THE OVERALL EVENT…

WOO – Variety & Quality | WOO – Entertainment | BOO – Operations

York Hallowscream is always an event we highly recommend and rate each season. They are so much more than just the mazes, they have some of the best entertainment. After winning our award for best event entertainment last season, we were excited to get back once again to experience it all.

The gates open at 6:30pm each night and you will want to be there early, as the opening show starts at 6:40pm over on the stage. The entertainment is then on every 15 minutes on the stage with an array of shows, from Lil Dribble medleys, dance shows and fire and stunts. There is always a show going on and every one is as good as the last. With plenty of new material put in this year, you’ll always find time to watch a show or two during your visit. They also have made sure you can view the show wherever you are, with new TV screens in each queue and the outside bar which livestreams the shows when they are on. Don’t forget to watch the closing show at 10:50pm, as it was chaos!

Outside the shows, York Hallowscream have an interesting way of dealing with the maze queues, which is done by an automatic timer and buzzer the staff use. Meaning groups go after a set time. The only issue is that depending on how quick the group in front goes, it is highly likely you will conga and queue in a maze and sadly, we did experience this a few times throughout our evening.

That said, the whole event offers so much quality in terms of what you can do at the event, from the mazes, fairground and shows, and the variety also matches.

Corny’s Cornevil

WOO – Actor Performance | WOO – Lighting & SFX| BOO – Concept

Corny’s Cornevil is a staple part of the event and as much as it remains unchanged, it is always one of the more light-hearted attractions they have in the lineup. The clowns inside had plenty of fun, using their space to either mess with your mind, get fantastic jump scares or just genuinely creep you out. They were energetic and psycho, exactly what you expect in a clown maze. Obviously as a clown maze, the concept is limited as a typical clown attraction, however its special effects are where it shines. From strobe lights, moving floors, a mirror maze, air blasts, animatronics, a tilted room and so much more, it excels in this element and it suits the clown attraction well.

The Flesh Pot

WOO – Storytelling | WOO – Screams| BOO – Theming

The Flesh Pot is quite a gruesome and dark attraction, with some very dark sets and takes the style of a slaughterhouse style maze. It has impressive storytelling with a great opening scene, telling you why you’re here and who you’re going to go see, which ties to the ending of the attraction. Of course the journey in the middle is as terrifying as expected. There is plenty of theming and props inside but a lot of it is masked with the dark lighting or strobe effects. This does make for a good jump scare maze, with us getting plenty of scares and many elements making us want to run and not walk.

The Singularity

WOO – Lighting & SFX | WOO – Screams | BOO – Storytelling

The Singularity is a futuristic type maze, which takes you forward in time to the year 2073 and where machines have gained consciousness. As a futuristic maze, the use of the special effects was insane. It felt they used all of them. They had air blasts, bangs, falling barrels, smoke filled rooms, just as a starter. This mixed with the lighting that changed throughout, created a great future world atmosphere. The storytelling did seem to take a back seat here, with the intro scene giving some story but very short and simple. That didn’t take away from the scares, with some very intense moments and close up scares. One scene in particular, using a claustrophobic pipe scene with them being able to grab you from all sides, is just a standout.