Another year, another event as we check out Scare Kingdom Scream Park 2021 as they bring some new experiences, a new scare maze and a new twisted experience of the UK’s sickest attraction, Psychomanteum.
After the incredibly impressive 2020 Scare Kingdom event I was ever so excited to head to Blackburn this Halloween to see the 2021 line-up.
Now in its 13th year of fright Scare Kingdom has had a few mazes change location due to a little shift around at the farm.
Psychomanteum has a new home at the entrance of Scare Kingdom (by the bar) it’s up to you if you want to dive into this upcharge attraction (separate from your ticket price entry) or save it until last if you so wish.
With the mazes staying the same in terms of theming (for the most part) the costumes and storylines have been revamped for the 2021 season so let’s dive in shall we?
The Paradise Foundation – Insurgence
Join the rebellion to “Dismiss BLISS!”, as The Freed Radicals infiltrate the morally questionable medical facility.
Shunned by the social elite, these discarded scraps of society hide behind masks of anonymity and are on a mission to expose Doctor Prometheus and his patrons once and for all, inside The Paradise Foundation – Insurgence.
Paradise Foundation was certainly a maze I enjoyed back in 2020 but this time around things felt a little, empty.
We were walking around the maze with limited actors throughout and whilst the theming was still top tier (as to be expected from Scare Kingdom) the scares were lacking.
Scare Kingdom usually blend story-led experiences with jump scares but The Paradise Foundation was pretty much all story focused or scene-led.
What I mean by scene-led is that you were already walking into scenes taking place before you. No jump scares, just situations that you as guests become mere passers-by.
Whilst this is cool to experience having a whole maze like this reduces the scares to almost nothing.
Quite a shame that this introductory maze felt dampened down this year compared to our impressive run-through last year that had more restrictions.
Scare Factor – 1/5
Theming – 3/5
Acting – 3/5
Manormortis – Dead of KNIGHT
Darkness descends over the living Mansion as time slips back to the year 1200 AD.
Witness the Knights Templar as they lead a crusade to overturn the Haxenghast dynasty, in a defiant attempt to bring their Dark God to life and claim dominion over Manormortis – Dead of KNIGHT.
With a templar theme, Dead of Knight certainly lent a wonderful flair to the ever so detailed Manormortis maze.
I was expecting the entire maze to be Knights Templar themed but only a few areas were with the rest of the maze keeping to the original Manomortis theming.
Costumes were on-point and there were jump scares aplenty as story-led experiences and genuine scares combined perfectly to make one hell of a memorable experience.
Last year we had little to no jump scares in Manormortis and it was great to see that this time around we were jumping a mile with actors lurking in every corner and not only that but actors waiting specifically to scare the people at the back and not just the front.
If you’re at the back seeing the jump scares ahead of you ruins your experience (a problem we’ve had a lot this scare season) so having the actors specifically holding back to scare the people at the back is a nice touch.
Manormortis is one of (if not the) most detailed scare mazes in the UK and it never disappoints.
It is truly a staple maze in the UK scare scene.
Scare Factor – 5/5
Theming – 5/5
Acting – 5/5
Gothica
Lost for centuries in the mists of time, the desecrated Abbey of All Hallows has emerged from the fog revealing the forgotten vaults of a diabolic monastery.
Discover what lies within this reliquary of the supernatural and face the incorporeal creatures that dwell within Gothica.
Upon exiting Gothica I came out rather disappointed with this one.
If you’re claustrophobic you’re not going to like this one as the tight corridors of the maze in the pitch darkness can be quite difficult to navigate.
Actors hide behind curtains holding flashlights and provide jump scares.
Sadly after the first curtain, you know exactly where the actors are going to jump out from and after the first jump, the rest was predictable.
With zero theming (apart from the beautiful maze exterior) Gothica just didn’t hit home for me in any way shape or form.
There is no story and the acting was basically just people screaming phrases. Nothing that needs any form of acting masterclass that’s for sure.
