Our Slasher Review
On Wednesday we headed to Scream Factory. This linear routed attraction has 9 attractions throughout. It started of really well with some great scares from jump scares to miss direction ones but towards the second half they started to be miss timed and less intense. The sets are stunningly beautiful though. Really enjoyed The Cursed Mine area but The Abattoir was the strongest for scares with Dystopia being the weakest for scares.
Top tip for the event: If you can, book the Isolation ticket
Things that bite: Car Parking was bad our night
Value for money: Yes
Scare Rating: 3.5/5
Do we recommend: Yes
Our Stalker Review
On Wednesday I headed to Redcar for another event I had been really anticipating, Scream Factory. I had heard so many wonderful things about this event. We arrived and unfortunately we were greeted by what can only be described as car park madness. It was rammed and the main car park was full and they were trying to get people to use the overflow car park but instead people were using the road and it had got a bit chaotic and the staff were obviously getting stressed out by it all. We got parked up and walked to the entrance pathway where we were met by two police officers who told us to keep to the side as there had been an incident. We walked down and there were two CSI people examining the trees. It turns out this was part of the event but I was so convinced by it that it actually put me on edge before we had even got in.
Our group arrived at the actual entrance, a fabulously themed castle, where there was a small queue to get in and have our tickets checked. The staff got us through quite quickly and we arrived in the The After Shock bar area and End Village. It was very busy. There was a bar, a fire pit, dj, photo opportunity as well as some food and merchandise stalls in this area and from what I understand it’s slightly different from previous years. We also glimpsed in the distance two roaming doll like characters. We had a quick toilet stop before we joined the queue to enter the attraction. It turned out this was the queue to join the queue. We queued in total for about 30 minutes or so before we arrived at the front. Scream Factory is a linear attraction which means it’s a set route through every attraction they have on offer and takes about 30 minutes or so.
Warning: spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution
First up was The Abattoir. We met butchers Twit and Twat who looked us over and eyes up our meat. There was a really clever scene towards the end which was a miss direction and had what looked like a prop that came to life. This area was quite well themed with some really well timed scares and set the tone for the level of intensity the rest of the attraction had. After was what I assume is Dystopia, a dark, smoke filled room that changed colour as you went further through. It was quite a simple and unique way to do a smoke tunnel and worked really well to disorientate but I felt like it could have done with an actor or two hiding in the smoke.
Next up was the Meat The Mechanics area. It was a beautifully themed area with some great scares. From the towering actors to the scruffy actors, the area was fun. We then headed into The Cursed Mine area. I have a thing about mines and this one creeped me the hell out. It was claustrophobic, dark and was home to some amazing actors, one of which just stood there and stared at us as we passed. It was creepy. This area relies on darkness so there was a lot of darkness to feed your way through but it worked well in this area.
Demented Dimension and Garden of Souls were next. I’m not quite sure if I missed something or if they kind of merge into what felt like the same areas but all I can actually remember was the nuns tormenting us and the father being a bit flirty with our group. There was also another miss direction scare in that what looked like a prop wasn’t actually a prop and started moving. The outdoor section was eerily beautiful and there is a particular scare that got us really good. Don’t trust what you see!
The seventh area we passed through was The Silver Screen. This area started of really good with a fabulously themed entrance way and an enthusiastic usher but then the scenes started to go a bit a wrong for us. The scares came at the wrong time and it felt like we were being moved on before scenes had finished. There is a scare where Freddy puts his arm through the wall that literally got the member of our group as they were walking away. It’s a shame as the sets in this are are stunning, they just kept missing the mark for us. There is also a scene that I didn’t understand why it was there but I loved it anyway and that’s the crooked room. I didn’t understand why it was there but I loved it even if it did feel more suited to a clown area than a movie area.
Next up was The Purging and this area started of really great. It was intense and really built up to then go outside and be greeted by a stunning area that deserved better. When you think purge you think intense, scary, run for your life, but this area unfortunately just fell flat. It had 3 actors in which isn’t enough for the size of the area it is. The actors were trying so hard to be scary and intimidating but it just didn’t work as they weren’t really moving much. I think it needed more than what we got, which is a shame as it has so much potential to be terrifying.
Last up was the clown themed area Carnevil of Carnage. We were greet by a ring master who got us to line up against the wall. He then picked on of us to go one way and the rest of us the other. Looking at the tv screen in our walk way we could see the person nervously walking through and we could hear her screaming. We soon met back up and continued through to meet some clowns with water pistols and then we came across another scene that we missed the end off as we had been ushered out the room before it had its crescendo. Then came the finale, a chainsaw, which as anyone who knows me knows I don’t react to those. It was a fun way to end though watching everyone run away.
Overall Scream Factory was a fun night with some well timed scares and some cleverly executed miss directed ones as well as high level sets and despite what would appear to be a love for dark corridors and the problems we encountered as mentioned above, we really did enjoy our evening and would so happily return year after year and we want to say a huge thank you for having us.
Scream Factory is open today and tomorrow with some limited tickets still available to purchase from the Scream Factory website and we are hoping Scream Factory will be back in February for their annual Valentines event My Bloody Valentines.