Scare City Experience Returns BIGGER & Better For Halloween 2023!
This year, Scare City Experience has returned to the Abandoned site of the Camelot Theme Park in Chorley with a terrifying set of experiences for those brave enough to venture past the gates!
This 2 kilometer outdoor experience of horror takes brave guests on a trek across the abandoned theme park, winding in and out of repurposed buildings and through zones which are inhabited by monstrous horrors.
We have released a vlog for this experience however decided to write a blog post which goes a little more in depth on each zone and the experiences in each.
Please do note that this article does include spoilers for every zone. If you’re looking for a more spoiler free experience, I would recommend our Vlog instead.
I have also tried to score each maze out of 10. I enjoyed every maze thoroughly however decided to try and sort of rate them in this blog.
On entering Scare City we were met by a funfair which was a new addition for 2023 – This funfair had all your usual rides with some Halloween decorations in the form of iconic horror character cutouts.
There is a nice little selection of rides on offer and all rides take tokens which can be purchased on site from a kiosk.
This area had musical accompaniment and a little selection of food & drink options available. It’s not Camelot but it’s a nice addition to the experience to enjoy before or after your time slot.
Just past this is a sort of military style bunker which is home to your waivers & a merch store where you could buy a range of goods (Again before or after the experience).
Once waivers are signed, it’s a short wait before your experience begins.
Following a new route for 2023, you follow the winding paths down toward the first scarezone of your experience – The Slaughterhouse.
Not far from the building, we were met by a wonderful lady who was very keen to sell us on how amazing the local pies were.
She set the scene in a brilliant way and was a nice ease into the experience. Following on from an interaction with her, we were let into the house, which is a repurposed building from the Camelot site, where we were immediately face to face with the butchers of The Slaughterhouse and their humble abode.
We found this area to be quite disorientating being led up more stairs than we went down and sections of increased fog which allowed characters to get between our party and split us up in the narrow halls.
The end of this area was an interaction with Billy himself, head of the business, who was already at work on his next selection of meat… This was a great first area to experience on the trail and in our opinion, a pretty strong maze! – Score: 8/10
Escaping Billy & The Slaughterhouse, we were welcomed by a more friendly series of lights and sounds as we approached Carnivalley which was bigger and better for 2023.
We were informed that the event had more actors for 2023 and this was one of the sections where we noticed the increase.
Carnivalley uses a bit of a different route this year and winds further into the buildings. There is an incredible amount of UV reactive colouring on the walls in this area which makes for a whimsical scare factor with a range of clown designs ready to interact with you.
There are some great scares here including a mirror which I thought was clever. There was even a clown acting like a bit of a ringmaster, enticing the guests over to play a game with him to reveal where the “prize” was hidden.
This area was enjoyable like last year but again, it left me wanting more. – Score: 7/10
Leaving the sights and sounds of Carnivalley behind, we began an approach up the hill to elevate ourselves to a new life with Hellevate 666.
The first half of this area is quite gentle with a series of characters welcoming you to ascension. They are all incredibly welcoming and friendly luring you up the stairwell… However, when you reach the top of the stairs, things are different.
Gone are the white dresses & gentle lights, in comes dark clothing and a more threatening atmosphere with bodies contorting and twisting in unnerving ways.
As much as we liked this area, we couldn’t help but feel like it was a little bit short and, in a sense, anticlimactic. – Score 5/10
Now ascended into a new life, we approached Fortress, once a children’s soft play center, now an
overturned prison with ongoing riots.
This area was home to the Swizzels Blood-Curdling Castle last year and has returned with a practically reversed route for 2023.
The story to this area is that there has been a prison riot and you’re going in to sort it out. Like the previous year this maze uses heavy strobes, smoke, and music to create a disorientating environment however this year introduces prison convicts, guards and new scenes on your way through.
We particularly loved the way the prison guards interacted in this experience, especially as one was locked in realistic combat with one of the escaped convicts.
We absolutely loved this area again this year it’s just a lot of fun! – Score 9/10
After breaking free of the riot, we found ourselves taking a break in The Resurrection Zone which returns as your mid-way point through the experience.
This zone is a perfect break from the scares (or is it? You’re never truly alone…). This area is home to food, drink and entertainment & poses as a rest point before you continue your journey.
We didn’t spend too much time here however it is a great section with some really chilled out vibes and fantastic fire performers.