Gothica was the weakest maze of the evening by a long country mile.
Scare Factor – 1/5
Theming – 1/5
Acting – 1/5
Body Snatchers – Gunpowder Plot
At the end of Knox Alley, in old Whitechapel, Guy Fawkes and his band of brigands have made their lair in the cellars of Brimstone & Black’s degenerate funeral parlour.
After digging a secret tunnel to the vaults below Parliament, they are intent on blowing up the King and his Privy Council, and they do not want to be discovered in Body Snatchers – Gunpowder Plot.
Creep into a sinister side-show and worm your way through the hallways of a run-down carnival.
Body Snatchers is another detailed maze of epic proportions.
It feels like the sibling of Manormortis in detail and scale and always provides a beautiful escape from the real world with immaculate theming and immersive storylines.
Whilst the story was told to us in the opening sequence the rest of the maze didn’t really lend much to the story that we had listened to and the story seemed to fizzle out (no pun intended) in this Guy Fawkes themed maze.
Acting was on point and with a few jump scares here and there it can be forgiven that the story just lost its way throughout.
Scare Factor – 3/5
Theming – 5/5
Acting – 5/5
ZOZO’S Grind House – Skin Snatcher
Face the infamous killer-clown Zozo as he welcomes Alice Grim – the Skin Stitcher, to their unholy hoard inside Zozo’s Grind House – Skin Stitcher.
Much emptier than last years instalment ZoZo’s Grind House also felt smaller in its design despite me being told it had been extended.
We were walking through some empty sets and the maze seemed to really lack a number of actors which for a Friday night seemed unusual.
Both Paradise Foundation and ZoZo’s felt like they were understaffed and as a result, the experience was dampened considerably.
I was looking forward to diving into a clown filled UV painted madhouse but sadly we just got a set tour with the old clown or two inside and that was the other guests, not the actors themselves.
Scare Factor – 2/5
Theming – 3/5
Acting – 3/5
Psychomanteum – The Second Coming
Last year I remember reviewing Psychomanteum and wondering why I paid £6 to be bullied and subjected to such weirdness.
Well, I did it again.
It’s a sickness really.
Psychomanteum The Second Coming was very female-heavy and absolutely none of them were wearing any clothing.
You are very hands-on with certain props and you’ll absolutely get wet.
We weren’t forced to eat anything which is good as I was worried this would be the case but thankfully safety measures and government guidelines at the moment restrict an attraction like this considerably.
Nonetheless, what we saw, how we were spoken to and certainly uncomfortable visuals led to a poor gentleman behind me saying the safe word and getting the hell out.
I on the other hand was already three sheets to the wind and was laughing all the way through and embracing all of the absolutely absurd and sick tasks that I was asked to do.
Not for the faint-hearted but I absolutely want to do this when restrictions disappear for good!
Freaky / Uncomfortable Factor – 50/10
Theming – 2/5
Acting – 50/10
Scare Kingdom Scream Park 2021 Review
It’s a shame that Scare Kingdom Scream Park 2021 was a step down from the year before despite restrictions being eased somewhat.
No actors interacted with us or touched us in any way and whilst there were jump scares aplenty in Manormortis and Body Snatchers the other 3 mazes were severely lacking in staff and scares.
I really shouldn’t be enjoying a maze like Psychomanteum but being with some great company we had a great laugh from start to finish.
I really hope that ZoZo’s Grind House, Gothica and The Paradise Foundation are improved for next season.
Paradise has some wonderful theming and is the strongest of the three but it needs many more actors in there to make that whole experience purr.
ZoZo’s and Gothica especially need some considerable improvement as both felt like a step-down from their 2021 incarnations.
Scare Kingdom is a very strong scream park, one of the best and I can’t wait to return in 2022 to see what’s in store for us all then!
Scare Kingdom Scream Park 2021 review by Sean Evans
