Fear Island - 2021
On October 31st, the team were spread around the UK for the most important day of the year and just two of us were in Skegness at Fantasy Island, a permanent theme park on the East coast that turns into Fear Island for the Halloween season with the addition of scare mazes. The weather was horrendous but what’s a little gale force wind and rain in your face, soaked clothes and the onset of hypothermia when it’s Halloween, right?
The big rides and coasters at Fantasy Island were all closed due to the weather which we were told about at the ticket office when we were buying wristband passes. That’s OK, you expect some closures in bad weather at any theme park but, those closures probably should have reflected in a discounted price since there was very little else open ride wise. Sadly not.
Your wristband gets you entry into each of the four scare mazes on offer or you could just come and do each attraction at £5 each, so at least we had options.
This year Fear Island invited people to “take part in a haphazard paranormal investigation that goes disastrously wrong in The Haunting 2 – Under Investigation, descend into the blackout of Hellhole, play a deadly game of cat and mouse in Psycho Vault – Death Game, and to venture into the murderous mansion of serial killer Delphine La Laurie in Killer Villa.” There was also a free Pirates of Fear Island show and Circus of Screams, a family event, with the Circus was an additional charge.
There was a real Halloween vibe throughout Fantasy Island which was nice to feel for the special day. People came in costumes and there was a real celebratory feel from everyone there.
The attractions were the main focus for us and while they’re not new concepts, they were certainly fun! Each maze was well presented and some of the sets and decorations inside looked great. Claustrophobia really is the key word here, as the mazes are all crammed into existing buildings and need to use the space they’re in. Each one delivered lots of tight spaces and twists and turns throughout.
Each house lasted about 5 to 10 minutes and if you work out the cost of them included in the full wristband price of £33 (which gives you unlimited rides, (although most were closed today) it was good value at £2 per maze.
Each house was only open at certain times, so we had to give Circus of Screams a miss, but we had a great day and the families braving the weather seemed too as well. We laughed, we jumped, we took in the atmosphere of the mazes and thoroughly enjoyed Fantasy Island’s Halloween offering.
The big rides and coasters at Fantasy Island were all closed due to the weather which we were told about at the ticket office when we were buying wristband passes. That’s OK, you expect some closures in bad weather at any theme park but, those closures probably should have reflected in a discounted price since there was very little else open ride wise. Sadly not.
Your wristband gets you entry into each of the four scare mazes on offer or you could just come and do each attraction at £5 each, so at least we had options.
This year Fear Island invited people to “take part in a haphazard paranormal investigation that goes disastrously wrong in The Haunting 2 – Under Investigation, descend into the blackout of Hellhole, play a deadly game of cat and mouse in Psycho Vault – Death Game, and to venture into the murderous mansion of serial killer Delphine La Laurie in Killer Villa.” There was also a free Pirates of Fear Island show and Circus of Screams, a family event, with the Circus was an additional charge.
There was a real Halloween vibe throughout Fantasy Island which was nice to feel for the special day. People came in costumes and there was a real celebratory feel from everyone there.
The attractions were the main focus for us and while they’re not new concepts, they were certainly fun! Each maze was well presented and some of the sets and decorations inside looked great. Claustrophobia really is the key word here, as the mazes are all crammed into existing buildings and need to use the space they’re in. Each one delivered lots of tight spaces and twists and turns throughout.
Each house lasted about 5 to 10 minutes and if you work out the cost of them included in the full wristband price of £33 (which gives you unlimited rides, (although most were closed today) it was good value at £2 per maze.
Each house was only open at certain times, so we had to give Circus of Screams a miss, but we had a great day and the families braving the weather seemed too as well. We laughed, we jumped, we took in the atmosphere of the mazes and thoroughly enjoyed Fantasy Island’s Halloween offering.
Fear Island - 2020
Fear Island has consistently been a highlight on our trips around the UK. Each year we’ve returned, we’ve seen it develop into something truly terrifying. Whilst their line-up isn’t as large as some other theme park events, it certainly holds its own against the big names in the scare industry. This year sees two returning attractions with new plots, alongside a brand-new maze in the location of Torchure. Given how Fear Island IV was one of the few events being able to open in 2020, we were curious to see how the scares would be impacted.
