlin’s Dungeon attractions visit www.thedungeons.com
STATESIDE SCARES AT AMERICA’S FIRST DUNGEON!
The latest Dungeon will open in San Francisco in early 2014. Guests will endure a plethora of unpleasant encounters with characters delivering horrible humour inspired by the history of America’s murky past. You can register on the website for updates on this new Dungeon at www. thedungeons.com/sanfrancisco Many thanks to Greg Pearn, Jay Basson, Lauren Campbell and Cassie Forshaw at The Blackpool Tower Dungeon for their help with this feature.
The culmination of ‘The Ghost of Christmas’ was a perfectly timed encounter with the ghost herself, draped in white and making sudden appearances behind a two-way mirror, she was both haunting and unsettling – a clever end to the tragic local Autumn/Winter 2014
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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 The Edinburgh Dungeon Midlothian, Scotland www.thedungeons.com The Ghost Bus Tours Edinburgh/ London/ York, England www.theghostbustours.com The Haunted House at Dickens World Chatham Maritime, Kent, www.dickensworld.co.uk The Haunted Cellar at Simon Drake’s House of Magic London, England www.houseofmagic.co.uk
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The London Tombs London, England www.thelondonbridgeexperience.com
Farmaphobia at Causey Farm Co Meath, Ireland www.farmaphobia.com
The Lost Cellars at Alnwick Castle Alnwick, Northumberland www.alnwickcastle.com
Fear Fest Sheffield, South Yorkshire www.visitmagna.co.uk
The New London Dungeon London, England www.the-dungeons.co.uk
Fear Forest Mansfield, Nottinghamshire www.fearforest.co.uk
The York Dungeon York, Yorkshire www.thedungeons.com
Freaky Fortnight at Mead Open Farm Billington, Bedfordshire www.meadopenfarm.co.uk
SEASONAL EUROPEAN SCARE ATTRACTIONS
Fright Night at Thackray Museum Leeds, West Yorkshire www.thackraymedicalmuseum.co.uk
The Woodland of Terror Shrewsbury, Shropshire www.woodlandofterror.co.uk
Fright Fantastic at Adventure Island South End on Sea, Essex www.adventureisland.co.uk
Bunker 51 London, England www.ultimaterecreation.co.uk
Fright Hike in Epping Forest Various Locations, England www.fright-hike.com
Christmas FestEVIL at Scare Kingdom Scream Park Blackburn, Lancashire www.atmosfearuk.com
Fright Night at Bristol Zoo Gardens Bristol, England www.bristolzoo.org.uk
Horror Camp LIVE! At Scare Kingdom Scream Park Blackburn, Lancashire www.horrorcamplive.co.uk
Fright Nights at Walibi World Biddinhuizen, Holland www.frightnights.nl
HALLOWEEN EUROPEAN SCARE ATTRACTIONS
Frightmare Halloween Festival at Over Farm Market Over, Gloucestershire www.frightmare.co.uk
Alton Towers Scarefest Alton, Staffordshire www.altontowers.com
Frightwater Valley at Light water Valley Ripon, North Yorkshire www.lightwatervalley.co.uk
Broadwitch HauntFest at Broadditch Farm Southfleet, Kent www.spookycastle.co.uk
Ghost Trains at Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Cumbria, England www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk
Church Farm Frights Thurstaston, Wirral www.churchfarm.org.uk
Ghost Train at Swindon and Cricklade Railway Wiltshire, England www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org
Cursed Basildon, Essex www.thecursed.co.uk
Halloween at Aden Country Park Aberdeenshire, Scotland www.adencountrypark.org.uk
Dr Frights Halloween Horror Nights at White’s Farm Northamptonshire, England www.drfrights.co.uk
Halloween at Cantref Adventure Farm Powys, Wales www.cantref.com
Evac National Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield www.emergencymuseum.org.uk
Halloween at Coalhouse fort Tilbury, Essex www.coalhousefort.co.uk
Farmaggedon at Farmer Ted’s Ormskirk, Lancashire www.farmaggedon.co.uk
Halloween at Muddy Boots Farm Fife, Scotland www.muddybootsfife.com
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Halloween at Port Aventura Tarragona, Spain www.portaventura.co.uk
Mission of Fear Telford, England www.junglelandtelford.com
Halloween at Rainbow Magic Land Roma, Italy www.magicland.it
Nevendon Manor Halloween Essex, England www.nevendonmanor.co.uk
Halloween Express at South Devon Railway Devon, England www.southdevonrailway.co.uk
Nightmare Realm Cork, Ireland www.thenightmarerealm.com
Halloween Festival at The Big Sheep Bideford, North Devon www.thebigsheep.co.uk
Pitch Black Tunbridge Wells, Kent www.pitchblackhauntedhouse.co.uk
Halloween Ghost Night at Kents Cavern Torquay, Devon www.kents-cavern.co.uk
PrimEVIL at Dinosaur Adventure Lenwade, Norfolk www.primevil-scare.com
Halloween Ghost Trains at East Lancashire Railway Lancashire, England www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk
