Spooky World - 2011 Review
In 2010 we visited Spookyworld and were blown away by some of the acting skills, which for us provided some of the most intense scares we had received all season. Naturally we were eager to return again having spoken highly of it for the past year especially as they were advertising two brand new attractions.
On arrival at Spookyworld, you turn into a dimly lit driveway and you're directed down a dusty dark road into what looks like the middle of nowhere. It's a great mood setter as it creates a real desolate and abandoned atmosphere that really has you questioning where you've been sent.
The park was very busy so we headed straight to the Haunted Hayride. We knew it was a nice attraction to start the evening with from our previous visit and it seemed a lot of people had the same idea as us. We joined a crowd that stretched the full length of the queue line, but luckily we didn't have to wait too long and thanks to a brilliant wandering actress, who we were glad to see had returned from last season. Her improvisational skills were exceptional as she hovered around her fans and victims waiting for unsuspecting souls to pounce on.
The trailer went off on a different route to previously and throughout our journey we were left guessing where the action would come from. Unfortunately for us a lot of the live scares seemed to focus on the front of the trailer but due to the nature of these type of attractions it's just the luck of the draw, and our experience could well have been different from the next trailer. It's worth noting that many of the scares were fun to watch even if they weren't so much focused on us. Also we seemed to have picked up a wandering actress who decided to join us for the ride and appeared to be up to no good for the majority of the journey.
The Haunted Hayride combines live action scares with some interesting anamatronics, falling scenery (which literally comes within inches of you), fire, smoke and lighting effects and some clever surprises along the way. We were pleased to see that our favourite scene from 2010 had returned but had been bumped up to being the rides finale which we felt fitted well. When we first experienced it last season we were instantly wowed by it and it felt fitting that it would be the star this year..
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 Trick or Treat maze |
The Field Of Screams provided some of the biggest scares for us
last year. The queue was massive and didn't seem to go down very quickly either
(due to queue jumpers- a prevalent problem on that evening) so we were glad to
finally step into the eerie darkness of the corn. Our first scare used a second
actor to create a fantastic distraction scare and needless to say, several of
our group jumped.
We carried on through the maze with tension building meeting a couple more actors along the way, although we found that generally it was lacking in interaction. This may have been due to it being the opening weekend, and keeping it slightly more family orientated early on in the season, but we did feel that it was much more the anticipation of actors that actually meeting any that caused any fear within the group.
The final section of the maze utilised a pitch black labyrinth of tunnels which created a nice tension in our group, but could have possibly used an actor inside, like last year, to have us running for the exit in sheer panic!
Quarantine, one of Spookyworld's new attractions for 2011 is housed inside a snaking jungle of shipping containers, and centres around a government facility gone wrong. It creates a tight claustrophobic experience which gives you no option but to creep past each of the actors trying not to provoke them too much. In places the tunnels are in near darkness and the layout seems to stretch on forever.
The only criticism we had of this attraction was down to it's design. With it being such a tight and cramped experience it often gives some of the actors very little room to move or be creative, although we are sure that they will learn to utilise this to their advantage. There were one or two stand out characters though who had were really working the space well - one of the most intimidating actors simply hid in the shadows snarling as we tried to pass.
We carried on through the maze with tension building meeting a couple more actors along the way, although we found that generally it was lacking in interaction. This may have been due to it being the opening weekend, and keeping it slightly more family orientated early on in the season, but we did feel that it was much more the anticipation of actors that actually meeting any that caused any fear within the group.
The final section of the maze utilised a pitch black labyrinth of tunnels which created a nice tension in our group, but could have possibly used an actor inside, like last year, to have us running for the exit in sheer panic!
Quarantine, one of Spookyworld's new attractions for 2011 is housed inside a snaking jungle of shipping containers, and centres around a government facility gone wrong. It creates a tight claustrophobic experience which gives you no option but to creep past each of the actors trying not to provoke them too much. In places the tunnels are in near darkness and the layout seems to stretch on forever.
The only criticism we had of this attraction was down to it's design. With it being such a tight and cramped experience it often gives some of the actors very little room to move or be creative, although we are sure that they will learn to utilise this to their advantage. There were one or two stand out characters though who had were really working the space well - one of the most intimidating actors simply hid in the shadows snarling as we tried to pass.