We decided to start our day off with a trip into the Voodoo bayou in The House of Voodoo Cursed. This returning attraction was one of our favourite mazes at the event last year, so we were excited to see what the new plotline would bring. Upon entering , we immediately remembered why we loved it so much. The theming of the set is remarkable. We’ve seen swamps and decrepit shacks plenty of times before on our travels, but these were amongst the most immersive and atmospheric. The addition of some vibrant and impressive strobing UV paint effects for 2020 have really elevated this already impressive setting to a mystifying new level.
Thankfully, it wasn’t just the sets that have received an upgrade, the scares have too! Given how intense this attraction was last year, we were shocked to find even more scares within The House of Voodoo’s sequel. As we went in with our own small social bubble, the jump scares hit hard! This is an incredibly dark experience with many confusing, twisting corridors, offering actors plenty of hiding spaces to attack from. We noticed actors would often make an appearance multiple times throughout the attraction, tormenting us as many times as they possibly could. Nowhere was this more noticeable than the finale, which returned from last year, but worked significantly better in the smaller groups. We were bounced back and forth between two actors before making a break to the exit. We were left gasping for breath after this year’s version of The House of Voodoo. Here’s hoping Marie Laveau has more tricks up her sleeves for 2021.
Eager to continue the scares, we headed straight over to DisturbIAM, the second returning attraction at Fear Island, this year with a zombie takeover. Nothing could have prepared us for what waited inside the sanitorium. Whilst there haven’t been any changes to the layout, the experience is noticeably darker with whole sections of the experience being pitch black. The actors of course used this to their advantage, tormenting us consistently from start to finish. Multiple times we looked over our shoulder only to find one of the zombies chasing us eagerly.
This was one of the most intense attractions we have experienced all Halloween. The actors were very lively, with scares lurking around every corner. What worked well was the sheer variety of scares this experience offered. There was certainly more to DisturbIAM than a simple jump scare from a dark corner.
Unfortunately, we did have one gripe with the attraction, that being the sheer number of curtains blocking our way, forcing us to touch the set to move forwards. This would normally be standard in a scare maze, but during COVID,this made us feel rather uneasy, as we were dying to sanitise our hands throughout the maze.
However, this didn’t dull our enjoyment of DisturbIAM. Given the sheer volume of scares the team have managed to pack into this attraction, how could we not come out with a huge grin on our face? DisturbIAM really was the hightlight of this tear's event.
The Haunting is the latest addition to the Fear Island line-up, replacing Torchure from last year. This attraction follows the same route and uses much of the same theming but takes on a whole new life of its own, offering an atmospheric and eerie ambience throughout.
Whilst we have stressed how well all the attractions at Fear Island are using darkness this year, The Haunting is the clear standout in that field. Be prepared to fumble around in the darkness, with actors making sudden appearances out of nowhere. Whilst there are certainly many well themed sets in this attraction, we found the tensest moments were when we were left “alone” in near darkness. We were particularly impressed with how this attraction used its plot to its advantage. Many of the inhabitants provided both theatrical scenes alongside some seriously bone chilling scares. Be warned, if you’re like us and negatively react to drop-boxes, this attraction will likely terrify you.
One of the most noticeable differences within The Haunting from Torchure was the addition of an entirely new ending. This finale was extremely effective, leaving us feeling vulnerable to the oncoming scares. Whilst it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before, (it genuinely felt like it was lifted word for word from the The Haunting scene of Alton Towers Dungeon) but we thought it was the perfect way to round out this fun new addition to Fear Island.
Once again, we have left Fear Island excited to see what the future brings to this fantastic event. All three mazes overdelivered on our expectations and provided more than enough scares to satisfy the greediest of scare enthusiasts!
We decided to start our day off with a trip into the Voodoo bayou in The House of Voodoo Cursed. This returning attraction was one of our favourite mazes at the event last year, so we were excited to see what the new plotline would bring. Upon entering , we immediately remembered why we loved it so much. The theming of the set is remarkable. We’ve seen swamps and decrepit shacks plenty of times before on our travels, but these were amongst the most immersive and atmospheric. The addition of some vibrant and impressive strobing UV paint effects for 2020 have really elevated this already impressive setting to a mystifying new level.
Thankfully, it wasn’t just the sets that have received an upgrade, the scares have too! Given how intense this attraction was last year, we were shocked to find even more scares within The House of Voodoo’s sequel. As we went in with our own small social bubble, the jump scares hit hard! This is an incredibly dark experience with many confusing, twisting corridors, offering actors plenty of hiding spaces to attack from. We noticed actors would often make an appearance multiple times throughout the attraction, tormenting us as many times as they possibly could. Nowhere was this more noticeable than the finale, which returned from last year, but worked significantly better in the smaller groups. We were bounced back and forth between two actors before making a break to the exit. We were left gasping for breath after this year’s version of The House of Voodoo. Here’s hoping Marie Laveau has more tricks up her sleeves for 2021.
