It is getting close to every horror fans favourite time of year. The supermarkets and pound shops are filling up with scary masks and costumes, the weather is turning and almost everything edible is laced with pumpkin spice. October is upon us and we are all eagerly awaiting Halloween!! As this time of year grows in popularity, more and more scare attractions are appearing across the country. It has become a tradition now for me to organise a Halloween trip for my circle of friends and this year we decided to visit Scaresville – The Haunted Village. Situated at Kentwell Hall near Sudbury this Tudor mansion with its surrounding farmland and buildings were restored in 1970 and opened to the public. Scaresville has been happening here since 2006 so is celebrating its tenth year.
The event is set up all around the buildings and farmland so there are many different scares happening as you go through. The whole experience lasts an hour and a half. There is no let up, no stopping for breaks, once you are in that’s it till you reach the end. If indeed, you make it to the end that is. At least this is what they boast anyway. It is aimed at groups and when you book your group (8 or more people) you choose a time slot and are given a group number. Once you arrive you are shown into an area done up like an olde worlde fair with entertainers such as Magicians and Tarot Readers and also gives you a chance to grab some hot food and a drink before your group is called forward. Once called you are given the usual safety briefing warning of loud noises, strobe lights and uneven ground to name a few. Once the spiel is over you are encouraged to go into single file with your hands of the shoulders of the person in front, the door is opened and when you are all through you are plunged into darkness…… your Scaresville experience has begun. Obviously I’m not going to tell you every little detail, a lot of scare attractions tend to follow a similar pattern, many if not all the building scares are mazes predominantly in darkness set up to disorientate you with scare actors in a variety of costumes lurking around corners and sneaking up behind you to catch you out. One of the scariest for me was ending up in a room with a light that blinked on and off containing a Weeping Angel character. I shit you not, I was actually terrified by this. There is a small let up once you are outside as you can kind of see what is approaching and some bits are tamer than others. Another unsettling part was the abattoir section which was very wet, messy and ridiculously claustrophobic. There are also places where you are forced over wobbly bridges and to climb through net traps. As expected there were quite a few areas that housed the infamous killer clowns and chainsaw wielding hill billies. The biggest let down for me though had to be the Zombie Zone, I got all excited as I passed the sign entering said zone, I think I only counted 3 zombies one of which was in a hammock in a tree that we saw well in advance and the other 2 briefly appeared and then wondered off again. Their attempted scare was to kind of cock their head to one side which kind of reminded me of the way my cat looks at me when he decides to walk in on me on the loo! Plus none of them had make up they just wore masks which I thought was a bit of a poor show. There was another zombie type area more likened to The Crazies, containing dismembered corpses (mannequins) on tables and a couple of zombiefied nurses but again they didn’t do enough with it in my opinion.
When you have completed the event you end up in a nice cosy bar area where you can enjoy a nerve settling alcoholic beverage and chat about your experience, which was a nice touch. On the whole I did enjoy the Scaresville experience. I think they put a lot of time and effort into the set, surroundings and FX but I found the majority of the outside scare actors unenthusiastic and predictable with a distinct lack of zombies. Inside the buildings there were a number of times I jumped, was caught out and scared by quite a few of them though so fair play. Plus there was an awful lot of screaming going on from the other groups going round before and after us so they did their job and everyone who went seemed suitably freaked out at the end! If you are able to get to that part of the country and you are a fan of scare attractions then I would definitely suggest a visit. I believe tickets are still on sale for later on this month but be aware that prices for this particular event increase dramatically the closer it gets to Halloween.
Article written by Sarah Budd