Earlier last month we attended the National Forest Adventure Farm home to Burton Screamfest, an event that we have been to for a good few years and have really seen the event grow throughout the years.
As we waiting for the event to open we were greeted by stilt walkers who kept the crowd entertained before we were let in for the real scares!
Once we were let into the event we noticed some instantly recognisable changes to the main hub area, the main being a more dominant stage being right in front of you instead of being tucked away within the corner, the stage was host to lots of acts throughout the night.
The event also was host to more food vans providing a lot more variety and a brand new beer wagon for this year serving beer from ABK.
Another change at the event is the move of Hillbilly Joe’s zombie paintball shootout, this is now near the entrance to Demonicas Queue line and seems to fit a lot better in this position, The live DJ is also back for this year.
Screamfest Burton features five terrifying scare mazes, two of which being new for this year replacing previous attractions:
Love Hurts
New for last year, Love Hurts blew us away. Fantastic theming and although the scares were a little weak in its opening year the atmosphere and set pieces made up for it. The maze is focused on Professor Hart and his speed dating service in the Diced Heart pub, his search for only the best body parts. Question is, will he take a liking to any of yours? Or will you get rejected? This year they seemed to have tightened everything up, the theming is still as fantastic as always (due to it being a permanent fixture and not removed after the event) but the scares are now a lot more effective. This maze is a real credit to Screamfest and the team should be extremely proud of what has been created and we hope it stays for many years to come.
Demonica
Replacing Night Bringer, which has been at the event since 2015, Demonica is a new scare maze for this year and we were not sure what to expect as we heard essentially nothing about this maze prior to entering apart from brief marketing material.
As we entered the building we were very impressed by the outer facade, bubbling magma outside and fire effects and several numbered doors to enter the building, Is this maze themed around Blind date? As we entered Door No. 2 we were very impressed by the initial pre-show room, however, from then on in we were less than impressed with the maze. We got some scares however, there was minimal theming (if any) and the story of the maze was confusing. Compared to the other mazes, with great theming and creative scares, this maze just didn’t feel on par with the others but that may be down to the great quality of mazes such as Love Hurts and Soul Seekers.
Freak Out
There’s not much more I can say about Freak Out, one of the better curtains mazes we have done and still believe that statement. We still really enjoy the multiple routes you can go through and for this year the actors were holding guests in rooms to maximise on scares. It used a lot of clever techniques and is definitely one of the better years of this maze. We love Freak Out and as long as the maze is at the park we will continue to honk his hooter!
Soul Seekers
Welcome to the Helton Grand! Join the Soul Seekers team as they go on a live investigation of this haunted hotel where there are rumours of people going missing within its walls. New for this year is an IMP (In Maze Photo) whilst walking down one of the corridors, timed with a scare it is very effective and provides a good memory of your time in the hotel. The theming is still great within Soul Seekers and the scares are fantastic too. On our run through there was lots of actors and one that we always love to visit.
Dia De Los Muertos
Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a new maze for this year and replaces Children of the Corn. The maze, much like Children of the Corn takes place in the parks maize maze, however, features a much happier theme.
Your experience starts on a tractor ride and is great fun with great audio to set up the maze and the actors make this journey good fun, a massive improvement as compared to previous years as there was very little to look at during your ride down to the maze.
The maze features some great set pieces throughout and a massive improvement on last year, the actors were in great form and a great change to the line up providing a mix of horror and humor.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Screamfest goes further up in our estimations year after year and this year is no exception. It is obvious that the team at Burton Screamfest are extremely passionate and always try to innovate and improve the event. We always have great fun at Screamfest and we look forward to what they have to offer next year.
Just a reminder, we were doing live updates throughout our trip. These can be seen here:
http://live.themeparkguide.biz/?event=screamfest%20burton%202017