Eager to continue the scares, we headed straight over to DisturbIAM, the second returning attraction at Fear Island, this year with a zombie takeover. Nothing could have prepared us for what waited inside the sanitorium. Whilst there haven’t been any changes to the layout, the experience is noticeably darker with whole sections of the experience being pitch black. The actors of course used this to their advantage, tormenting us consistently from start to finish. Multiple times we looked over our shoulder only to find one of the zombies chasing us eagerly.
This was one of the most intense attractions we have experienced all Halloween. The actors were very lively, with scares lurking around every corner. What worked well was the sheer variety of scares this experience offered. There was certainly more to DisturbIAM than a simple jump scare from a dark corner.
Unfortunately, we did have one gripe with the attraction, that being the sheer number of curtains blocking our way, forcing us to touch the set to move forwards. This would normally be standard in a scare maze, but during COVID,this made us feel rather uneasy, as we were dying to sanitise our hands throughout the maze.
However, this didn’t dull our enjoyment of DisturbIAM. Given the sheer volume of scares the team have managed to pack into this attraction, how could we not come out with a huge grin on our face? DisturbIAM really was the hightlight of this tear's event.
The Haunting is the latest addition to the Fear Island line-up, replacing Torchure from last year. This attraction follows the same route and uses much of the same theming but takes on a whole new life of its own, offering an atmospheric and eerie ambience throughout.
Whilst we have stressed how well all the attractions at Fear Island are using darkness this year, The Haunting is the clear standout in that field. Be prepared to fumble around in the darkness, with actors making sudden appearances out of nowhere. Whilst there are certainly many well themed sets in this attraction, we found the tensest moments were when we were left “alone” in near darkness. We were particularly impressed with how this attraction used its plot to its advantage. Many of the inhabitants provided both theatrical scenes alongside some seriously bone chilling scares. Be warned, if you’re like us and negatively react to drop-boxes, this attraction will likely terrify you.
One of the most noticeable differences within The Haunting from Torchure was the addition of an entirely new ending. This finale was extremely effective, leaving us feeling vulnerable to the oncoming scares. Whilst it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before, (it genuinely felt like it was lifted word for word from the The Haunting scene of Alton Towers Dungeon) but we thought it was the perfect way to round out this fun new addition to Fear Island.
Once again, we have left Fear Island excited to see what the future brings to this fantastic event. All three mazes overdelivered on our expectations and provided more than enough scares to satisfy the greediest of scare enthusiasts!
Fear Island 2019
Fear Island has returned to Fantasy Island near Skegness,with 4 new scare attractions, alongside new shows and entertainment. The event itself runs during the regular park operating hours, which means that guests can ride the rollercoasters and other rides between being scared in the mazes.
Our first experience was Torchure, which we expected to be a hooded or torch lit maze, so we were impressed when we realised that this had more story and theming to it. Met by a creepy jester, we were soon plunged into a medieval world, where all we needed to do was place our candle as a tribute on the altar.
The maze contained a number of good fun scares, and then towards the end we were led into a long cage where we were locked in with nowhere left to go. At this point, several actors interacted with us while a crazy strobe light flickered in the room. Now we aren't sure whether something failed here, but the whole room was lacking any sound or effects, and the actors just moved silently and slowly in the strobes. It was creepy at most, but was then completely ruined when one of the actors just opened the cage and we were allowed to just walk out with the actors just stood around watching us leave. If this attraction was actually designed to end this way, then we would really suggest something more impact full in the future.
Our next maze was DistubIam, which was a crazy and intense run through a very run down hospital. The actors throughout were very high energy, and the walls and sets created a genuine feeling of being inside a condemned hospital. You would never have guessed that this is built in an old drive through burger restaurant, AND was home to CaniveHELL last year - the whole attraction felt immersive, scary and fun (even if one creature did break character and say "this way sir" when the leader of our group couldn't find a way out!)
Psycho Vault has been built on the site of the original Psycho Manison and delves deeper into the mysteries about the house and the land it is built on. Once down in the basement via the special effect "elevator", we had a long torturous route to escape involving multiple crawl spaces, loads of actors and an exhilarating pumping soundtrack, This was a standout maze for the event and we enjoyed it from beginning to end.
