Broadwitch Hauntfest 2006
Broadditch have been celebrating Halloween for the last 6 years or so and are constantly re-imagining the scare attractions that they present.
The creative team regularly visit Horror trade fairs in the US and are always on the lookout for new ideas they can bring back to Kent. The show building which is used for three of the Halloween attractions is also the site of the Christmas shop and grotto so at the end of each season the whole lot gets torn down. This then allows the creative team to constantly try new ideas and reinvent the attractions which will help to keep things fresh in the future.
As is becoming popular with farm Halloween events, Broadditch operates a “Fun by Day, Scary by Night” policy. This means that there is something to cater for every taste. We at Haunted Attractions, of course, reviewed everything in its “Scary by Night” incarnation!
Terror Trailer Ride
Unlike many modern hayrides, the farm has remained true to the origins and guests are seated on real bales of hay. This felt quite quaint so it was then a surprise to see that our trailer guide was wearing a radio microphone connected to onboard speakers so that everyone could hear what was being said. It also meant that during the quiet parts you could hear the ominous heavy breathing of the host!
Not that there were many quiet parts to the ride as the host provided a running commentary that could be described as sitting just on the right side of corny. Even so these light-hearted comments offset some of the creepier elements happening within the woods.
The trailer ride itself uses a lot of the standard scares such as sudden attacks out of the darkness, loud bangs and some impressive props. A couple of times the trailer stopped and 1 or 2 people were forced off to participate in creepy versions of game show events such as I’m a Celebrity or Blind Date. The joy of watching someone else on the trailer being chosen while staying safe yourself was definitely a guilty pleasure!
Although the woods were only small, the farm have rammed in a lot of quality scares amongst the fun. Our half empty trailer (many people had been delayed by a very large accident on the M25 that night) still provided enough screams to pierce the silence!
Spooky Castle
For a temporary attraction, the level of detail found in the Spooky Castle is outstanding. Each room is intricately themed from the ornate castle gardens and state rooms through to an industrial wasteland replete with techno music (in fact from now on, Prodigy’s Firestarter will always bring back memories of being chased by a boiler suited maniac wielding some metal piping!). As well as some animatronic effects set off by sensors throughout the attraction, the maze is populated with talented actors.
Incidentally, all of the scare actors working at Broadditch are staff, friends and family. Regardless of this fact, they all had us leaping in fright all the way round. In fact particular mention must go to the man/woman/thing behind the black curtains in the body bag room. This probably had to the be the biggest scare of the Halloween season as we threw ourselves away from the monster straight into a solid wall!
The other great thing about this maze was its apparent length. From outside it looked quite small but it seemed like we were in there for ages. We kept moving from room to room expecting to find the exit but instead just stumbling into another intricate set with an impressive scare.
All in all – a very impressive maze and the fact that it changes each year means we will definitely be back to see what it looks like next time
The Vault
New for 2006 is the Vault, a smaller maze with less intricate sets and decoration. The main aim of this maze is to disorientate and scare you and it achieves this really effectively. The stark walls and the intense strobe lights in places mean that that you easily lose all sense of direction and the maze therefore again feels longer than it really is.
The two scare actors made the most of what they had and threw themselves around the maze trying their best to frighten guests. It is in The Vault that we met the obligatory chainsaw guy and he had us running towards the exit pretty sharpish!
Unlike the relaxed sprawling nature of the Spooky castle, The Vault is designed to be a short sharp shock. Based on ideas they had picked up in the US, the designers wanted a quick assault on the senses and that is exactly what has been achieved.
The Maze of Madness
While designing their indoor attractions, Broadditch thought it would be fun to have a cornfield “maze” but decided that it would be best not to put actors in as they wanted something that younger children could do. Even so on a dark moonless night – with 8 foot high corn stalks towering over you and numerous scary props, the maze of madness has a really spooky atmosphere. Although it was fun (and very long) we would have liked something more to have happened and would probably have populated it with actors for the evening just to enhance the scare.
Being a small farmshop, we really weren’t expecting a lot from this event. We should have known better – as the attention to detail and sheer enthusiasm of the staff and management made it a very entertaining evening which was proven by the sheer number of people that attend each night.
