Scream Fields Fear Park 2021
A new event for 2021 which planned to launch in 2020 but due to the pandemic was unable to go ahead. That didn’t mean Thornton Hall Country Park didn’t have a Halloween event. They managed to launch Fear Fields, a drive through event we really enjoyed. Roll on to 2021 and they are back but this time with Scream Fields a more traditional scream park event with 4 mazes, a Waltzer, bar and a food truck. On our visit it was very quiet being a Thursday early in the run. The staff were all very friendly and really made you feel welcome chatting at the front of each maze.
Mazes
Horror House
This was a great maze in the barn area. There were a number of scenes with brilliant theming. Something you don’t expect from a first year event. The actors were really strong with great scripted pieces and more traditional jump scares. A common theme of the night was that actors doubled up on scares. Sometimes this can be a bit tricky but the team really worked hard landing them over and over again.
Operation B30
This maze is submerged below a nuclear waste facility where you encounter the inhabitants inside. We felt that the theming in this maze didn’t live up to Horror House but saying that there were a few innovative moments. Again the actors moving between scenes worked incredibly hard but on our runs through this maze we felt that having only a few actors limited what could be achieved with the innovative elements. This maze has a lot of potential and feel that with a few more actors the intensity levels could be kept at a high throughout.
Happy Endings
Firstly it has to be said a junkyard theme is a fantastic setting for a scare maze as it naturally provides great places to hide. The first scene of this maze was brilliant, offering a lovely scripted section littered with one liners that just worked well. The scares again were very innovative using the space creatively. Sadly this maze is very short and while the scares were great we just felt that increasing the length with a few more actors would solidify this maze.
Deeprave
This was without a doubt the best maze of the night. The themeing was great as you explore an abandoned hospital looking for the rave everyone’s been talking about. The maze is full of fun character interactions with cheeky dialogue that just seems to work. There are strong scares throughout the maze especially one just before the finale that genuinely made me jump out of my skin. Note this next sentence contains a small spoiler. The only thing that could make this maze even better would be ending up in a rave themed section full of characters that could immerse you further into the story. Definitely something to consider for next year.
Summary
Overall we had a fun night. For a first year event the team have created a really enjoyable attraction. The actors worked incredibly hard and managed to scare us multiple times. For the future the addition of a few roaming actors would really make this an event that you want to hang around at, soaking up the atmosphere and maybe having a few drinks.
Scream Fields runs on selected nights through to the end of October. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.