Returning to the trail, we found ourselves with an appointment at The Infirmary which utilizes a
previously hidden building on the grounds (We think it may be a converted toilet block?).
Entering the building we were instantly met by medical staff who were ushering us on our way to meet “the Nurse” and other characters inside.
I had a particularly great close encounter with the nurse who decided it was time for my injections before cleverly using a transportable partition to move us along.
The area has a gory medical theme and a lively cast of characters. One thing that I wasn’t too keen on was that this maze used a near identical ending to Slaughterhouse which was a little disappointing (I also didn’t think it worked quite as well here).
All in all, this was a nice close quarter experience. – Score 7/10
One appointment later (and a somewhat clean bill of health) it was time to enter The Junkyard.
Cars and scrap metal pile high around as you make your way through this area where Slider’s and chainsaws are ready to greet you.
This area managed to hide a few actors inside vehicles and behind wreckage which allowed for some pretty good sudden noises & appearances.
The characters are quite menacing and almost remind me of a little gang. My thoughts with this maze were that it didn’t really make sense to the pre-released area information (which gave off more of a serial killer feel).
It was a good area, but I couldn’t help but feel like it could have had a little more happening again. – Score 6/10
Running from the wreckage of cars we slipped down into the woods where the Shadows hid horrors
which felt reminiscent to those of twisted fairy tales.
This reminded us of the previous year with smoke filled woodlands and creatures hiding in the dark. Highlights of this area included a doll-like character who chased people in a “game”, a sort of witch-like lady with a sort of care-free attitude and of course, the giant rabbit-person from the previous years.
This area relied heavily on actors & the atmosphere however lacked on any further theming. We also noticed a few actors weren’t really doing anything – opting to sort of sit there in the corner of the eye instead. – Score 6/10
From here, we entered the darkness of Abyss… Ushered into a storage container one at a time (goodbye friends!), we were sent into the darkness with arms outstretched to try and guide our way.
This maze was considerably one of the more unique experiences during the evening with the use of the dark, strobes and fog to really confuse and disorientate us through a literal blind maze.
After what felt like a while, I was reunited with the rest of my party in the dark and we found a midway point which was strangely brighter with unusual characters on the ceiling before we were sent back into another chamber where it was a bit lighter but still disorientating…with the addition of some characters now too.
These performers were working in one of the stranger environments, however did an incredible job of getting right up in our disorientated faces as we tried to make our escape and find the other side.
I loved how disorientating this area was, it was quite unique & we didn’t even realise we had gotten back outside for a few moments as smoke followed us out. – Score 8/10
Back in the light (sort of) we made our way past a series of photo ops which had returned from last year but were all easy to find in one place before making our way back up the hill for one last experience – Decontamination.
Approaching Decontamination, we were met by armed guards who with bright torches ushered us into the queue line and advised us to watch an instructional video on what to do from a large screen.
Simply enough, it was a game of Red-Light Green Light, which is well known thanks to Netflix’s series: Squid Game.
Once the instructions were given and we had enough people, we were sent into our spaces ready to be released.
On the first green light we stepped out and were met by zombies in an array of costumes (including some which were used in previous years such as in the Crypt of Camelot area) but as soon as we stepped out, we were met with the first red light.
At red, the zombies were allowed to move, and they did this with great pleasure, shuffling and groaning as they threatened players to move.
The turns continued and the players gradually made their way across the field with some amusing results. I really enjoyed this however wished that it could have been a little bit longer or had a sort of final-scare factor to it somehow. – Score 7/10
Reaching the safe zone, we had conquered Scare City and were ready to collect our reward: some
Swizzels Sweets from their lovely event sponsor.
After receiving these we were given a second opportunity to purchase some merchandise and take a look at the photos which were taken during our Decontamination experience.
These photos could be purchased for a fee however we did not buy any. We didn’t really think these photos were worth purchasing with a lot of them being blurry/very candid or even too dark.
If the experience would like to sell photos as an extra charge, I think it may be best to have a sort of photo-op area instead.
I had a fabulous visit to Scare City this year, it was clear that the team had taken on the feedback from 2022 and used it.
There were more actors, longer scenes and much more to see in terms of theming. It’s the perfect event to kick-start your Halloween activities (just hope the weather is good for you!).
This event continues to grow every year and we wish it the best of success. Tickets to Scare City & more information can be found HERE.
In the meantime if you enjoyed reading this review then why not check out our official vlog covering our evening at Scare City Experience too?