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 The ominous entrance to Quarantine |
 Dare you go in? |
Our final haunt came in the form of Spookyworld's other new attraction, 'The Disturbed'. We've watched the advertising campaign for this years event and although it was easy to predict the direction 'Quarantine' was going to take, Spookyworld had kept their cards close to their chest with this maze. We had no idea what was housed inside the large tent structure on the opposite side of the park however from the queue line we watched group after group run from the exit building up the anticipation.
The maze is a fairly simple concept but is incredibly effective and features a series of wire fences and strobe lights. A pretty standard strobe maze you may think, however its twist meant that instead of following a single route, you were given choices of which was to turn and it's possible to make wrong decisions along the way. The actors let us make the mistakes but rather than let us carry and walk round in circles, they would block the path until we turned back and tried again. It created a real sense of panic as we tried our best to make it to the exit. The actors in the attraction really knew how to work the maze to their advantage and at several points I was jumping out of my skin.
We spent some time exploring the Spookyworld grounds and sampled a few of their non-maze based activities. We had great fun racing on their multi lane zip wires against each other. There's plenty to see and do and that is part of the charm of Spookyworld. There literally is something for everyone and with themeing scattered throughout and a spookily lit wooded area in the centre of the park, the place has a fantastic atmosphere.
The roaming actors are a credit to the company as they really add something to the event. Some are relentless in their attack strategies and will come at you again and again very effectively. It's interaction like this that really made the event for us and what turned a solid attraction into a great night out with some great memories to share when we got home.
Our evening finished with a trip through the Trick Or Treat maze, a permanent non actor based wooden fence maze. We were stuck inside for what seemed like forever thanks to it's clever design which really has you questioning how to get out ! Part of it's lure was the fun of being able to hide around the corners and jump out on your unsuspecting friends ... perfect for a few wannabe scare actors like us !!
In short Spookyworld is a great value attraction with a great atmosphere, it lacks some of the more extreme scares but it's variety and atmosphere are what sold the event to us once again.
The maze is a fairly simple concept but is incredibly effective and features a series of wire fences and strobe lights. A pretty standard strobe maze you may think, however its twist meant that instead of following a single route, you were given choices of which was to turn and it's possible to make wrong decisions along the way. The actors let us make the mistakes but rather than let us carry and walk round in circles, they would block the path until we turned back and tried again. It created a real sense of panic as we tried our best to make it to the exit. The actors in the attraction really knew how to work the maze to their advantage and at several points I was jumping out of my skin.
We spent some time exploring the Spookyworld grounds and sampled a few of their non-maze based activities. We had great fun racing on their multi lane zip wires against each other. There's plenty to see and do and that is part of the charm of Spookyworld. There literally is something for everyone and with themeing scattered throughout and a spookily lit wooded area in the centre of the park, the place has a fantastic atmosphere.
The roaming actors are a credit to the company as they really add something to the event. Some are relentless in their attack strategies and will come at you again and again very effectively. It's interaction like this that really made the event for us and what turned a solid attraction into a great night out with some great memories to share when we got home.
Our evening finished with a trip through the Trick Or Treat maze, a permanent non actor based wooden fence maze. We were stuck inside for what seemed like forever thanks to it's clever design which really has you questioning how to get out ! Part of it's lure was the fun of being able to hide around the corners and jump out on your unsuspecting friends ... perfect for a few wannabe scare actors like us !!
In short Spookyworld is a great value attraction with a great atmosphere, it lacks some of the more extreme scares but it's variety and atmosphere are what sold the event to us once again.
To find out more about Spooky World visit their www.spookyworld.co.uk
You Review
This is my third year visiting spooky world. This year was our daughters 13th birthday, So we took her and some of her school friends at night. For the most part we had a great time. however, there were far to many people in there. Honestly, the queues where massive. So much so that we had to miss the field of screams which really annoyed me. (i've queued less for new rides at alton towers).Some new scares this year which was good and a surprise on the hay ride. That woman with the red hair really freaked one of the kids out. Lol. Also, please, please invest in some proper toilets.
You Review 2 (may contain spoilers)
11 of us went to Spooky World Friday 28th Oct, ages from 11-32, walking up to the entrance we were greeted by zombies and the walking dead!
Inside there were 4 attractions plus others things such as the jumping pillow, zip wires and a yummy overpriced BBQ!
Quarantine was the first, 40 mins we waited in line, with zombies coming up to the queue lies, they let all 11 of us through as a group, single file hands on the person in front, walking through the cramped low ceiling and very right passages were bumps scares and surprises! And we even got chased out!
The haunted Hayride was next, around 30 people on the back of a tractor through te haunted forest, with scares jumping onto us! Although this is the tamest of the four it still had frights especially with chainsaws!!!!
