SCREAMFEST 2024
(BURTON UPON TRENT)
_REVIEW. it’s about _LIVE. words _KYLE PEDLEY. at _NATIONAL FOREST ADVENTURE FARM. tickets _OFFICIAL SITE. booking until _02nd NOV 2024.
images © Kyle Pedley, Screamfest
To touch or not to touch, that is the question.
A somewhat innuendo-leaning intro, perhaps, but one of the key considerations of surely any modern scare attraction is whether or not they will allow their cast members to physically grab and interact with visitors.
It isn’t difficult to comprehend the arguments against doing so. It’s surely a safeguarding and insurance nightmare, for one, and there’s always the looming hazard of a guest getting grab-happy (or worse) in retaliation.
For as long as we have been reviewing (now the tenth year!), Screamfest at the National Forest Adventure Farm in Burton upon Trent has always been a strictly hands-off experience. Not that this has in any way been a detriment or shortcoming; a regular refreshment of its mazes and some USPs such as its ominous cornfield lends it plenty of frightful return appeal. And in last year’s review, we made a point of recognising how reinvigorated and vibrant the park and its scare actors seemed across-the-board. One could perhaps even argue that not being able to tug, grab and shove necessitated Screamfest’s ghouls and nasties leads to them having to be extra inventive in their character work and interactions – something that is still gleefully on show in the likes of Freakout on Tour and Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo.
And yet, in a real red letter moment for Burton, 2024 sees them cross that rubicon of physicality as they introduce an all-new maze from the ashes of an old favourite that allows its actors to get up close and personal and, yes, touch you.
Before appraising new arrival Helcatraz, though, the rest of this year’s Screamfest offering is functionally identical to last year’s great offering. The award-winning Insomniac returns, and its victorian era sequences seemed particularly densely populated, which is always highly welcome. The genuinely eerie trip into a young girl’s nightmare remains rich with ideas and Insidous-style creepiness and visuals.
“…whatever Burton’s casting team and directors are doing, they’re doing it well.”
Freakout on Tour, as mentioned, was another showcase that whatever Burton’s casting team and directors are doing, they’re doing it well. With our not being at a media or preview night, or even particularly early in the event’s run, it would be understandable if energy levels had dipped or weren’t at their peak, but every performer was truly giving it their all. Even the staffers giving the safety drills before entering the mazes seemed invested and on the ball.
It’s a thread that runs through each of the returning mazes. More so than in perhaps any year, there were numerous instances where the performers were willing to stop us in our tracks and create mini set pieces or scenarios all of our own. From a hilarious spot of body part bartering with a merchant in Zombee Zoo to a mischievous clown catching the name of a member of our party and deciding to comedically seek her out and toy with her as she trailed behind, there was no sense of these performers simply going through the motions, which can sometimes sap the energy out of a long-running attraction. It’s the second year running that the standards of performer energy and spontaneity have been particularly impressive and notable at Burton, and long may it continue.
Another returnee for 2024 is Area 52, an optional extra experience which sees visitors taken out into the reaches of the farm to paintball their way through invading alien forces. It returns mostly intact from last year, though a neat extra flourish arrives this year in the form of an introductory video which lends the things an extra sense of narrative and production value. As per last year, on the whole it’s hokey, schlocky fun that falls fairly squarely in B-movie territory, but is a neat change of pace and tone from the mazes themselves. At £10 (with additional costs for extra paintballs that if you are not good at rationing you will quite possibly need) it’s a considered extra purchase, especially with regard to the time investment if you aren’t going down the fast track route for the mazes, but it’s overall good, campy fun if you can allot it within your budgets and timetable for the evening.
Elsewhere, Burton’s usual ensemble of food vendors, musical performances, fairground rides, wandering scare actors and a performance stage all return. Set within the National Forest Adventure Farm, it has always proven itself an atmospheric and ambient hub space, landing somewhere between psychedelic rave and farmyard horror. New features and focal points, such as caged dancers and a perturbing electric chair animatronic, along with returning favourites such as the inimitable Nurse Babs and friends wandering around, all infuse the park with character and identity at every turn. It’s just a fun, freaky place to wander about, with an encounter or something to see likely at every turn. By the time Babs had taken over one of the dancing cages and was twerking and thrusting away furiously, only to be chastised by a disapproving undead girl with her dolly, there was no denying you were at Screamfest. Few scare attractions stamp their identity so indelibly and infectiously.
“…Screamfest’s newest outing most certainly doesn’t pull its punches.”
But there’s no escaping the big ticket newbie that is Helcatraz. Having finally seen off what seemed like the eternal Love Hurts (though loving homages and throwbacks to that can be found scattered throughout the park and mazes), as mentioned, Screamfest’s newest outing most certainly doesn’t pull its punches.
An intense venture into a nightmarish industrial prison complex, Helcatraz grabs you – quite literally – from the off, and doesn’t let go. Without wanting to spoil too much of what is a fantastic, very full-on maze, just be prepared to be separated, isolated, touched, shoved and very possibly get rather wet. This reviewer’s Helcatraz journey saw him cut off from the rest of his party for the entire maze, a suitably thrilling and frightening venture into the unknown. As is par for the course here, the design work, lighting and sound work are all excellent throughout. And the actors here are clearly relishing the freedom of permitted contact – hair will be pulled, legs grabbed, and at the point which I was shoved head-first into a narrow crawl space early on the maze, I knew Burton weren’t going to half-heartedly tiptoe into this new approach.
Given the high intensity of Helcatraz, it unsurprisingly fostered the longest queues of the evening. Though the general length of queues did not seem too long on the Thursday evening in question, the fact that Burton allows unlimited entry to its mazes at base really lends credence to considering its fast track and other ancillary ticket options. Though prices do vary dependent on the date of visit, for weekends and Friday evenings in particular, the ability to bypass queues should be a consideration. If contemplating the fast track options, the extra bang you get for your buck by opting for Screamfest’s ‘RIP’ ultimate ticket is notable. Whilst not exactly cheap at £89 per person, it actually works out to be very reasonably priced when broken down, offering up unlimited fast track entry to all of the mazes, entry to Area 52 (usually £10 by itself), a £10 food voucher to use at the food vendors, 3 complementary drinks at the event’s bar (including alcoholic beverages) as well as a bespoke RIP lanyard. It is the experience we enjoyed on our visit, and means you are able to take in almost all of what Burton offers hassle-free and at your own leisure, with food, drinks and the fun of Area 52 all thrown in.
“If contemplating the fast track options, the extra bang you get for your buck by opting for Screamfest’s ‘RIP’ ultimate ticket is notable.”
Irrespective of whether you are able to indulge to full toothsome extent though, a 2024 visit to Screamfest Burton is another easy recommendation. Firmly ensconced as a staple of any of our Halloween Horror Visits, it has been a devilish joy to see this stalwart of the scare industry go from strength to strength. Once again boasting an enviable ensemble of game, invested scare actors injecting new life and frights into even older mazes, Burton finds itself comfortably nipping at the heels of its competitors as one of the best scare attractions in the UK. With the fantastic new Helcatraz boldly and unabashedly breaking through into new territory for the park, the future looks bleak, bloody and brilliant for our favourite Halloween must-visits.
Burton confidently proves its sterling offering last year was no fluke. With a fantastic new maze venturing boldly into new territory for the park, and the same high standards of scare performers and characterful identity throughout, it’s a bloody brilliant return for one of the UK’s best scare attractions.
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