Psycho Path 2024
Psycho Path has always been a firm favourite with us and it has been great to see how it has grown from its much smaller beginnings to the beast of an event it has become today. First up, it’s huge with 11 attractions, several shows, a few bars, multiple fairground rides, photo ops and loads of food options. It’s been a couple of years since this particular reviewer attended so it was great to see so many new additions and changes from previous visits.
The queue for entry started early and was quite hefty when we arrived. Thankfully when the doors opened we were speedily through the entrance after some fun interactions with the superb street team who were already engaging people in the main entrance queue as well as harassing you in the main hub. We immediately made our way to Crawl Space, as this is a very limited entrance attraction that you need to book a time slot for. It fills up quickly so it is always best to get this booked in before anything else. Our slot was an early 18.40 one and people showing up then were already being turned away as all the available slots had been filled. It’s a two-person event, so if you’re on your own or in an odd numbered group you will get paired with a stranger.
Crawl Space entertainingly booked, we then had a good look around the site whilst waiting for the attractions to open.
Psycho Cinema presents Mind Control
First up was the latest incarnation of Psycho Cinema, Mind Control. We honestly had no idea what this attraction would entail, so we were a little unnerved when we had to take our jackets and hoodies off beforehand. We initially went into a shed, where a nurse character did a great job giving us a bit of background and some fun interactions with the group. We then went into a bus and took a seat as a couple more actors did an unnerving short theatrical bit, whilst some gruesome imagery played on a screen in front of us. It was a fun concept that we enjoyed, but would have preferred maybe some more impactful scares in the relevant sections, however it is good to see something different being done here.
Crawl Space
Speaking of something different, it was pretty much time for our Crawl Space session. We were a couple of minutes early so we were very ably kept well entertained by Mornika (sorry if I’ve spelled this incorrectly) and her brother Ingrid / Cigrit. We then went into crawl space as a pair, but were quickly separated. Unsurprisingly there are large elements of crawling, interspersed with some entertaining interactive theatrical scenes with the rest of the members of the not very genetically divergent family. These were all good fun with the actors really getting into the roles of these disgusting characters. It’s definitely an assault on the senses, and will leave you feeling bewildered after the fun final exit. A wonderfully different type of attraction that is right up our street of being a bit more intense, but not extreme.
Cutthroat Island
Cutthroat Island is another new maze for me, and it’s very impressive from the start as you’re almost immediately faced with an actual ship that forms the first part of the maze. We had a couple of fun entertaining runs in here, as the scares are less traditional jump scares, but more banter led mini interactions. On a second visit some of the actors improvised well having remembered us going through earlier in the evening. Again another fun attraction, that whilst is more of a traditional maze style mixes things up well. We did feel however that it was a little bit light on actors in some sections, but those that were there, were brilliant.
The Hunt
Survival Maze, sorry The Hunt is another fun different concept, whereby you enter an inflatable maze arena for three rounds of being chased by an assortment of hunters aiming to remove your glowstick necklace. The pre-show is on a school bus and is a nice touch, but the video feels a bit neglected as everyone is trying to get the necklaces and a protective helmet on whilst it’s running. What follows is up to three rounds of trying to avoid the actors. If you’re caught you have your necklace removed and you’re sent out of the arena. The actors were pretty lenient in the first couple of rounds allowing most people to enjoy the experience for a bit longer.
Unlike Horrorland’s Survival Maze, the area that you are sent to after being caught isn’t as visible to the arena, which makes keeping track of any surviving friends impossible. Good fun, light on scares, but a proven concept that provides more variety. The padded helmets however are an absolute pain to use, especially if you wear glasses. I could barely see anything, which made movement harder and weirdly more likely to bang my head than if I wasn’t wearing them. I’m sure there’s a valid Health and Safety reason, but it does again lessen the impact of the experience.
