Ollie
CF Legend
Bit late and it's a bit longer than a weekend. 
Sorry for the length of the post as well. Hope you read it all.
Anyway some of you will know that back on the 6th of May I went to ScareCon where everyone from all the attractions come together to meet and share ideas and do workshops etc to improve their attractions.
It was done in the Magic Circle Headquarters in London which is a fantastic building with loads of things to look at. It even had a cool floating staircase that you had to use to navigate the floors.
It was good fun and there I met the guy in charge of Lightwater Valley (forgot his name) a couple of us got talking to him about the Halloween event last year that was so popular they were turning people away at midday as the park was full. We were discussing ideas to make the event bigger this idea and a few he seemed really interested in. We already know some of the scary stuff planned for Raptor Attack and also a few other rides being given a scary Halloween Element.
One of the most exciting things of the event was Lynton V. Harris who flew over from America to give us a talk. Almost all of you have probably never heard of him but in the haunt industry he's like a celeb. The top of the top and one of (if not the) best creator of Scare Attractions on the world. His talk was amazing and really interesting to listen to and hear his experiences in the many years he's been doing it for.
ScareCon ended that day with the European film premier of ScareZone. It's a film set inside a haunted attraction where there's a real killer in it. It sounds cheesy and it was. The humour was actually really good as it was a comedy and most people there were getting all the jokes about things that occur when running an attraction. That was good fun though and the first time the film had been show outside of Hollywood.
After we left the building we had the choice to go straight to the after-show party on the Ghost Bus Tours which looks amazing. Although our ticket to ScareCon also got us free entry into Masks. I had quite high expectations for this as it's done by Tom Spindler who is infamous for Asylum Hill. His attractions are VERY adult orientated and VERY disturbing and always pushing the boundaries. For example Asylum Hill had scenes of simulated rape and live birth scenes. Anyway we arrived outside a huge abandoned steelworks factory in Angel. Toms amazing at finding superb locations for his attractions and this was his biggest yet. Set over three floors the attraction was over 20 minutes long and included around 23 live actors.
Anyway onto a review. I can put spoilers now as it only ran for three days so there's no chance of anyone doing it now.
Masks Review:
We entered in a group of three and moved into the first room which was an old cinema. We sat down on the chairs as a pre-show played although it was hard to watch as you kept checking behind you to see if someone was coming.
After it finished we were beckoned up the stairs behind us. These were all lined with those theatre masks and lit in an eerie green light. When we got to the top we were pushed through this huge metal door which was then slammed shut behind us. We then got instantly attacked by an actor who had a great hiding place. As we navigated the first room through loads of newspaper clippings of people who had been reported missing we then had to go past some old stuffy sofas. The smells in this attraction were great.
We then walked into another room with a small maze of metal construction fences. This room was full of smoke and we then got attacked by about three actors on our way through who were smashing their bodies against the fencing and blocking our way separating you from the group. Here we walked in between loads of cages hanging from the ceiling. The next corridor was where our group got separated completely. One member of our group was held against the wall while she was screaming and crying to be let go while the two of us left were ushered on up the stairs. Here a butcher in a messed up mask appeared out of nowhere and made us continue up to the top floor. Little did we know how disturbing the next scene was.
What it essentially is is a feast scene. There's a huge table piled high with food. We where greeted by a guy in a worn and dirty wedding dress who greeted us and made us sit down. Here he came round offering us food such as bread and grapes. We where then joined by loads of other actors. One of the female actors in a gas mask then came and sat on my knee and gave me a lap dance while touching my body and stroking my hair. It was so surreal and messed up. It's hard to describe it without being there. We then all got offered Jello and when we say no thanks he came along and was force feeding it into our mouths by putting it in his hand and trying to cram it in our gobs. This scene played out for quite a while until we were offered to play a game after the meal. He chose a volunteer from the group who stood up. "Now we're going to play a game called 'hide the hand'" he said while picking up a decapitated hand off the table. He then got the guy who volunteered to bend over and asked him to pull his pants down. He didn't at first but he kept persisting until he actually did it. Except when he got them halfway he though no and pulled them back up where the transvestite got right up in his face and said "oh so you don't want to play?" then shouted "THEN GET OUT!!!" right in his face. He then got really angry and started sending us out one by one.
