Prepare for the fright of your life with the scariest Screamfest yet!
This year's Screamfest was terrifyingly good. But was the new alien-themed ride a bit too "out of this world"?, writes Daniel Walton.
Howls and screams could be heard over a lonely field in Burton where Screamfest had returned to give us the fright of our lives once again.
The annual event, which is held at the National Forest Adventure Farm was the biggest one yet with over 130 actors dressed in their Halloween best, all intent on scaring the living daylights out of you.
On arrival, a feeling of childlike wonder and dread washed over me. Scare actors were already waiting at the doors to set the scene for visitors and horror-themed music played over loudspeakers to really give you the feeling of being in a horror movie.
The set routes around the farm were lined with scarecrows, pumpkins and plenty of gory figures, as well as a huge range of themed foods, drinks and merchandise to sink our teeth into.
The 16-night event includes seven scare attractions, including psychotic circus acts, blood-soaked hillbillies and for the first time ever, an out-of-this-world alien invasion.
I decided to work my way from farthest to closest, dodging the dozens of scare actors along the way before reaching the gates of the new Psycho Circus.
The new horror circus show features a multitude of death-defying stunts, all surrounded by an otherworldly story of black magic and mystery.
Psycho Circus, while short, proved a fanatic addition to the regular line-up of attractions, and proved itself a fan favourite when visitors were screaming for an encore.
The next ride was Hillbilly Joe's Zombie Zoo, which proved popular with visitors. The attraction, while still very horrific(scaring the wits out of my fiancée on numerous occasions), seemed a bit lacklustre compared to the others, leaving more to be desired at the end.
I slowly worked my way over to Creed's Farm, which I found to be notoriously gory, but a real screamfest inside.
Hyper-gore masterpiece and my personal favourite, Creed Farm, was filled with dark corners, loud noises, flashing lights and plenty of chase scenes. Actors really got into the scene and it was everything that you wanted in a scary maze and more.
After a brief interval on the super-high Mega 'Death' Slide, I made my way to my way to Love Hurts, which sees contestants take part in the sickest speed dating game known to man.
Also on the list was the haunted horror story of Insomnia, which features a gripping story of a little girl who is haunted by demons and the crazed clown maze, Freakout on Tour.
Finally, I got to the main attraction of the evening, Area 52, which is the latest premium alien-based attraction to his horror fest. And I must say, it may have been a little too out-of-this-world.
The ride started off flooded with fantastic lore and promises of action, death and glory. But the reality was anything but.
Area 52 is an interactive alien-based shooting gallery that finds you pulled along by a tractor on the back of a seated cattle trailer, while you pelt actors with hundreds of paintballs, but the reality is less exciting than I made it sound.
Once you experienced the action-packed introduction, you were met with a long wait time and a quickly put-together system of paintball shooting galleries and alerts that "the next stage is starting!"
The goal of the attraction is to immerse visitors in the 'scene', but we could obviously see the actors drinking and smoking in between stages, and instead of 'dying' the actors just let the paintballs hit them before stumbling back to their start area.
Between the lack of acting and the 'soldier' standing behind us yelling "more paintballs for £10" and "no refunds" it just wasn't immersive and it wasn't nearly as horrific as the surrounding attractions in the slightest. The potential is there, but it needs fine-tuning.
So in conclusion, Screamfest is exactly that, it's a real scream. It's a great alternative to mega-budget events like Alton Towers' Scarefest, and it offers a more adult horror theme.
Screamfest is once again a must-go to event for any scare lover this Halloween.
Screamfest runs until October 31, visit screamfest.co.uk/
