Johnny's Fear Factory - 2023
Johnny’s Fear Factory is situated on Morecambe promenade, in a pair of art deco buildings. Borrowing it’s name from the neighbouring Johnny’s “Good Vibes” warehouse bar and events venue, the Fear Factory begins in the former Littlewoods department store and dotted around the site are nods to the bye gone days.
Named Hitchen’s Bazaar, after the last store to occupy the building, the back story to Johnny’s Fear Factory is reinforced with retro styled artwork hinting at the meat factory roots of the Fear Factory. The main space acts as the event hub, with access to all four fear zones, a bar, food offering and bucking bronco. Music is played and a stage is present, although there was no sign of performances on our visit, Friday 20th Oct. Following check-in and after signing a disclaimer, we were given a wristband and offered vouchers for each of the four mazes and experiences.
Our first maze was the Hallway of Horrors which led us upstairs and through a number of actor led scenes, before leading to a series of dark corridors with the usual suspenseful walks. The maze culminated in a final room with a time limited challenge, which meant it had a real "Saw" feel about it. As the seconds ticked away, the challenge was cracked but we were just a few seconds too late! The maze was fun with some humorous, well acted and well themed scenes.
Next up was Electrotag, which as the name suggests, is an electrifying experience! Two electro pads are stuck to the back of your neck, your targets are placed around your neck, you are hooked up with your gun, and away you go. Across the way in the second art deco building housing the Fear Factory, is the ultraviolet arena where you play against others. Get shot, and you’re in for quite the shock. Water crates and deconstructed slide pieces provided a vibrant playground to run, hide and shoot. To take part in the electrified version players must be 15 or over. Non electrified sessions are available for family sessions and those under 15 during adult sessions. Players were given the option of opting out of the shock if it was too much. It was a fun and energetic game, rather than a scare maze. It was quirky, a little painful, but enjoyable. The theming was somewhat sparse and not entirely in keeping with the Fear Factory theme, it was still a great addition to the event.
The third attraction was Weirder Things, described as a “delve into the world of the weird and wonderful, creepy and strange.” No prizes for guessing the Netflix hit offering inspiration for the maze and title. A mixture of well themed rooms, hallways and scenes, met us with numerous scares and jumps. Following our induction, we were sent to the factory floor to start work on one of six productions. We wound our way through the factory with a mix of expected scares and frights, finally escaping into the electro-tag arena.
After two impressive mazes and a fun burst of electric shots, the final experience was Ghost Rider. Located behind the buildings, the classic fairground style ghost train sold the story of the Fear Factory Team on the daily commute. The theme and description were tenuous at best. The fair ground ghost train was lacking in the depth of theme and story compared to Hallway of Horrors and Weirder Things, and lacked a single scare. Adjacent to the ghost train were additional fair rides, a waltzer and a rock o plane were spotted, but were not open or operational on the visit.
The event was experienced on the 8.30pm entry on a wet and stormy Friday night and although attendance appeared average, tht the cavernous size of the hub area made the event seem quiet and some of the atmosphere was potentially lost. The intention with the additional fair rides and bazaar, as the event heads towards the half term holidays and Halloween is unknown. Wsume this will be open on busier days.
In summary, the two scare mazes were well acted, well themed and compare well to more established and longer running events. Ghost rider was nostalgic but lacked any scares and although Electrotag was a unique and welcome addition to the offering - it could have taken on a deeper theme. Perhaps a slaughter theme to compliment the meat factory back story? But, all in, for a first event it is clear that Johnny's Fear Factory has genuine potential. It is always great to see new events opening, and this was was a fun addition, if not just for the two new scare mazes.
Named Hitchen’s Bazaar, after the last store to occupy the building, the back story to Johnny’s Fear Factory is reinforced with retro styled artwork hinting at the meat factory roots of the Fear Factory. The main space acts as the event hub, with access to all four fear zones, a bar, food offering and bucking bronco. Music is played and a stage is present, although there was no sign of performances on our visit, Friday 20th Oct. Following check-in and after signing a disclaimer, we were given a wristband and offered vouchers for each of the four mazes and experiences.
Our first maze was the Hallway of Horrors which led us upstairs and through a number of actor led scenes, before leading to a series of dark corridors with the usual suspenseful walks. The maze culminated in a final room with a time limited challenge, which meant it had a real "Saw" feel about it. As the seconds ticked away, the challenge was cracked but we were just a few seconds too late! The maze was fun with some humorous, well acted and well themed scenes.
Next up was Electrotag, which as the name suggests, is an electrifying experience! Two electro pads are stuck to the back of your neck, your targets are placed around your neck, you are hooked up with your gun, and away you go. Across the way in the second art deco building housing the Fear Factory, is the ultraviolet arena where you play against others. Get shot, and you’re in for quite the shock. Water crates and deconstructed slide pieces provided a vibrant playground to run, hide and shoot. To take part in the electrified version players must be 15 or over. Non electrified sessions are available for family sessions and those under 15 during adult sessions. Players were given the option of opting out of the shock if it was too much. It was a fun and energetic game, rather than a scare maze. It was quirky, a little painful, but enjoyable. The theming was somewhat sparse and not entirely in keeping with the Fear Factory theme, it was still a great addition to the event.
The third attraction was Weirder Things, described as a “delve into the world of the weird and wonderful, creepy and strange.” No prizes for guessing the Netflix hit offering inspiration for the maze and title. A mixture of well themed rooms, hallways and scenes, met us with numerous scares and jumps. Following our induction, we were sent to the factory floor to start work on one of six productions. We wound our way through the factory with a mix of expected scares and frights, finally escaping into the electro-tag arena.
After two impressive mazes and a fun burst of electric shots, the final experience was Ghost Rider. Located behind the buildings, the classic fairground style ghost train sold the story of the Fear Factory Team on the daily commute. The theme and description were tenuous at best. The fair ground ghost train was lacking in the depth of theme and story compared to Hallway of Horrors and Weirder Things, and lacked a single scare. Adjacent to the ghost train were additional fair rides, a waltzer and a rock o plane were spotted, but were not open or operational on the visit.
The event was experienced on the 8.30pm entry on a wet and stormy Friday night and although attendance appeared average, tht the cavernous size of the hub area made the event seem quiet and some of the atmosphere was potentially lost. The intention with the additional fair rides and bazaar, as the event heads towards the half term holidays and Halloween is unknown. Wsume this will be open on busier days.
In summary, the two scare mazes were well acted, well themed and compare well to more established and longer running events. Ghost rider was nostalgic but lacked any scares and although Electrotag was a unique and welcome addition to the offering - it could have taken on a deeper theme. Perhaps a slaughter theme to compliment the meat factory back story? But, all in, for a first event it is clear that Johnny's Fear Factory has genuine potential. It is always great to see new events opening, and this was was a fun addition, if not just for the two new scare mazes.
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