Psycho City
One of the original mazes, despite some changes to the route and how you get to and from it, hasn’t really changed much and definitely felt quite light on actors. Nothing much more to say about this one sadly.
iScream
Another original maze which again hasn’t changed too much, but this year has added Psychovision, which allows your run through the maze to be captured on strategically placed cameras. Sadly the queue to watch the videos was always massively long so we never got to view our runs, both of which were good fun, but again a little light on actors. The ones that were there were all great especially in the opening flappy section, a great use of that style of clown maze section.
The Darkness
We headed outside again for The Darkness, a fairly late replacement for Cornered, we believe as there were issues with growing the maize maze this year. The Darkness uses the same space and to make up for the sparse vegetation sadly uses hoods to restrict vision. Hooded mazes are much more likely to be a miss than a hit, and The Darkness sadly fell more on the miss side. Vast sections of walking along holding the rope with nothing happening were entirely unnecessary. Actor interactions were few and far between and unfortunately became quite repetitive
Vandalised
Another new attraction was Vandalised. The initial set up was great fun as we all got into the back of a transit style van with bench seats on both sides. We then had a fun ride to wherever the driver wanted to take us. After coming to a stop we then had to get into individual animal holding pens for a length of time, before being let out and having to crawl through two annoyingly corrugated and lengthy stone laden tubes, an unnecessarily unpleasant experience. What came next was a series of portakabin / shed walkthroughs where nothing much happened. This one felt even lighter on actors than the other mazes as we pretty much didn’t encounter anyone until the end.
Doll House: The Factory Doll
Our penultimate attraction was another new one, Doll House. We had heard from some of the actors elsewhere that we’d get messed up in there, and as the evening wore on, we saw more and more guests with some interesting make up choices. The concept of this is great, you enter the doll house and it’s a doll factory, so you gradually become more and more doll-like. There are some traditional scares, but these didn’t really land for us, and did feel sparse. Interspersed with these sections are more theatrical and interactive pieces as you get doll make-up, dress up like a doll and for our group all of our hands clingfilmed together so we were stuck in a four person long daisy chain.
Doll House was really good fun, and a nice, less intense way of messing with people a bit more without any real aggression, which sadly always feels a bit necessary in the UK rather than some other events in Europe.
Isolation
Our final set of experiences were Isolation. As you’d expect from the name, this is a solo experience for one person at a time. There are four different experiences on offer here and our very helpful Bunny guide made sure we eventually got to experience all four on offer. Two are slightly more traditional scare experiences, one involving mannequins, and the other crazy religious folk. For this reviewer the mannequins were a lot of fun due to the additional element of not always being the only guest in the experience at the time. Door number 2 was a very quick in and through experience.
Doors 3 and 4 however really ratchet up the intensity factor. 3 is a bonkers medical facility where the crazy medical team will do all sorts of things to try and cure your ills. Door 4 is a bunch of angry anthropomorphised pig creatures that have a very annoying obsession with stuffing your clothing and shoes with straw. It almost felt like they were making a scarecrow out of me. Both of these short experiences were probably the most intense of the evening and were good fun.
Thunderdome
Due to time and frankly not wanting to pay a bit extra for the privilege of being electrocuted we didn’t have time to experience Thunderdome. It’s an interesting concept of laser tag with attached pads that will give you a mild shock if you’re hit. As we didn’t go in, we don’t know if anything has changed from last year.
Street team
It was a busy Saturday evening when we visited and to be honest there was a decent atmosphere all evening starting with the first queue line and all the way through. There is a really good and fun troupe of actors working on street theatre from harassing people right at the start to all areas of the event. One tip, be wary of Beetlejuice, as he may have a messy paper plate borne surprise for you as this reviewer found out to my cost.
Summary
We’ve always had a great time at Psycho Path and this year has been one of our absolute favourite events so far this spooky season. It’s a massive event and even though we had fast track, we still didn’t manage to see any shows or go through Thunderdome. On a normal ticket on a busy night we honestly don’t know how you’d be able to get round everything.
It’s a huge event with a buzzing atmosphere and if you’re in the North East, or even if you are coming from further afield, it’s definitely worth the trip and is one of the top tier events in the country providing a nice variety of different types of attractions, not just traditional scare mazes.
Psycho Path runs on a few more select dates through to 31st October.
