Doncaster Fear Factory-Media/Press Night 2025

We were very kindly invited to this year's Doncaster Fear Factory media and press night. Whilst we were given free entry to the event, we have full editorial control of what our review of the event says. Our Slasher Review Doncaster Fear Factory returns for it's 6th year and we were very kindly invited to come along to the Media and Press night for the 3rd time. It is always a great night and a wonderful way to kick off our scare season. We attended on Sunday the 5th of October 2025. Like before the scares started before we even hit the marquee with roaming characters terrorizing guests from the car park to the marquee itself. Some notable characters were that of the Butcher with his slice of skin, A crazed clown taking glee in our arrival, A chainsaw wielding clown and a Burnt lady guarding a baby at all costs screaming for help. All these cast members played their respective roles to absolute perfection and really set up the start of the night for the scares to come. After an hour and a half it was time to leave the marquee and head into the gates of Doncaster Fear Factory itself. The night would comprise of 2 scare zones, one of them New for this year being Uncle Donk's Scare Zone and 5 scare mazes which two were replacing older attractions from last year, those being the Pogo Club and The Chasm. The New mazes for this year are Shellton Motel and Quinlens & Co. The strongest maze of the night for us was the Friargate Foundry which was new for last year and the weakest maze of the night was Diabolus: Visum Mortis. Although the scares started strong at the start of Diabolus things seemed to fall apart a little at the end, the absolute flipside of Friargate Foundry where the scares and interaction were full on from start to finish. Doncaster Fear Factory also features a nice mix of bars, food options and even two rides too.

Top Tips-Arrive early and start at the back of the park and work your way back forward to the entrance, also we think recommending FastTrack would be wise if you want to get on the rides and spend time in the bar as well.

Things that bite-This might be because it was a press night and while we do appreciate being sent through in small groups, this did lead to some lengthy queues where we felt rushed to get everything done. But we think if you come on a normal night you might have more time as we had 2 and half hours to complete everything. Value for Money- With tickets starting from £25 for 5 attractions and 2 scare zones, we think this is great value. Scare Rating- Based on our run throughs we will give a solid 4.5 out 5 for Doncaster Fear Factory Do we recommend- Absolutely , the cast are full on and sets are fantastic. Our Stalker Review On the 5th of October we headed a little north to Doncaster Fear Factory for the media and press night. Our night started with being harassed in the best possible way by a plethora of different characters who were part of the roaming team and others who would become more relevant in the mazes as the night went on. But all the roaming cast we met throughout the night gave 110% effort and really excelled in their respective roles. Some notable roles were that of the burnt woman, visually distraught and scared by the other characters roaming around, now usually these kind of roles can become stale fast, but the burnt woman knew exactly that sweet spot of knowing how much to give and when to move on and played the role with perfection. Other notable members were that of who we believe was a butcher with his very only slice of human skin who was not afraid to get up close and personal to the guests which was great see and experience. Then there was two clowns, one that shared absolute diabolical glee at our arrival and danced around reminiscent of Art the Clown which is never a bad thing and a much more angry and foreboding clown armed with a chainsaw, he took great delight chasing people and delivering high scares before we had even got into the gates of the main attraction.

After and hour and a half of mingling with old friends and making new and brief but emotional announcement from the management team, as the future of DFF was in jeopardy last year but luckily no more. It was time to get into the proverbial meat of the night but not before one final surprise from the Fear Factory team, Kudos to the cast member running round the marquee looking under tables and vaulting through the seating area. That can't have been easy to do, but the chaos it created was great. After an extended wait to get into the park, we collected our tickets and went through the first scare zone of the night, that being Crimson Harvest. This is the Fear Factory's scarecrow offering and takes place in 2 covered sections, last year we got some great scares but this year there seemed to be less of the cast members in this area although it could have been that they were scaring another group and we simply missed them. It is a fun little start to the festivities and sets you on the way for the entrance into the main hub area of the park. In our true tested fashion we headed to be back of the park for our first scare maze, but not before going through the New for 2025 scare zone Uncle Donk's Scare Zone , This is a shorter area than Crimson Harvest but equally as fun, the clowns in this area delivered some good impact scares along the way through the tunnel, it would have been nice to have a bit more scenery but due to the smoke and low visibility designed for this area we can understand why it doesn't, a shout out goes to the clown with the baseball bat/ 2 by 4 wood plank, we are not sure what it was but it did make Dan fear for his shins. Exiting the scare zone it was time for maze one of the night. Crackle Hill: The Summoning , Crackle Hill is how you do a haunted house maze and do it right and has become a firm favourite of ours in our 3 year history of visiting. Starting with a brief but impactful story of the fate that has befallen the Crackle Hill house and the children that were possessed. Crackle Hill is not one for people who don't like tight spaces as you navigate the eerily red glowing wall spaces that lead to various rooms, the room of the actual summoning complete with Ouija Board and adorned with Tarot Cards was a great sight to see. As we progressed through the attraction we met great use of distraction scares and a team that was not afraid to put their all into the scares delivered. The cast members also were not worried about touching the guests which lead to some great interaction. The maze uses great use of small confined spaces to wonderful effect. It is safe to say that there was not one weak actor in Crackle Hill this year and our only disappointment was that we couldn't go in again.