Psychotel Chester, England www.psychotel.co.uk
Halloween at Heide Park Lower Saxony, Germany www.heide-park.de Halloween at Hidden Valley Launceston, Cornwall www.hiddenvalleydiscoverypark.co.uk Halloween Half Term Fun Week at Kent & East Sussex Railway Kent, England 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 Halloween Spooky Spectacular at Sacrewell Farm & Country Centre Peterborough, Cambridgeshire www.sacrewell.org.uk Halloween Spooktacular Festival at Longleat Warminster, Wiltshire www.longleat.co.uk Halloween Spooktacular at Oakwood Theme Park Pembrokeshire, Wales www.oakwoodthemepark.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
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Scare Kingdom Scream Park Blackburn, Lancashire www.scarekingdom.com Scarefest at Castle Point Canvey Island, Essex, www.castlepointghosttours.co.uk Scaresville - The Haunted Village at Kentwell Hall Long Melford, Suffolk www.kentwell.co.uk 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 The Halloween Adventure Scream Park at Stockeld Park Yorkshire, England www.thehalloweenadventure.com The Haunted Castle at Warwick Castle Warwickshire, England www.warwick-castle.com Phobophobia at The London Tombs London, England www.thelondonbridgeexperience.com Spooktacular - Zombie Apocalypse Meriden, Warwickshire www.heartofengland.co.uk Thorpe Park Fright Nights Surrey, England www.thorpepark.com Tulleys Shocktoberfest Scream Park Crawley, West Sussex www.halloweenattractions.co.uk Vampire Beach at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Lancashire www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com Ghost Train at Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway Co. Ltd Nr Ulverston, Cumbria www.lakesiderailway.co.uk 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
PERMANENT EUROPEAN SCARE EXPERIENCES Demonia at Rainbow Magic Land Roma, Italy www.magicland.it Dystopia Haunted House Vejle, Denmark www.fantasyfabrikken.dk El Templo del Terror at Isla Mágica Sevilla, Spain www.islamagica.es Gasten Ghost Hotel at Liseberg Theme Park Goteborg, Sweden www.liseberg.com
The Last Survivors, Zombie Experience Brentwood, Essex www.thelastsurvivors.co.uk WW2 Zombie Blitz London, England www.zombieapocalypselondon.co.uk Zombie Camp Various, England www.zombiecamp.co.uk Zombie Earth - Origin Leicester, England www.zombieearth.co.uk Zombie Evacuation Race England www.zombieevacuation.com
Ghost-The Haunted House at Legoland Billund Zombie Experience at Cusworth Hall Billund, Denmark Doncaster, South Yorkshire www.legoland.dk www.cusworth-afterdark.co.uk Grusellabyrinth Zombie Swat Training H.Q Kiel, Germany London, England www.grusellabyrinth.de www.zombieapocalypselondon.co.uk Horror House at Luneur Park Zed Zombie Survival Events Rome, Italy London, England www.luneurpark.it www.zedevents.co.uk Horror House at Movieland Park Verona, Italy STAGED SCARES www.canevaworld.it Hotel Krüeger at Parc d’Atraccions Tibidabo, Barcelona, Spain www.tibidabo.cat Krake Lebt! At Heide Park Lower Saxony, Germany www.heide-park.de Labirinto Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal www.labirintolisboa.com Maison du Tourment Charmes, France www.maisondutourment.free.fr Nightmare in Budapest Budapest, Hungary www.nightmareinbudapest.com Phobia at Mirabilandia Ravenna, Italy www.mirabilandia.it Spokhuset at Grona Lund Theme Park Stockholm, Denmark www.gronalund.com The Amsterdam Dungeon Amsterdam www.thedungeons.com 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
ZOMBIE EVENTS Ram Training Worchester, England www.ramtraining.co.uk
Circus of Horrors, Touring the UK www.circusofhorrors.co.uk The Woman in Black at The Fortune Theatre London, England www.thewomaninblack.com HOME HAUNTS Baron Samedi’s Haunt Calne, Wiltshire www.facebook.com/Samedimanorhaunt WORLDWIDE INDUSTRY TRADE EVENTS Transworld’s Halloween Attraction Show St Louis, Missouri, USA www.haashow.com Canadian Haunted Attraction Conference Hamilton, Ontario www.canadahaunts.ca Mid West Haunter’s Convention Columbus, Ohio www.midwesthauntersconvention.com Legendary Haunt Tour USA www.legendaryhaunttour.com Halloween Extreme USA www.halloweenextreme.com Scare LA Los Angeles, California, USA www.scarela.com ScareCON Unknown www.scarecon.weebly.com HEX Europe www.hexeurope.com TRADE MAGAZINES Scareworld Magazine www.scareworld.co.uk Hauntworld Magazine wwwhauntworld.com Haunted Attraction Magazine www.hauntedattraction.com Hauntopolis Magazine www.hauntopolis.com Haunt Nation Magazine www.hauntnationmag.com
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