27 October 2024
All aboard this October to the Cursed Village. Created by Cursed Essex, Essex’ number 1 Halloween event, prepare for the zaniest freaks and a night filled with terror. With 5 horror mazes to tackle, a freak show in the hangout, a licensed bar plus plenty of food, and some entertainment. This seasonal event is very popular with the crowds of Essex and has a long history of success and sold out nights.
This year you can find them at the Crouch Valley Showground which is best found by driving, with free parking on site. It runs on selected nights towards the middle and end of October between 7pm to 11pm. Tickets range in price depending when you visit, with the cheapest nights costing £20 and the peak nights costing £35 per person. There is no fast pass option but if you do want to do the mazes again and have time, you can do so for an additional £10.
This year, Cursed Essex have 3 new mazes in the lineup which are The Clinic, The Harvest and Bloodthirst, with Sewers and The Haunting returning being past favourites. With this being our second visit to the event, but with the last time being 3 years ago at a different location, it was time we return to see how it compared.
@thrillnation do you want to visit this scream park!? #cursed #cursedessex #cursedvillage #essex #screampark #scaremaze #nightout #halloween #october ♬ Doomsday - DIVARIUS
Our First thoughts…
Cursed Essex is somewhere we wanted to get back to for some time now and we’re so glad we managed to for 2024. Upon arrival, we were presented with a train station style entrance, which is very different. The plan to be that you would go in and travel into the cursed village. As soon as you have your tickets, you are thrown into the thick of it with an introduction maze with a host of characters in. It was fantastic to have this to walkthrough to create a level of fear before you even do any of the actual mazes. Whilst only a short journey, it is certainly different to any other event and provided a good level of scares to start our night.
Once inside, you are surrounded with the 5 mazes, food and drink and other entertainment like the axe throwing. Whilst not a large event, there is plenty of seating and offering for food such as pizzas, BBQ food and burgers. There was a small licensed bar which was reasonably priced inside the entertainment tent, where they had a freak show performance throughout the night. It was a little limited on space but the show itself was fun to see. From a fire performance through to sword balancing and pain performances.
Below we go into more depth about the attractions, giving you our thoughts and rating. Our ratings are completely separate and allows us to give a fair unbiased rating of each attraction. To know more about the ratings before you read below, do click here!
The Clinic – Scare Score: 76%
Theming 65% | Storyline 80% | Screams 85% | Laughs 65% | Actors 85%
One of the three new mazes, with this following the story of being part of a human trial for a new drug. Like all mazes, not everything goes to plan and with a power surge, everything gets a little chaotic. You then get transported into a number of desolate scenes that are hospital based, where the people inside are crazed and psycho. With the heavy strobes and smoke throughout, every corner was a mystery, not knowing what we might come across. The jaw dropping ending uses a scare tactic we haven’t seen elsewhere outside of Cursed Essex and if you think you know what to expect, then think again as they are prepared for you.
Sewers – Scare Score: 79%
Theming 70% | Storyline 65% | Screams 85% | Laughs 80% | Actors 95%
Venture underground and into the sewers in this attraction, with God knows what lies beneath. Featuring a number of intense scenes and tormenting creatures, Sewers does not disappoint. The introduction scene really sets the scene and story, with you stepping into the toilets, which is fitting for a maze about sewers. We came across so many brilliant monsters inside, getting up close and invading your personal space. With the heavy effects used, it really does make the difference and adds to the level of horror. As one of the returning mazes and an attraction that we remember from back in 2022, it follows a completely different route and feels like a new maze in some ways, which is great to see. We loved the room halfway through with the sparks and being surrounded by a number of the cast, one of our favourites from the night for sure.
Haunting – Scare Score: 60%
Theming 35% | Storyline 45% | Screams 65% | Laughs 80% | Actors 75%
This is the other returning maze for Cursed Essex and this takes you down the route of blind faith, where you literally are blind. Into the darkness and with your eyes covered by a black face mask, you must follow the rope in order to find the exit. Whilst we are usually not fans of hooded mazes and attractions, The Haunting provided something a little bit different and used lots of unique ways to create the scares. From using different instruments to get reactions, we were prodded and poked all the way through with vibrations, wet materials and everything in-between. We found this hilarious yet terrifying as we could see absolutely nun of it. Get it? The ending when our masks were removed, you may even get to see the demon Lilieth herself, which is scary enough to be one of the only things you see.
Bloodthirst – Scare Score: 72%
Theming 60% | Storyline 75% | Screams 65% | Laughs 75% | Actors 85%
Another one of the new mazes and this took you into hostel for a nights stay which you may never leave from. The vampires inside lurk in the shadows and as much as they start very welcoming, it quickly snaps into a more chilling setting. As you wander through the rooms, these creatures want only one thing, and they make that very known as they get super close and trap you in the narrow pathways. This maze was very dark and disturbing and also created some of the most terrifying sounds we’ve heard this Halloween. The screeching against the walls was enough to make you run out alone.
The Harvest – Scare Score: 64%
Theming 45% | Storyline 65% | Screams 55% | Laughs 85% | Actors 70%
The gathering season has begun and you are welcomed into The Harvest. You meet one of the shop owners who tells you more about what’s going on before she locks up the shop and sends you into the infested grounds. Warned of large rodents, they were very unpleasant to look at and pretty petrifying to just be around. Walking around a junkyard for the most part of it, they do have a number of great hiding spots using the lights to blind you at critical points. Not forgetting a very tight squeeze which we promise is the most claustrophobic thing you’ll do this Halloween! The ending scene ends The Harvest on a high and the cast did a fantastic job to make up the lack of theming in places.
Overall, Cursed Essex have created a fantastic interlinking and immersive event which starts before you enter to the second you leave. The cast were off the rails in every maze, from the vampires in Bloodthirst to the inhabitants in the Sewers. If you listen carefully, the mazes do compliment each other and have stories between them, such as The Clinic using supplies gathered in The Harvest to make the drugs. We loved the little bit of entertainment they had and whilst a busy evening, the queues did move quickly. As we attended at the start of the night, you can even just go in your group or very small groups which is a nice touch.
A huge thank you to the team at Cursed Essex for inviting us to experience the event. They worked with us by supplying us free tickets and giving us exclusive permission to film and take photos which is usually not allowed.
With a limited run, we can only recommend you check them out before it’s too late in 2024. If you want a little extra look before attending then check out our video and if you’ve been before, let us know your thoughts over on our socials!
Attractions 85%
Entertainment 50%
Atmosphere 35%
value for money 75%
uniqueness 75%
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