Psycho Path Fear Ground 2023
Psycho Path is a large-scale scare event that takes place near Newcastle in the North East of England. It’s on our not to miss list and this year was no exception. The event boasts numerous mazes with a central hub including bars, shows and roaming actors as well as fairground rides.
The Experiences
The Hunt
A fantastic concept comes to the UK. We originally experienced something similar in Spain at Horrorland and The Hunt is a great homage to that attraction with some nice unique touches that make this different. You start with a briefing on an old bus. It is here that you hear the safety briefing with a sinister character walking up and down the aisle putting everyone on edge. This is a clever way to enable everyone to hear the briefing and make sure everyone knows what to expect as it is slightly different to the usual scare maze. It is after this you have three rounds to avoid the different creatures that inhabit the hunt. It was about one and a half rounds in that this reviewer found themselves cornered by two characters with no escape. You are required to wear padded safety gear before entering the arena which personally distracted a little from the experience as it limited vision and felt rather claustrophobic. The attraction itself seemed to be an absolute hit with frantic running all over the place avoiding actors and other patrons. The number of dead ends were challenging that made escaping the hunters near impossible. Definitely great to see and a fantastic addition to the event.
Crawl Space
Another new attraction for the 2023 run. Make sure you get in early to book your slot. I cannot emphasise this enough as within about an hour of the park opening all slots had been filled and I could overhear a number of people a little disappointed they didn’t make it in time. People enter two at a time to meet the inhabitants of Crawl Space. The actors in here were extremely well cast and not afraid to get in your face and provide an absolutely terrifying experience. A word of warning: this attraction requires attendees to take part in twos. So if you are attending as an odd number as we were you will need to find another odd numbered group to tag along with. Being a two didn’t really add to the experience and a recommendation for next year would be to not require it and allow groups to either be randomly assigned an individual to join them or not have this requirement at all. I am so glad however that I managed to take part in this attraction. It was terrifying from start to finish. The anticipation, the build up and the relentlessness of actors made it a fun and adrenaline filled adventure, ending in a fun finale. Get in early, book your slot and crawl into a terrifying nightmare.
iScream
A solid maze returns this year with all the same fun and enjoyment as before with an added twist. You have the opportunity to see a video of you and your friends going through the attraction. This is a neat concept and really a great opportunity to remember your scares at Psycho Path. A nice touch was that one of the actors noticed that I don’t generally show my reactions so decided to tell a joke instead. This was absolutely filthy and definitely got the reaction that was needed. Good work from all actors in the maze who were able to scare over and over again. It’s always a highlight of the event and this year was no exception.
Psycho City
Returning this year with only minor changes. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s a solid use of the outdoor space. Due to the weather the smoke effects made the whole maze difficult to navigate which made the jump scares land even more powerfully. The actors we did meet along the way were full of energy and really got into their roles. I personally would have liked to see a few more actors as there were a few dead spots here and there. Though when interactions did happen the scares were there along with talky parts.
Corn-ered
The classic corn maze is back again. Actors hiding in plain sight so beware. The corn enables the actors to jump out at you and provide scares hiding between the leaves. You go through a number of set scenes each with an actor or two. I felt in terms of scares this was the weakest of the mazes and again felt a little low on actors. This is no fault of the actors, as those we did encounter all tried their best. Be careful if it rains, the floor does get slippery and this reviewer almost slid in the mud on a number of occasions.
Thunder Dome
If you like laser tag then this is for you but with a twist. You are connected to the gun system so you feel every hit. This has to be experienced to really appreciate how it works. It really gets your heart pumping as you are literally running around with genuine peril. You are trying so hard not to get shot you will leave with adrenaline pulsing through your body as you have to rest and take a breather.
Isolation
One of the strongest experiences of the night, each run offering something different. A huge shout out to the actors in the medical themed room. The energy and intensity that was put into this was top notch. I also felt that the other three routes had also stepped up with more interaction and more scares throughout. The runs that felt a little tame last year have definitely been improved upon and honestly each door offered scares different to the others with actors working hard to nail time and time again.
