It’s May and I’m sitting writing a Scare review… what an odd feeling? But on Friday evening we headed up the road to attend; Friday The 13th Exclusive event at Xtreme Scream Park. It was a moderately small event but here’s how it went.
Entry:
To enter the event you had to purchase your October ticket before the 12th. Effectively you paid for the full event and received an additional one which is great in my opinion. When waiting to enter there was a heap of clowns amongst the crowd and you get given a timed slot for Pie Factory. It’s something I wish would happen more off just the off scare maze here & there throughout the normal months of the year. But also all money went to the Ukraine fund which is amazing I’m all here for helping those in need of crisis so a massive shout out to the team for doing so.
Hooded Walk Through:
Once you were inside the park you were welcomed (if you will) by the Pie Factory actors alongside some other roaming casts too. You were also then hooded immediately and had to walk with your hands on the shoulders of those in front of you. I’m not generally someone who enjoys being hooded for a prolonged period but this did scratch that line for me. Trying to keep up with those in front as well as being blinded was rather difficult that then took away the enjoyable factor.
Within this section, the actors were terrific there’s no denying that they were extra touchy and I had a couple of good jumps too. It felt as if we walked through a building at one point too. But after 5 minutes-ish or what felt like that long, I had enough of being hooded. I found it quite hard to get through and it was so difficult to keep up with the group as everyone walks at different speeds. It also comes down to the fact it wasn’t exactly a cold evening either so it got very hot & sweaty inside the hoods. But I assume this happened due to it being a normal day for the park & it not being decorated to match the event therefore I guess it was just to keep that eerie setting going really.
Overloaded Pie Factory:
Pie Factory was the maze last season to stand out for us. Therefore, we were delighted to get back inside especially so early in the year. Before visiting one of the team had mentioned to us that Pie Factory was going to have double the actors & scares. Therefore, we of course headed inside with that expectation in mind. However, that was not exactly delivered but that’s okay because it was fab nonetheless.
The smells inside are VILE. Genuinely, again like I said last year my nose has got scars now because it’s all I can smell since. The set pieces I felt I appreciated more this time than ever before, they look unbelievable! I found the scares came from places which have traumatised me for life such as the fridge section that almost finished me off.
Generally, the maze felt pleasantly long and those actors were on top form. You could tell it’s the first time back since October because they were just on it & I mean on it. The outdoor sections provided better scares than before & the finale with the chainsaw was grim as ever. But strictly speaking, it was amazing & the scares were given in such a strong & significant manner. I do wish we could have entered again but I guess that’s me being greedy like that.
Roaming Team:
Xtreme Scream is the best for their roaming team in my opinion. They are so interactive but they also don’t make you feel uneasy when they approach you either. We did befriend a lovely clown (never thought I’d say that as I hate clowns) but Katy the Clown was brilliant! They kept us entertained all night and spent a good percentage of the evening with us & we can’t wait to see you again in October! There weren’t as many as I had predicted roaming but again it was such a small event you can’t expect too much.
Overall:
For a little one-off charity raising event, it was great fun. It was nowhere near the scale of the October event but we never expected that in the first place in all honesty. I found it all a little bit bittersweet as I felt a level of joy about the spooky vibes yet now I got the taste and got to wait another 5 months for more. The team did an extraordinary job at putting this together and delivering this event for their guests. Every actor was brilliant & held their characters in a terrifying way which is precisely what you want. There was various things happening as well like eating & drinking competitions etc. I genuinely can’t wait until October now!
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Did you attend on Friday? If so, what were your thoughts?
Thank you for reading & thank you to all the team that made Friday possible. You smashed it!