The other stand out maze was The House of Voodoo, which mixes up the generic hooded maze with a bit more narrative and story. Unlike many hooded mazes, the reason for the hood is made clear during the story, and the actors did their best to scare us. We jumped a lot through this maze, but none more than a final special effect/sound that left all the team shocked!
We had a genuinely fun time at Fear Island this year. As the mazes run during the day, we were able to to do a combination of scare attractions and rides, as well as spending time enjoying the shows and the atmosphere. It is clear that the park are focused on providing a fun Halloween attraction, and in just a couple of years, it has created an event to entertain all ages. We look forward to seeing if the expansion continues in future years..
Our first experience was Torchure, which we expected to be a hooded or torch lit maze, so we were impressed when we realised that this had more story and theming to it. Met by a creepy jester, we were soon plunged into a medieval world, where all we needed to do was place our candle as a tribute on the altar.
The maze contained a number of good fun scares, and then towards the end we were led into a long cage where we were locked in with nowhere left to go. At this point, several actors interacted with us while a crazy strobe light flickered in the room. Now we aren't sure whether something failed here, but the whole room was lacking any sound or effects, and the actors just moved silently and slowly in the strobes. It was creepy at most, but was then completely ruined when one of the actors just opened the cage and we were allowed to just walk out with the actors just stood around watching us leave. If this attraction was actually designed to end this way, then we would really suggest something more impact full in the future.
Our next maze was DistubIam, which was a crazy and intense run through a very run down hospital. The actors throughout were very high energy, and the walls and sets created a genuine feeling of being inside a condemned hospital. You would never have guessed that this is built in an old drive through burger restaurant, AND was home to CaniveHELL last year - the whole attraction felt immersive, scary and fun (even if one creature did break character and say "this way sir" when the leader of our group couldn't find a way out!)
Psycho Vault has been built on the site of the original Psycho Manison and delves deeper into the mysteries about the house and the land it is built on. Once down in the basement via the special effect "elevator", we had a long torturous route to escape involving multiple crawl spaces, loads of actors and an exhilarating pumping soundtrack, This was a standout maze for the event and we enjoyed it from beginning to end.
The other stand out maze was The House of Voodoo, which mixes up the generic hooded maze with a bit more narrative and story. Unlike many hooded mazes, the reason for the hood is made clear during the story, and the actors did their best to scare us. We jumped a lot through this maze, but none more than a final special effect/sound that left all the team shocked!
We had a genuinely fun time at Fear Island this year. As the mazes run during the day, we were able to to do a combination of scare attractions and rides, as well as spending time enjoying the shows and the atmosphere. It is clear that the park are focused on providing a fun Halloween attraction, and in just a couple of years, it has created an event to entertain all ages. We look forward to seeing if the expansion continues in future years..
Fear Island 2018
In 2017, Fantasy Island near Skegness successfully launched Fear Island, their new Halloween event, and for 2018 they have decided to expand the offering with new attractions and shows. Unlike many Halloween events, Fear Island runs during the daytime, but the scares are as impressive as any other event.
Psycho Mansion 2 Possessed is housed in a re-purposed travelling fairground unit and looks garish with its flashing neon signs and lighting. It may look bright and shiny on the outside, but inside it is very dark. Continuing the story from 2017, the house is now possessed, and once inside we were greeted by an intense priest who bade us on our journey into the darkness. What then followed was a very theatrical style performance with most of the actors having long scripted scenes following the scare of their first appearance. Unfortunately, due to the volume of the background music it was difficult to hear at times and the poor actors seemed to be straining to shout over the noise.
The house itself is quite deceptive in size as it stretches out into annex buildings at the back as well as going up two storeys inside. In fact, the outside portions on the balconies worked brilliantly to stop our eyes becoming accustomed to the dark, making it harder to see each time we went back in! With several fun tricks and effects along the way – even some “magic” that left some of our group baffled as to how it was done, we enjoyed our visit to the house and escaped the possession intact!
The next attraction, CarnivHell, is built at the back of the park in what used to be a drive through McDonalds. Of course, it it is now completely unrecognisable inside, as the whole thing has been turned into a terrifying carnival of the bizarre that played out like a greatest hits of carnival freak show mazes. Freaks, a bearded “woman”, two headed ladies etc stalked the darkened halls, and were all particularly lively, but with a mischievous darkly playful tone. Having experienced many mazes before – this whole attraction felt like a carbon copy of Festinos Forgotten Fun House from Dreamland Margate (created by the same design team) but had us grinning one minute then screaming the next.