Next up was the NEW for 2025 Quinlens & Co. Now before we get into the maze itself we need to point out and mention two new roaming characters, sadly we didn't get names but one was a person with blue hair and the other in some questionable drag but all in the best way possible, these two were dirty, physically and verbally which lead to some great interaction around the park. One of the funniest moments was when they were fighting over a "blood bag" of alcohol and announcing that the one in drag had an awful case of crabs. These two were an absolute tour de force of comedy and gross out in equal measure and was a joy if you can call it that every time we came across their paths. Now onto the maze.

Quinlens and Co from the outside has a beautiful façade and you can tell that they put their all in the theming and design. This was further realised when we entered the pie shop itself. The maze starts off incredibly strong with 2 cast members across 2 scenes delivering the story of the pie shop, its produce and the terrible black plague that has befallen the area. Both cast members set the scene perfectly for what was to come. We were warned that the Plague Doctors were on the warpath and we must avoid them at all costs. With that it was time to leave the pie shop behind and enter into the dirty sewers below. Now the first thing to note about this maze is that it uses alot of crawl spaces or low ceiling areas, so if you are some what challenged with back problems, it might be best to avoid this maze, that said we headed into the tunnels and before long faced some great scares in the dark. And not before long did we start to meet the masked plague doctors all eager to get in our faces where possible, although we did see quite a few in this role, we never seemed to come across the boss plague doctor as it were. The maze lends well to scares coming from unexpected places, From leg grabs to attacks from above, you really don't know where to look next or hide. As you near the end of the maze this is where we felt a little lacking, especially from the onslaught attacks from all angles in the scenes before, maybe we missed something but there was nothing to really make you run out the exit. But that said another great claustrophobic maze that even uses water to immerse you into the dank sewers below.

Next up the maze that was new for last year. Friargate Foundry. Now last year it has to be said we didn't get the best run through this attraction with Dan getting out a full 3 minutes before Dane and Abby exited but how different things were this time round. The Foundry follows the narrative of the Operator and this is his lair, the home of his creations. Past, Present and Future. The waiting area holds some great throwbacks to past attractions and some great "easter eggs" of things to come. Right from the get go we were thrown into a dark world of absolute chaos with every character finding a way to deliver a range of impact, sustained and stalker scares. No facet of the scare arsenal was left unused. Friargate Foundry moves from each dedicated scene with precision and finesse with mostly no areas feeling out of place. The highlights of the attraction were the mine scenes although we are not too sure what maze this is from of whether its a nod to a potential design to come, but the butchers of the mine were great and used the space very well indeed. Other stand out areas was that of the prison cells where each of us were taunted and attacked in various ways, one even ended up with Dan sat on a toilet "dunny" as they were calling it and pushed into a toilet shower, luckily no water was on. The onslaught continued into the dentists chair where Dane was the unlucky victim of the dentist himself, however if he had gotten his way it would have been Abby in the chair, Just when you feel it can't throw anymore at you, you end up in a disorienting strobe maze finale which left one of our team running for the door. All the cast members were putting in 110% and it was clear they know how to scare and do it well. Once again like Crackle Hill, Not one weak actor in this cast and attraction. Also new for this year is an upsell in maze video which is captured at various points in the maze, this is done via a lanyard given on entry and is £10 to buy.

