Tuesday, 15 October 2019 00:00

Review: Screamfest 2019

We attended the preview night for Screamfest on Thursday 10th October 2019, including the new scare attraction Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo.

On selected nights in October and November the National Forest Adventure Farm, Burton on Trent, transforms itself to a chilling scream park.

There are five terrifying scare attractions. plus a variety of live entertainment, food and drink, roaming characters and fairground rides.

  • Insomnia (SCAR Award Winner) - Enter a child’s nightmare… What if her nightmare is real? What if she could drag you in to her nightmare? What if you could not wake up? This was unlike anything we've ever experienced, a unique story driven attraction where a young girl is tormented by a bogeyman character. In the opening scenes you are a witness to these unsettling events, but as things progress you are very much immersed in them. The clever use of effects, carefully timed scenes and a very effective mirror maze all contributed to this working so well.

  • Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo (New for 2019) - “Come on down to the Zombee Zoo, the best day out in all the south! Have we got some sights for y’all.” It's a zoo full of zombies, what could possibly go wrong… An original concept that's been brought to life with great skill, an impressively long experience that's surprising and feels relentless. The excellent sets and brilliant actors certainly made this one of the most memorable experiences of the night.

  • Dia de los Muertos - Years ago Mexican villagers celebrating the Day of the Dead entered the maize maze and never returned, the sounds of laughter turning to screams. Will you escape the maze without suffering the same fate? The experience begins with a tractor trailer ride to the festival, and we were kept entertained throughout the bumpy journey across the farm to the maize maze. What starts off as a creepy exploration gets more sinister, passing through a series of buildings where the majority of the action takes place, leading to a dramatic finale as you narrowly escape a gang of drug dealers!

  • Love HURTS - Welcome to the Diced Heart Pub. Owned by Professor Heart, he wants you to find his your soul mate at one of his famous speed dating nights. After the disgusting scene inside a toilet cubicle, gruesome events spiral out of control. It's sick, twisted and shocking in equal measure. A little light on actual scares, but it's more off a gross-out experience.

  • FREAK OUT! - Roll up… Roll up! The circus is back in town. A circus of freaks and creeps have set up a funhouse at Screamfest. This is a classic genre and it opens with a typical curtain maze. The combination of wacky music, lights and colourful sets filled with evil clowns is a safe bet given this common phobia, but if any of the scare attractions at Screamfest need to make way for something new, it should be this.

We thoroughly enjoyed our night at Screamfest and would thoroughly recommend adding this to your Halloween itinerary.

Screamfest runs on select nights until 2nd November at the National Forest Adventure Farm. For best value tickets, grab your mates and book online in advance at www.screamfest.co.uk

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