One thing we must mention is that several of the corridors were so dark that we had to just fumble our way through, which was far more terrifying than the usually bright sets and lights of clown mazes. This may be supposed to be a “fun” theme but it was a genuinely scary maze throughout!
The final attraction is the Temple of Terror, which is effectively an energetic UV strobe maze that had our group at one point frozen to the spot refusing to go forward. Following the theatrical opening spiel, we were led downstairs and then terrorised by lively actors, loud music, a choice of routes involving separating the group, and several noisy scares and effects. In one very strange move, the show stopped for a big theatrical scene which once again required the poor actor to try to project over the very loud ambient noise. This room would have been better with perhaps a winding path, and putting the actor on jump scare duties. We really had to suppress an urge not to shout at the poor guy “stop trying to act at us and just bloody scare us”. It was a shame as the rest of the maze was stunning and removing this misjudged scene would really increase the pace and intensity of the whole show.
Of course, Halloween isn’t just being celebrated with the mazes and the park have several other activities for all the family including a new Halloween themed circus show, the Phantoms stage show and a new projection mapping on the park’s volcano inside the giant pyramid.
The team at Fantasy Island are clearly passionate about their Halloween event and are already talking about ways they can expand and grow over the years. If their first two years are anything to go on, then we can see them being in the Halloween business for years to come and we can’t wait to see what expansions come in 2019.
Psycho Mansion 2 Possessed is housed in a re-purposed travelling fairground unit and looks garish with its flashing neon signs and lighting. It may look bright and shiny on the outside, but inside it is very dark. Continuing the story from 2017, the house is now possessed, and once inside we were greeted by an intense priest who bade us on our journey into the darkness. What then followed was a very theatrical style performance with most of the actors having long scripted scenes following the scare of their first appearance. Unfortunately, due to the volume of the background music it was difficult to hear at times and the poor actors seemed to be straining to shout over the noise.
The house itself is quite deceptive in size as it stretches out into annex buildings at the back as well as going up two storeys inside. In fact, the outside portions on the balconies worked brilliantly to stop our eyes becoming accustomed to the dark, making it harder to see each time we went back in! With several fun tricks and effects along the way – even some “magic” that left some of our group baffled as to how it was done, we enjoyed our visit to the house and escaped the possession intact!
The next attraction, CarnivHell, is built at the back of the park in what used to be a drive through McDonalds. Of course, it it is now completely unrecognisable inside, as the whole thing has been turned into a terrifying carnival of the bizarre that played out like a greatest hits of carnival freak show mazes. Freaks, a bearded “woman”, two headed ladies etc stalked the darkened halls, and were all particularly lively, but with a mischievous darkly playful tone. Having experienced many mazes before – this whole attraction felt like a carbon copy of Festinos Forgotten Fun House from Dreamland Margate (created by the same design team) but had us grinning one minute then screaming the next.
One thing we must mention is that several of the corridors were so dark that we had to just fumble our way through, which was far more terrifying than the usually bright sets and lights of clown mazes. This may be supposed to be a “fun” theme but it was a genuinely scary maze throughout!
The final attraction is the Temple of Terror, which is effectively an energetic UV strobe maze that had our group at one point frozen to the spot refusing to go forward. Following the theatrical opening spiel, we were led downstairs and then terrorised by lively actors, loud music, a choice of routes involving separating the group, and several noisy scares and effects. In one very strange move, the show stopped for a big theatrical scene which once again required the poor actor to try to project over the very loud ambient noise. This room would have been better with perhaps a winding path, and putting the actor on jump scare duties. We really had to suppress an urge not to shout at the poor guy “stop trying to act at us and just bloody scare us”. It was a shame as the rest of the maze was stunning and removing this misjudged scene would really increase the pace and intensity of the whole show.
Of course, Halloween isn’t just being celebrated with the mazes and the park have several other activities for all the family including a new Halloween themed circus show, the Phantoms stage show and a new projection mapping on the park’s volcano inside the giant pyramid.
The team at Fantasy Island are clearly passionate about their Halloween event and are already talking about ways they can expand and grow over the years. If their first two years are anything to go on, then we can see them being in the Halloween business for years to come and we can’t wait to see what expansions come in 2019.
Links:
Official Website - www.fantasyislandresort.co.uk
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