The creative team regularly visit Horror trade fairs in the US and are always on the lookout for new ideas they can bring back to Kent. The show building which is used for three of the Halloween attractions is also the site of the Christmas shop and grotto so at the end of each season the whole lot gets torn down. This then allows the creative team to constantly try new ideas and reinvent the attractions which will help to keep things fresh in the future.
As is becoming popular with farm Halloween events, Broadditch operates a “Fun by Day, Scary by Night” policy. This means that there is something to cater for every taste. We at Haunted Attractions, of course, reviewed everything in its “Scary by Night” incarnation!
Terror Trailer Ride
Unlike many modern hayrides, the farm has remained true to the origins and guests are seated on real bales of hay. This felt quite quaint so it was then a surprise to see that our trailer guide was wearing a radio microphone connected to onboard speakers so that everyone could hear what was being said. It also meant that during the quiet parts you could hear the ominous heavy breathing of the host!
Not that there were many quiet parts to the ride as the host provided a running commentary that could be described as sitting just on the right side of corny. Even so these light-hearted comments offset some of the creepier elements happening within the woods.
The trailer ride itself uses a lot of the standard scares such as sudden attacks out of the darkness, loud bangs and some impressive props. A couple of times the trailer stopped and 1 or 2 people were forced off to participate in creepy versions of game show events such as I’m a Celebrity or Blind Date. The joy of watching someone else on the trailer being chosen while staying safe yourself was definitely a guilty pleasure!
Although the woods were only small, the farm have rammed in a lot of quality scares amongst the fun. Our half empty trailer (many people had been delayed by a very large accident on the M25 that night) still provided enough screams to pierce the silence!
Spooky Castle
For a temporary attraction, the level of detail found in the Spooky Castle is outstanding. Each room is intricately themed from the ornate castle gardens and state rooms through to an industrial wasteland replete with techno music (in fact from now on, Prodigy’s Firestarter will always bring back memories of being chased by a boiler suited maniac wielding some metal piping!). As well as some animatronic effects set off by sensors throughout the attraction, the maze is populated with talented actors.
Incidentally, all of the scare actors working at Broadditch are staff, friends and family. Regardless of this fact, they all had us leaping in fright all the way round. In fact particular mention must go to the man/woman/thing behind the black curtains in the body bag room. This probably had to the be the biggest scare of the Halloween season as we threw ourselves away from the monster straight into a solid wall!
The other great thing about this maze was its apparent length. From outside it looked quite small but it seemed like we were in there for ages. We kept moving from room to room expecting to find the exit but instead just stumbling into another intricate set with an impressive scare.
All in all – a very impressive maze and the fact that it changes each year means we will definitely be back to see what it looks like next time
The Vault
New for 2006 is the Vault, a smaller maze with less intricate sets and decoration. The main aim of this maze is to disorientate and scare you and it achieves this really effectively. The stark walls and the intense strobe lights in places mean that that you easily lose all sense of direction and the maze therefore again feels longer than it really is.
The two scare actors made the most of what they had and threw themselves around the maze trying their best to frighten guests. It is in The Vault that we met the obligatory chainsaw guy and he had us running towards the exit pretty sharpish!
Unlike the relaxed sprawling nature of the Spooky castle, The Vault is designed to be a short sharp shock. Based on ideas they had picked up in the US, the designers wanted a quick assault on the senses and that is exactly what has been achieved.
The Maze of Madness
While designing their indoor attractions, Broadditch thought it would be fun to have a cornfield “maze” but decided that it would be best not to put actors in as they wanted something that younger children could do. Even so on a dark moonless night – with 8 foot high corn stalks towering over you and numerous scary props, the maze of madness has a really spooky atmosphere. Although it was fun (and very long) we would have liked something more to have happened and would probably have populated it with actors for the evening just to enhance the scare.
Being a small farmshop, we really weren’t expecting a lot from this event. We should have known better – as the attention to detail and sheer enthusiasm of the staff and management made it a very entertaining evening which was proven by the sheer number of people that attend each night.
You Review
Have you also visited this or any other attractions recently? - tell us what you thought here
|
All the latest news, stories, review and gossip can be found on the ScareTOUR social media pages - the hottest Facebook, Twitter and Instagram presence in the UK for Scare Attractions!
For the latest offers, exclusive discounts and more - Join the group! |
|