The field of 1000 screams... The most scary as its known... We waited for around an hour for this, just 9 of us remained! Then we got to the front just 8 remained! Wimps!
With a scary man in the waiting area and a woman that screamed at you as you went in, what was to come? This was very tense! Around 10 actors in the whole maze, clowns, zombies, etc... Takes about 10 mins to walk through, low walk through a and pitch black sections! But we spent the whole time screaming and laughing!!! As the 6ft tall, 32yr old male was worse than the 11yr old child! Haha! Although no chainsaws but I think this was due to it was 10pm as they had them earlier!
The disturbed was last... I think most of the actors has gone home! Only around 3 scares in the whole maze of cages, strobe lights throughout! Everybody coming out was thinking it was abit pants but it was 11pm! The park supposed to close at half 10!
So we left spooky world at 11.30pm having a fun evening, well worth the money but would have preferd a little more scares! :)... BOO!
You Review 3 (may contain spoilers)
On the evening of Tuesday the 25th, I visited Spooky World at Apple Jacks Farm. Looking back, I would say that the event was similar in nature to Scareshow – toned down and a little too tame for my tastes, but suitable for visitors who are new to scare attractions (though I will admit I did get a scream or two out of this attraction). Since Spooky World is so heavily advertised as a ‘scary’ event at night, I was surprised at how underwhelming the whole experience was & how much Apple Jack’s needed to improve upon to make the experience more frightening in general – especially the use of cheap masks - which is undeniably grating, in relation to how much it costs for a ticket to get in this event.
The first thing I went on with my group was the Haunted Hayride. The positives about this part of Spooky World (which honestly I feel reluctant to point out, due to the fact this was my least favourite part) was the features incorporated in the journey – this was my first time on a haunted hayride and, ignoring the fact it was a supposed scare attraction, the route was very scenic and well lit, with eerie coloured lights, also included was driving into & through water, and there was even a truck which sped up to the carriage as we as a group were being towed along – a clever idea I have never seen demonstrated. As we progressed through the Haunted Hayride, I realised that the 'go for the middle' tactic was basically the only one used, and was then prolific then throughout the rest of the different mazes – so if you have already booked & have yet to visit Spooky World, then I would recommend to place yourself directly in the middle of the groups, if you can, for maximum scare. Being sat at the back of the tractor carriage excluded me from any scares and also made it difficult to see what was happening. I would say this was the most disappointing part of the event for the night.
Onwards to The Disturbed. This was a mesh wall maze filled completely with extremely fast strobe lighting. I was placed at the front of the group on this maze and I struggled terribly to navigate my way around. The Disturbed was more effective for scares, but the few actors seemed too sparse & not really making an effort to scare passing individuals. Assessing the actor-to-public ratio, it looks like Spooky World were rushing too many people through & also lacked enough actors to successfully scare the entirety of the groups that were going through. Comparatively, though, this was five steps up from the Hayride - I think I did scream somewhere in here because of how utterly disorientating it was. Again, this was an improvement on the Hayride, but was not terrifying.
Quarantine had the longest of all of the queues, and had a man stood at the entrance collecting tickets in a fascinating zombie type costume (I think the broken glass pieces looked fantastic!). Quarantine was themed around what seemed to be an infected hospital type area, filled with doctors & insane patients. This was the only maze I actually screamed out loud in, due to a female actor’s perfectly timed lashing out at a grid wall, just as I walked past. Again the actors were clearly too sparse in this maze – and this was clearly identifiable as our group went in alone for the first half of the maze, before a wildly panicking group managed to catch up with us from behind. The acting effort, though, seemed to be better in Quarantine than any other – for example there was a straight jacket bound patient that violently threw himself around and then appeared out from an opening in the side of his ‘cage’ which was amusing. I think it perhaps was a tie between Quarantine and the Disturbed for being the ‘scarier’ maze of the evening.
The Field of Screams was almost as disappointing as the Hayride – except one actor managed to shock me by cleverly hiding in the tall shadows of the corn walls. What seemed to have happened when our group departed for the trail around the maze was most of the actors had either given up and left as the evening was coming to an end, and most of the stations, or areas, where actors seemingly should have been, were not. A girl behind me in our group complained of how most of the actors were absent & how much better last year’s event was, as the setting was vastly darker – which compounded my thoughts that the actors indeed had simply given up. There was a generic chainsaw ending but I refused to rush out in hopes I might actually feel scared, which sadly I didn’t.
