Yorkshire Scare Grounds 2015
On Sunday 1st November, we drove down Hell Lane, an actual road name, to see what Fear Masters Entertainment had in store for us at their home The Yorkshire Scare Grounds as they celebrated Five Year of Fear.
We were immediately met by a range of characters who harassed us, took us by the arm and just about threw us through the ticket office and straight into the first attraction: Darkwood 2 - Bloody Mary.
We followed a dark path through the natural woodland that is part of the Scare Grounds and approached a huge wooden shack where a priest ran out and told us he couldn’t exorcise the demons inside because of what happened to Mary. The set inside was really well detailed felt like a scene from a movie. The dense haze throughout hid all manner of actors and hydraulic props that made us jump.
From there we were back into the woodland and into voodoo territory. Before we got there we had actors in camouflage jumping at us and following us into a swamp land setting. A scene in there told us that the queen of voodoo’s corpse was missing. Skull’s painted on their faces, the actors from that section made it clear they wanted us to leave. They were chanting ritualistically and followed us until we made it out of their clearly marked territory.
We then ended up in Exile. A sort of live version of the movie The Purge. Exile was set in an open, outdoor space so coming from the woodland we were almost relieved to be able to partly see what was in front of us. But not for long! Walking around small out houses and fenced pathways we expected certain scares from following a laid out route but again the scares came from all angles. Masks, sharp weapons, expressionless faces and death threats made us feel uneasy.
Exile led straight to Containment which was a part of the 2012 attraction at the Scare Grounds, brought back for this year on a bigger scale. Walking up to it and the barbed wire fencing, steel gate doors and being told “everyone is dead so fend for yourself” worked really well. Scenes included prison cells, the mess hall, laundry area, showers, sensor activated props and even a bar of soap on the shower floor which made us laugh before getting quite wet from water spraying props. The sets again were really detailed here and we did at one point remark that we felt like we were actually in prison.
A strobe maze from Containment led us into Jack’s Sick and Twisted Zombiehouse which was a bit confusing - we just passed straight from the prison into a big top . That aside, Zombiehouse was a great maze of twists and turns with the actors making use of just about every opportunity to scare us. That chainsaw sound towards the end? We heard it and thought nothing of it as it is something a lot of attractions use, We were slightly wrong to be as lax about it though as we ended up surrounded by characters all wielding a chainsaw to our neck!
The event exits into an area filled with food and beverage stalls, a shop selling Halloween goods and Airsoft merchandise and in our case a girl sat on a bench crying, calling her mum to come and get her. The atmosphere is great and guests are encouraged to hang around with the roaming characters, take a seat and just catch their breath.
We had a great night, it was good to see how the Scare Grounds has grown year on year and to talk to the owners and the staff afterwards. Not so much fun trying to use a portable toilet though when one of the cast decide to grab a chainsaw and starting hacking at the door!
We were immediately met by a range of characters who harassed us, took us by the arm and just about threw us through the ticket office and straight into the first attraction: Darkwood 2 - Bloody Mary.
We followed a dark path through the natural woodland that is part of the Scare Grounds and approached a huge wooden shack where a priest ran out and told us he couldn’t exorcise the demons inside because of what happened to Mary. The set inside was really well detailed felt like a scene from a movie. The dense haze throughout hid all manner of actors and hydraulic props that made us jump.
From there we were back into the woodland and into voodoo territory. Before we got there we had actors in camouflage jumping at us and following us into a swamp land setting. A scene in there told us that the queen of voodoo’s corpse was missing. Skull’s painted on their faces, the actors from that section made it clear they wanted us to leave. They were chanting ritualistically and followed us until we made it out of their clearly marked territory.
We then ended up in Exile. A sort of live version of the movie The Purge. Exile was set in an open, outdoor space so coming from the woodland we were almost relieved to be able to partly see what was in front of us. But not for long! Walking around small out houses and fenced pathways we expected certain scares from following a laid out route but again the scares came from all angles. Masks, sharp weapons, expressionless faces and death threats made us feel uneasy.
Exile led straight to Containment which was a part of the 2012 attraction at the Scare Grounds, brought back for this year on a bigger scale. Walking up to it and the barbed wire fencing, steel gate doors and being told “everyone is dead so fend for yourself” worked really well. Scenes included prison cells, the mess hall, laundry area, showers, sensor activated props and even a bar of soap on the shower floor which made us laugh before getting quite wet from water spraying props. The sets again were really detailed here and we did at one point remark that we felt like we were actually in prison.
A strobe maze from Containment led us into Jack’s Sick and Twisted Zombiehouse which was a bit confusing - we just passed straight from the prison into a big top . That aside, Zombiehouse was a great maze of twists and turns with the actors making use of just about every opportunity to scare us. That chainsaw sound towards the end? We heard it and thought nothing of it as it is something a lot of attractions use, We were slightly wrong to be as lax about it though as we ended up surrounded by characters all wielding a chainsaw to our neck!
The event exits into an area filled with food and beverage stalls, a shop selling Halloween goods and Airsoft merchandise and in our case a girl sat on a bench crying, calling her mum to come and get her. The atmosphere is great and guests are encouraged to hang around with the roaming characters, take a seat and just catch their breath.
We had a great night, it was good to see how the Scare Grounds has grown year on year and to talk to the owners and the staff afterwards. Not so much fun trying to use a portable toilet though when one of the cast decide to grab a chainsaw and starting hacking at the door!
Links
Official website - www.scaregrounds.co.uk
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Mildly scary - For the money we paid it wasn't amazing some good few scares here and there