Cutthroat Island
This maze along with iScream mixes humour with scares which personally here at Scare Directory we are a huge fan of. The actors were great at interacting with the patrons as they navigate the ship and beyond. Theming is a standout feature for this maze with an impressive ship that you board with actors interacting from the get go.
Psycho Cinema
It’s nice to get a break from the scares as you enter the Psycho Cinema to watch a new short film specially made for the event. The film is a horror short focussing on a couple who find themselves at the site of Psycho Path and find out what lurks beneath the grounds of the site. It’s not just a case of sitting and watching the film though. You also have great interactions before and after with the cinema attendant character who engaged with the audience and offered some laughs and also some more uncomfortable moments.
Overall Psycho Path is an incredible night out. Honestly if you had a normal ticket, arrived at the opening and didn’t leave until the park closed I don’t think you could fit it all in. We had purchased the VIP tickets and still didn’t have time to watch the new for 2023 show Dolls House. This was partly due to enjoying the mazes so much and wanting to experience all versions of Isolation. Psycho Path manages to cram so much into one entry price you really do get value for money. Long attractions, unique experiences and energetic actors are consistent throughout the event. It is absolutely worth the long drive.
Psycho Path runs through until the end of October so don’t delay and grab your tickets now, you won’t be disappointed.
Psycho Path Fear Ground 2021
Having had a couple of brilliant, but separate runs of Psycho Path’s 2019 event we were really keen to see what the Psycho Path team had come up with, especially with the year off in 2020.
Our visit to Psycho Path, in Burnopfield near Newcastle in the North East of England, whilst a trek for us, was a much anticipated event. Thankfully Psycho Path delivered in spades, exceeding our high expectations.
For 2021 Psycho Path has enhanced its previous offering of iScream and Psycho City with Isolation, a solo maze and Cornered, a corn maze. As with 2019 Psycho Path, has a great central hub with plenty of bars, food options, a few fairground rides and has now been extended into a neighbouring barn and outside tipi areas. The whole event has an amazing festival vibe that is difficult to equal.
Isolation
This is a purely solo maze and offers a different experience dependent on which of the four options you go for. Sadly we only got to experience two of them, but enjoyed them thoroughly. One was a more intense and fun scare maze with plenty of actor interaction, the other was more of a slow burn, tension building slow strobe experience. Both short mazes worked really well, but we would have loved to have the option to experience all four.
Cornered
Next up for us was the new for 2021 corn maze. To be honest we find corn mazes a bit hit and miss. Thankfully Cornered was a hit with a good mix of scares, indoor and outdoor sections, with great theming and a great variation of scares. All in all a corn maze executed really well. The only minor criticism would be for a bit more smoke as that was used effectively and a few more actors in a few dead spots. Still a great solid maze, make sure you do it after dark.
I-Scream
Wow! This maze was a highlight in 2019 and has only improved on the excellent previous version. Batching, which was superb throughout the busy evening in all mazes, was brilliant on our run through. The actors, for us, weren’t adverse to touching and for this reviewer it ended up being probably the most ‘hands on’ maze we’ve been through. The actors were amazing, coming from all angles, repeatedly! The effects in place were superb. A top quality run through of any maze we have ever done. The only criticism is that we sadly didn’t have the option to go through again.
Psycho City
The most changed aspect of the evening was Psycho City. What was previously part of the Psycho Path section is now its own maze, accessed from the main hub without any vehicular transportation. It’s shorter than previously, but is punchier and more impactful. There are a variety of scenes and the actors throughout were superb, like I-Scream they weren’t afraid to get hands on which just made the scares land even harder.
Summary
It’s early in the 2021 season, but Psycho Path has been a superb highlight for us. The mazes were great and the whole vibe and atmosphere of the event were amazing, from the food and drink options to the outstanding roaming actors who were more than happy to get up close and personal, even in the queue lines. To the variety of entertaining acts in the central hub.
If Psycho Path is fairly near to you, it’s a no-brainer to visit. If it’s a bit of a trek based on our experience it’s well worth a trip.
