We’ve returned to Doncaster Fear Factory for the 2nd year & wow what an event. Thank you to the team for inviting us along. All opinions in this blog are not influenced by the invite or our own. So, let’s have a chat about how the evening unfolded.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The Mortician – 5/5
This is easily one of the most intense scare mazes we’ve probably ever done. You enter in your own group and, truthfully, don’t see a soul the entire way except actors. I mean let’s be honest the name and theme really are not appetising is it? It was absolutely horrifying and jam-packed with actors. From the minute you enter to the second you leave it is non stop your getting grabbed, with actors popping out from every space imaginable. There are a lot of moments of tension about what’s real and what’s not which then leads to some powerful scares. There’s one corridor that’s tightly confined with so many actors on either side; it really is a lot. We even got locked in one corridor whilst being absolutely tormented; we were grabbed, pushed, stroked- basically, you name it, it happened. Once we were left through there the scares just resumed, thick and fast. Finally, you enter the cremation room which is hot and the actor is just terrorising you. It really is a grim experience with a mixture of animatronics, props, odours, lighting, sound and most notably actors. It is relentless. You then exit here directly into the scare zone which is also rough, but we’ll talk about that below.
Shellton Motel – 4/5
Oh, this is just brilliant. Perhaps the tamest of the evening yet still gave some real decent scares throughout. The whole setup of this maze and story is truly brilliant. You enter a pre-show and get easily lost in the story purely because the actress alone in this room is something special; she was there last year too. I can’t imagine this maze beginning without her in all honesty. It does genuinely feel like a motel that you’re walking through. There’s so much attention to detail. You pass through the rooms and each room has someone different inside some lighthearted some quite menacing. It’s a decent-length maze with so much happening all the time. As I said this was a strong maze but just not as intense as the others. But absolutely gorgeous scenery & as a maze overall just excellent.
Quinlens & Co – 5/5
I remember last year we got batched into large groups and did not really rate this maze that well. But my goodness the difference a year makes is impressive. The welcome into the maze alone is out of the blue and gives a good sense of how terrifying it was about to become. This really is a claustrophobic maze; there’s lots of ducking between rooms, tight confined spaces, darkness and very close interactions with actors. This has to be one of the most immersive experiences in terms of the whole experience from smells, sounds, actors, props and the gradual lowering into the sewers- and the effect of the difference in environment. It truly did reek in this maze like you were genuinely amongst the sewers. The intensity of the scares in here was impressive; the touching just intensifies that too. The plague doctor was a true menace in here. Again, the way the characters come to life & illustrate the story of this maze is truly extraordinary as those actors are a true credit to this event.
Friargate Foundry – 4/5
We absolutely love this maze. It’s truly the greatest hits of scare mazes; all the familiar themes and characters you meet along the way are those classics you typically see in these kinds of attractions. What we adore the most is there’s no mazes devoted to some if not all, of the characters you meet throughout. Each room has a different theme & character from clowns to Hill Billy’s; it’s just marvellous. We found the characters in here tapped into their characters so effortlessly and they really did perform such feral scares on us. The maze is incredible in terms of scratching that itch of all the classic characters you’ll find elsewhere and it delivers in one maze and so beautifully at that. The finale was grim with the plague doctor being amongst us again. The strobes in here are drastic but brilliant.
Diabolous Visum Mortis – 5/5
Why we began the night with this maze I’ll truly never know. You follow a rope for a portion of this maze in complete darkness except when an actor appears. I have discovered I can’t follow a rope very well; I lost it a lot. It really isn’t the maze if you don’t like the darkness or aren’t comfortable with the sheer intensity of how unnerving it is. Once the rope ends your back in the light but honestly it doesn’t get any calmer in terms of scares. The way the maze is laid out is immaculate for those sudden scares from where you’d least expect them. The actors are truly absurd in here; they just don’t give you a second to catch a break. Then the finale well, you truly do believe how it can get worse throughout the whole experience up to this point but it absolutely does. That finale is beyond imagination of intensity and never fails to crumble us with fear.
Scare Zones
Dugham Cemetery:
Exit from the mortician maze into this scare zone. Not a ton of actors but enough for the groups leaving the maze. Real touchy-feely again; I had the priest at the end with his arm against my throat throwing “holy water” at me! It’s a short zone but the actors make it worth every second by being so intense in your face and touching you!
Uncle Donks Scare Zones
A very brief zone but it’s not to have some clown interaction amongst the line-up. There were only two clowns within this space during both of our walk-throughs, but they were terrific. Again, they were very on you making you uneasy the entire way through. They used their small space very well.
Roaming Team:
There were so many roaming characters around the place. That running theme of intense moments continues with them; they don’t really pull any punches. I had an axe to my throat; I had a creepy bear as characters swarmed me while touching my face and hair. Honestly, the team are tremendous; they really do their characters so much justice and not being able to catch a break makes the whole event 20x more intense.
Overall:
Again, this scream park is truly in a different league. The intensity of the mazes & scares is way above what we’ve probably ever experienced. How the touching & grabbing makes it all so much more full-on is crazy. Each maze had such attention to detail in every room there was and the added detail of smells. Last year, we were blown away by this event and yet again we truly were taken back by how exceedingly well done it was. The only thing we wish was a bit different was the opportunity to do the mazes more than once. There’s a lot to take in within each maze and having the singular run through doesn’t feel anywhere near enough to truly embrace them. However, with that being said we can’t find anything else negative about the event. You can’t compare this scream park to anywhere else purely because they just don’t fall within the same category as one another. The location of this & how distinguishable these mazes feel helps keep this scream park unique.
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Honestly, this is an event we can’t recommend enough. Make sure you book your tickets HERE; trust me you’ll regret not booking.
Thank you so much to the team for having us again; we had an incredible time!
