Outbreak is a new event for 2024 in central Nottingham, not far from the train station. Initial impressions were good as there was an impressive shipping container facade with a good number of fairground rides, an impressive looking pop-up mini-golf attraction as well as a few food and drink options (all for an additional charge) and some fun Halloween animatronics in the main hub-style section. Sadly it was a very quiet night when I attended so most of the rides weren’t open and due to the lack of people there wasn’t any atmosphere. I can imagine on a busier night it would feel very different.
After checking in near the main entrance there’s a long walk to the scare maze. The majority of the experience takes place in a dilapidated building that apparently was once used as part of Boot’s main research facility. There’s some nice lighting as you approach, giving the former warehouse a nice sinister vibe.
After a short wait and a standard safety briefing, we then had a fun and entertaining theatrical opener before entering the building proper and starting through the maze. I think it’s fair to say that in terms of set and design this is a very basic event as it is mostly a walk through some covered Heras-fencing. There’s some use of outdoor sections and some of the original building internal structure, but most of the time it’ll be the familiar sight of black plastic, which has got some interesting designs on it.
The scares were a mixture of more traditional jump scares interspersed with some entertaining theatrical scenes. It would have been nice to see a few more actors in some of the quieter sections, but all the actors I encountered were good, especially so in the theatrical scenes. One section in particular lends itself well to a more free-roam style, that with a few more actors could have been very chaotic and disorienting. I managed to get a few more scares at this event than a fair few others this spooky season.
This is a very basic and budget event in terms of the scare maze itself, but the actors landed the scares well and entertained during the scenes. It would have been nice to have seen a few more of them. At £25 for a 15 – 20 min experience it does feel overpriced especially with the lack of set and design, but I did enjoy my run through Outbreak Nottingham.
Outbreak runs every day through to Sunday 3rd November, with family friendly (Under 16) sessions available from 2pm – 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