We where then sent back downstairs into a dimly lit room where were were ordered to sit on a table where there was an actor crying in the corner. We were then asked by a deformed man if he thought his sister was pretty. We all played along and just said yes when suddenly the woman shouted out "YOU'RE LYING" and started getting all loud and violent and hitting things.
We were then sent into the final major scene which was fantastic. It's so hard to describe but was essentially a huge hall made into a maze of metal fencing and cages. There was a loud soundtrack echoing everywhere and there were loads of strobes on different speeds making it super disorientating and making things move and appear from nowhere. There were tonnes of actors in here and were being attack from all sides, above and below. This scene went on for about 5 minutes as we weaved around the maze and pushed through things hanging from the ceiling. After this we then headed back downstairs to the start where we were then confronted by a clown who scared the groups as they went out.
Overall the attraction was fantastic and really well put together considering Tom is just a uni student and doesn't have much of a budget. I love his attractions as he dares to push the boundaries and make it scary for adults. Also there's alot of touching in his attractions which isn't done in commercial haunts. Also I went through twice (I took Maddie through the next day) and both experiences were COMPLETELY different. The second time we got separated even more and left on our own and I got shoved into a cage and wasn't allowed out for like 10 minutes. Plus I got joined in there by a couple of actors and had crowbars and stuff smashed against the side of the cage and they kept shaking it violently while I was standing in it as it was hanging from the ceiling.
Anyway after that we headed down to Pasaje del Terror:.
Here ScareCon Attendees got a discount on entry so those that hadn't done it went to go through. I've already done it plenty of times and have spent days inside the attraction so wasn't going to bother doing it so just went into the office to watch them go through on the CCTV.
When the film at the start had almost finished I just ran trough the attraction and passage ways and waited in the staff room and then joined the group just before they entered the actual walkthrough part. They were all shocked to see me and how I got in lol.
After the attraction we went and joined everyone else in the after-show party which was in the Terror Bar by the exit of Pasaje. I left early at about midnight as I had to catch the tube back so I just said bye to everyone and left.
On Friday I went and did the London Bridge Experience as that was free as well and I hadn't done it before. It's an attraction of two halves where you have the actual London Bridge Experience before heading down into the London Tombs which keeps being voted London's scariest attraction.
The actual 'Experience' part was good fun although it wasn't themed as well as it could of been and you could tell you were under the bridge in the little arched sections as you moved from room to room. There were a couple of good bits though such as pulling down the bridge supports and also when the floor dropped.
The Tombs were really good although it took ages to get in while they took people's pictures and sorted them into groups. It was nice and long and some of the animatronics were really good (apart from the Rock Monster which was ****). The actors seemed lively as well although there could of been more. Also I almost got strangled when a root prop hanging from the ceiling got caught round my neck and that final scene was so poorly performed that noone ran out the exit.
It was good fun and worth doing. But not at the price they charge.
I then walked around London for a few hours before picking Maddie up from the Station. I then took her to Masks which she loved (it's great she loves coasters and scary things as well).
After that I'd got us free entry into Pasaje (it's good to know people
). She also enjoyed that and the group who were there as well gave fantastic reactions. I knew I had to get out the last door quick as I knew they'd stampede out of there and we'd get hurt if we were in the way.
The next day Maddie and I went to the London Dungeons. She hadn't been before so I kept quiet about the scenes. Extremis was as good as I remember and the new Great Fire of London scene near the start is much more interesting that the old one.
I think she enjoyed getting to cut my head off at the start as well.
Here's a video of Masks. I've edited it down as most of it came out dark as I didn't know I was going to be filming it so didn't take the night-vision camera. Hope you enjoy it though and it gives you a feel what the attraction was like. Don't let the start of the video put you off as it builds up to the finale.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdP0BkKj3lI[/youtube]
Sorry for the length of the post as well. Hope you read it all.
