Screams! At Thornton Hall
Halloween events at Thornton Hall Country Park have had a chequered history, with a number of different experiences opening over the years. The venue originally announced Screamfields, a new scream park but due to the Covid pandemic – this was never able to open in its original form. Instead a drive thru experience was created as one of the few events to open that Halloween season. The event was really well received by the people that visited, so once restrictions were lifted, the drive thru became a walk through experience that opened in the Spring the following year ( see our review below)
From then on - a number of different events were promised and promoted, but all were cancelled before they actually happened. With a change of creative team in 2023 a new event called Screams at Thornton Hall was announced, but as with previous years – this was cancelled before any construction began. Therefore when it was revealed that Screams at Thornton Hall would finally be back for 2024, we were a bit skeptical that it would actually happen. But as the year progressed and the marketing campaign escalated, it was becoming clear that this event was serious about making a dramatic appearance. And we are so glad it did.
Built on a hillside at the venue – it is clear that Thornton Hall mean business . These attractions are literally carved into the landscape with a permanent concrete base and structures that will definitely stand the test of time. We ventured up the hill and went into the first of three scare attractions (which all have three very different themes)
Jinxed was easily the “safest” of the attractions, with a bright and colourful Mardi Gras themed version of a clown maze. Inside the bright façade was a crazy fun-house with lively actors, some great scenery and some fun scares. We loved the fact that this wasn’t just another clown maze and the colour palette throughout made it feel fresh and original.
Our next maze was the far darker and more atmospheric Malkin Manor, which can only be described as a traditional style haunted house. Everything about this attraction oozed class and there were multiple scares throughout. There was also a massive sense of confusion as doors and walls appeared to move around us when we weren't looking. We entered many of the rooms multiple times which just created a sense of confusion, but also gave us a chance to appreciate the incredible design and theming throughout. We really cant say anything negative about this incredible scare attraction.
And then we experienced Black Market, which was marketed as the most extreme event of the night. Now everyone knows that we don’t do ultra extreme events – but we have no problem being manhandled within an attraction. But Black Market really pushed us to our limits with separation, hooding and (at times) full restraint.
It takes a LOT to make us uncomfortable, but this maze really skirted round the borders of what we were happy to endure and we genuinely believe must have been a real shock to many of the uninitiated guests. It was easily the most extreme attraction of our Halloween tour and left us unsettled and scared throughout (yet during an out of hours tour we learned about how safe and controlled this experience was) It really gave us faith that we can trust the creative team – which is not always the same with other “extreme” experiences, that just push the boundaries because they can!
Our only complaint about Black Market? The swearing from a man character was just relentless and become boring rather than threatening. If we had to change anything we would change the opening script (or the actor) to become something more insidious and indicative of what was coming next. As it was – it just felt a bit cheap, which tarnished the rest of the experience.
Outside of the attractions, there were several roaming actors who were engaging with guests across the site, and down in the main arena, there was a bar and food options to chill out after the scares.
So after waiting multiple years for a worthy event – Thornton Hall have absolutely solidified their place in the scare attraction industry. This event really is quite bold and different, and we can not wait to see what they do in the future.
From then on - a number of different events were promised and promoted, but all were cancelled before they actually happened. With a change of creative team in 2023 a new event called Screams at Thornton Hall was announced, but as with previous years – this was cancelled before any construction began. Therefore when it was revealed that Screams at Thornton Hall would finally be back for 2024, we were a bit skeptical that it would actually happen. But as the year progressed and the marketing campaign escalated, it was becoming clear that this event was serious about making a dramatic appearance. And we are so glad it did.
Built on a hillside at the venue – it is clear that Thornton Hall mean business . These attractions are literally carved into the landscape with a permanent concrete base and structures that will definitely stand the test of time. We ventured up the hill and went into the first of three scare attractions (which all have three very different themes)
Jinxed was easily the “safest” of the attractions, with a bright and colourful Mardi Gras themed version of a clown maze. Inside the bright façade was a crazy fun-house with lively actors, some great scenery and some fun scares. We loved the fact that this wasn’t just another clown maze and the colour palette throughout made it feel fresh and original.
Our next maze was the far darker and more atmospheric Malkin Manor, which can only be described as a traditional style haunted house. Everything about this attraction oozed class and there were multiple scares throughout. There was also a massive sense of confusion as doors and walls appeared to move around us when we weren't looking. We entered many of the rooms multiple times which just created a sense of confusion, but also gave us a chance to appreciate the incredible design and theming throughout. We really cant say anything negative about this incredible scare attraction.
And then we experienced Black Market, which was marketed as the most extreme event of the night. Now everyone knows that we don’t do ultra extreme events – but we have no problem being manhandled within an attraction. But Black Market really pushed us to our limits with separation, hooding and (at times) full restraint.
It takes a LOT to make us uncomfortable, but this maze really skirted round the borders of what we were happy to endure and we genuinely believe must have been a real shock to many of the uninitiated guests. It was easily the most extreme attraction of our Halloween tour and left us unsettled and scared throughout (yet during an out of hours tour we learned about how safe and controlled this experience was) It really gave us faith that we can trust the creative team – which is not always the same with other “extreme” experiences, that just push the boundaries because they can!
Our only complaint about Black Market? The swearing from a man character was just relentless and become boring rather than threatening. If we had to change anything we would change the opening script (or the actor) to become something more insidious and indicative of what was coming next. As it was – it just felt a bit cheap, which tarnished the rest of the experience.
Outside of the attractions, there were several roaming actors who were engaging with guests across the site, and down in the main arena, there was a bar and food options to chill out after the scares.
So after waiting multiple years for a worthy event – Thornton Hall have absolutely solidified their place in the scare attraction industry. This event really is quite bold and different, and we can not wait to see what they do in the future.
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