Spooky World definitely has potential, primarily with the sets - they look quite impressive indeed, but regretfully I feel that is not enough to make a maze & since this is not a new attraction to the scare market I doubt very much they will be changing how things are run anytime soon (as Spooky World seems to already have an established target audience), therefore I will not be making a return visit (unless it was for someone new to scare attractions).
You Review 4
I have just had the misfortune of visiting this place. The scariest thing about it is the obvious complete disregard for any health and safety regulations.
There are 4 attraction rides in total. 2 of which claim to be new. The "quaranteen" is in fact not new at all. I have visited spooky world before and been on that same ride with a different name stuck on the entrance. The "ride" itself is several steel shipping containers back to back, the insides bodged together with plywood. As you walk through you are sent into near total darkness, I expect in an attempt to hide the fact that you are actually in a shipping container. At some points you are approached by "actors" who are, at best, lacklustre. There seemed to be an infinite number of women dressed in white like the girl from the film "The Ring" who thought it would be scary to walk at you with their head on a tilt. The problem was they were frequently wearing just normal clothes underneath a pinny, kind of ruined the atmosphere.
The second scariest thing about Spooky World is the queue lengths. We spent probably about 40 minutes queuing for the Field of Screams. Another total let down. On this "ride" there seemed to be a shortage of actors. We saw 2 in total. The rest was just literally a walk through a muddy maze in the dark.
The Haunted Hayride is probably the best attraction but still there's just things that detract. The wearwolf that jumped out was wearing just a wearwolf mask and some wearwolf gloves. I expect that you should be too scared to notice the shabby costumes when he jumps on the trailer but genuinely he needed to up his game.
The second new attraction this year was "The Disturbed", when we located it, it appeared to be a small marquee with a huge snaking queue in front of it. Whilst wondering if we should endure the queue for a predictably rubbish attraction we were told by every single customer coming out of the ride "don't bother". We left the queue along with about half of the other people and went home.
The "scary" people that work here are clearly all failed actors who get kicks out of chasing small kids. The ones that "wander" around the park completely detract from the scariness of it all. We were greeted by a "scary" girl practically harassing a group of children. Some of whom were awkwardly not scared of her to the extent that they were just standing looking at her. It also detracts from the scariness when the actors talk out of character to the workers on the hot dog stand.
The whole park area was shabby and muddy. If you appreciate questionable facilities, poor acting, even worse costumes, long queuing times and expensive entry, then is is probably the place for you.
There are 4 attraction rides in total. 2 of which claim to be new. The "quaranteen" is in fact not new at all. I have visited spooky world before and been on that same ride with a different name stuck on the entrance. The "ride" itself is several steel shipping containers back to back, the insides bodged together with plywood. As you walk through you are sent into near total darkness, I expect in an attempt to hide the fact that you are actually in a shipping container. At some points you are approached by "actors" who are, at best, lacklustre. There seemed to be an infinite number of women dressed in white like the girl from the film "The Ring" who thought it would be scary to walk at you with their head on a tilt. The problem was they were frequently wearing just normal clothes underneath a pinny, kind of ruined the atmosphere.
The second scariest thing about Spooky World is the queue lengths. We spent probably about 40 minutes queuing for the Field of Screams. Another total let down. On this "ride" there seemed to be a shortage of actors. We saw 2 in total. The rest was just literally a walk through a muddy maze in the dark.
The Haunted Hayride is probably the best attraction but still there's just things that detract. The wearwolf that jumped out was wearing just a wearwolf mask and some wearwolf gloves. I expect that you should be too scared to notice the shabby costumes when he jumps on the trailer but genuinely he needed to up his game.
The second new attraction this year was "The Disturbed", when we located it, it appeared to be a small marquee with a huge snaking queue in front of it. Whilst wondering if we should endure the queue for a predictably rubbish attraction we were told by every single customer coming out of the ride "don't bother". We left the queue along with about half of the other people and went home.
The "scary" people that work here are clearly all failed actors who get kicks out of chasing small kids. The ones that "wander" around the park completely detract from the scariness of it all. We were greeted by a "scary" girl practically harassing a group of children. Some of whom were awkwardly not scared of her to the extent that they were just standing looking at her. It also detracts from the scariness when the actors talk out of character to the workers on the hot dog stand.
The whole park area was shabby and muddy. If you appreciate questionable facilities, poor acting, even worse costumes, long queuing times and expensive entry, then is is probably the place for you.
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