Anyway some of you will know that back on the 6th of May I went to ScareCon where everyone from all the attractions come together to meet and share ideas and do workshops etc to improve their attractions.
It was done in the Magic Circle Headquarters in London which is a fantastic building with loads of things to look at. It even had a cool floating staircase that you had to use to navigate the floors.
It was good fun and there I met the guy in charge of Lightwater Valley (forgot his name) a couple of us got talking to him about the Halloween event last year that was so popular they were turning people away at midday as the park was full. We were discussing ideas to make the event bigger this idea and a few he seemed really interested in. We already know some of the scary stuff planned for Raptor Attack and also a few other rides being given a scary Halloween Element.
One of the most exciting things of the event was Lynton V. Harris who flew over from America to give us a talk. Almost all of you have probably never heard of him but in the haunt industry he's like a celeb. The top of the top and one of (if not the) best creator of Scare Attractions on the world. His talk was amazing and really interesting to listen to and hear his experiences in the many years he's been doing it for.
ScareCon ended that day with the European film premier of ScareZone. It's a film set inside a haunted attraction where there's a real killer in it. It sounds cheesy and it was. The humour was actually really good as it was a comedy and most people there were getting all the jokes about things that occur when running an attraction. That was good fun though and the first time the film had been show outside of Hollywood.
After we left the building we had the choice to go straight to the after-show party on the Ghost Bus Tours which looks amazing. Although our ticket to ScareCon also got us free entry into Masks. I had quite high expectations for this as it's done by Tom Spindler who is infamous for Asylum Hill. His attractions are VERY adult orientated and VERY disturbing and always pushing the boundaries. For example Asylum Hill had scenes of simulated rape and live birth scenes. Anyway we arrived outside a huge abandoned steelworks factory in Angel. Toms amazing at finding superb locations for his attractions and this was his biggest yet. Set over three floors the attraction was over 20 minutes long and included around 23 live actors.
Anyway onto a review. I can put spoilers now as it only ran for three days so there's no chance of anyone doing it now.
Masks Review:
We entered in a group of three and moved into the first room which was an old cinema. We sat down on the chairs as a pre-show played although it was hard to watch as you kept checking behind you to see if someone was coming.
After it finished we were beckoned up the stairs behind us. These were all lined with those theatre masks and lit in an eerie green light. When we got to the top we were pushed through this huge metal door which was then slammed shut behind us. We then got instantly attacked by an actor who had a great hiding place. As we navigated the first room through loads of newspaper clippings of people who had been reported missing we then had to go past some old stuffy sofas. The smells in this attraction were great.
We then walked into another room with a small maze of metal construction fences. This room was full of smoke and we then got attacked by about three actors on our way through who were smashing their bodies against the fencing and blocking our way separating you from the group. Here we walked in between loads of cages hanging from the ceiling. The next corridor was where our group got separated completely. One member of our group was held against the wall while she was screaming and crying to be let go while the two of us left were ushered on up the stairs. Here a butcher in a messed up mask appeared out of nowhere and made us continue up to the top floor. Little did we know how disturbing the next scene was.
What it essentially is is a feast scene. There's a huge table piled high with food. We where greeted by a guy in a worn and dirty wedding dress who greeted us and made us sit down. Here he came round offering us food such as bread and grapes. We where then joined by loads of other actors. One of the female actors in a gas mask then came and sat on my knee and gave me a lap dance while touching my body and stroking my hair. It was so surreal and messed up. It's hard to describe it without being there. We then all got offered Jello and when we say no thanks he came along and was force feeding it into our mouths by putting it in his hand and trying to cram it in our gobs. This scene played out for quite a while until we were offered to play a game after the meal. He chose a volunteer from the group who stood up. "Now we're going to play a game called 'hide the hand'" he said while picking up a decapitated hand off the table. He then got the guy who volunteered to bend over and asked him to pull his pants down. He didn't at first but he kept persisting until he actually did it. Except when he got them halfway he though no and pulled them back up where the transvestite got right up in his face and said "oh so you don't want to play?" then shouted "THEN GET OUT!!!" right in his face. He then got really angry and started sending us out one by one.