Three scare attractions down, it was time for the other NEW for 2025 Shellton Motel. Just like Quinlens & Co, Shellton Motel has an impressive façade matching the theme of the attraction, that being a two story run down Motel complete with search lights which would all become relevant as we ventured in. Shellton Motel has a fantastic opening scene with a character that is reminiscent of Lin Shaye in 2001 Maniacs, welcoming but also has a feeling that puts you on edge, she tells you all about her Motel, complete with an advert for Six Flags, this is set in America after all. She tell you which rooms she has booked for you before being interrupted by a news broadcast explaining escaped inmates and that of the notorious Marcus Caine. All of a sudden the welcoming feeling is long gone and your escape through the Motel begins. Shellton Motel is a very visually impressive attraction and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the design of the many rooms ahead, from multiple bedrooms with what seem like real beds, to the washing baskets stacked in the wash room. The cast members in this attraction at the start all have their nuances and individual themes which work well with the attraction, One very memorable character was that of what can only be assumed is a southern belle turned prostitute. She works this room very well, providing a great mix of sustained scares and gross out moments too. Then all hell breaks loose as the SWAT team move in, we need to evacuate and do so fast. The next scenes are all a bit of a blur being encouraged to move quickly, dodging and weaving by the escaped inmates of the local prison (Potential new maze of 2027) who knows. And being forever warned about meeting Marcus Caine. Now this is where the maze went very slightly down hill, We were being warned about Marcus Caine so much that we was expecting some big finale/ showdown with the guy himself but due to being rush through scenes at the end so quickly, if we did meet him we didn't realise, so maybe a slight change there with give a more cohesive ending, but it has to be said this was one hell of an attraction from start to finish with many emotional peaks and troughs throughout the performance of the cast. Thinking of it now it could have been that it was close to closing and the queue was quite big still that the ending felt rushed. But we did enjoy the sense of urgency they SWAT team added into the attraction.

We joined the queue for the last attraction and were treated to the dance troupes Lady Gaga mashup with some fantastic dancers strutting their stuff, each one was giving their all and we imagine on a normal night this would pull quite the crowd. Now with one more attraction to face it was time to enter Diabolus: Visum Mortis. Diabolus is set in the abandoned church façade and has been through a couple of different incarnations over the years we have visited. This year we were told on entry that we would have to follow a rope into the darkness and not let go, One of those non hooded dark mazes. The scares started off really strong with the possessed nuns popping out here, there and everywhere at random times and delivering some great scares with the obligatory foot grab too, the dark path was long and winding and added great tension. But then we realised something, all the cast were pretty much saying the same three lines, "Praise the devil", "Forfeit your soul" and "You're all Sinners". We all believed this attraction would have been stronger with some more varied dialogue while we understand that due to the sharp shock impact scares it relies on, that smaller dialogue is really only what's available, however some variety would have been nice, to be honest it might even have been more effective if some said nothing at all and just used the lighting to appear and disappear again adding to the tension. We then entered the outside section which was really a dead space, sadly the actor in the outdoor area was a little late delivering the scare and we were all near abouts out of the scene heading to the finale. So the maze started off strong, then we hit the finale. I'm not sure if it was due to the amount of smoke in the finale room, but the scares were very limited and no final scare was really delivered. We all exited the room rather confused and not sure if we had missed something as in previous years there has been some aerial effect or scare that takes the room by surprise. I wish we could have said better about the final maze but it felt like the maze would have worked better back to front, Entering through the chapel, learning about the nuns, going outside for a scare and then having to escape through the dark maze and its evil nuns within. But that's just our opnion and others may vary, we might have just had an unlucky run.

So that leads us to the end of our night at Doncaster Fear Factory exiting through the new, very warm, heated bar and to the carpark. We had an absolute blast during our time here again and want to give a huge thankyou for inviting us and a congratulations to all the cast, crew, set designers and those who work behind the scenes who make Doncaster Fear Factory what is it and that is an event not to sleep on as they really can deliver some fantastic scares with theming that matches up to some of the longer established scream parks.

Doncaster Fear Factory runs the following nights in October.10th,11th,12th,17th,18th,19th,23rd to the 26th, 31st and 1st November If you wish to book tickets for this years Doncaster Fear Factory you can do so at the link below. https://doncasterfearfactory.co.uk/ Thankyou once again for inviting us along and we wish you all the best for the rest of scare season.