We where then sent back downstairs into a dimly lit room where were were ordered to sit on a table where there was an actor crying in the corner. We were then asked by a deformed man if he thought his sister was pretty. We all played along and just said yes when suddenly the woman shouted out "YOU'RE LYING" and started getting all loud and violent and hitting things.
We were then sent into the final major scene which was fantastic. It's so hard to describe but was essentially a huge hall made into a maze of metal fencing and cages. There was a loud soundtrack echoing everywhere and there were loads of strobes on different speeds making it super disorientating and making things move and appear from nowhere. There were tonnes of actors in here and were being attack from all sides, above and below. This scene went on for about 5 minutes as we weaved around the maze and pushed through things hanging from the ceiling. After this we then headed back downstairs to the start where we were then confronted by a clown who scared the groups as they went out.
Overall the attraction was fantastic and really well put together considering Tom is just a uni student and doesn't have much of a budget. I love his attractions as he dares to push the boundaries and make it scary for adults. Also there's alot of touching in his attractions which isn't done in commercial haunts. Also I went through twice (I took Maddie through the next day) and both experiences were COMPLETELY different. The second time we got separated even more and left on our own and I got shoved into a cage and wasn't allowed out for like 10 minutes. Plus I got joined in there by a couple of actors and had crowbars and stuff smashed against the side of the cage and they kept shaking it violently while I was standing in it as it was hanging from the ceiling.
Anyway after that we headed down to Pasaje del Terror:.
Here ScareCon Attendees got a discount on entry so those that hadn't done it went to go through. I've already done it plenty of times and have spent days inside the attraction so wasn't going to bother doing it so just went into the office to watch them go through on the CCTV.
When the film at the start had almost finished I just ran trough the attraction and passage ways and waited in the staff room and then joined the group just before they entered the actual walkthrough part. They were all shocked to see me and how I got in lol.
After the attraction we went and joined everyone else in the after-show party which was in the Terror Bar by the exit of Pasaje. I left early at about midnight as I had to catch the tube back so I just said bye to everyone and left.
On Friday I went and did the London Bridge Experience as that was free as well and I hadn't done it before. It's an attraction of two halves where you have the actual London Bridge Experience before heading down into the London Tombs which keeps being voted London's scariest attraction.
The actual 'Experience' part was good fun although it wasn't themed as well as it could of been and you could tell you were under the bridge in the little arched sections as you moved from room to room. There were a couple of good bits though such as pulling down the bridge supports and also when the floor dropped.
The Tombs were really good although it took ages to get in while they took people's pictures and sorted them into groups. It was nice and long and some of the animatronics were really good (apart from the Rock Monster which was ****). The actors seemed lively as well although there could of been more. Also I almost got strangled when a root prop hanging from the ceiling got caught round my neck and that final scene was so poorly performed that noone ran out the exit.
It was good fun and worth doing. But not at the price they charge.
I then walked around London for a few hours before picking Maddie up from the Station. I then took her to Masks which she loved (it's great she loves coasters and scary things as well
).After that I'd got us free entry into Pasaje (it's good to know people
). She also enjoyed that and the group who were there as well gave fantastic reactions. I knew I had to get out the last door quick as I knew they'd stampede out of there and we'd get hurt if we were in the way.The next day Maddie and I went to the London Dungeons. She hadn't been before so I kept quiet about the scenes. Extremis was as good as I remember and the new Great Fire of London scene near the start is much more interesting that the old one.
I think she enjoyed getting to cut my head off at the start as well.
Here's a video of Masks. I've edited it down as most of it came out dark as I didn't know I was going to be filming it so didn't take the night-vision camera. Hope you enjoy it though and it gives you a feel what the attraction was like. Don't let the start of the video put you off as it builds up to the finale.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdP0BkKj3lI[/youtube]
