Avon Valley Country Park & Unlocked Vision are back with their annual Scare Event near Bristol. Rebranded slightly for this year, Fear at Avon Valley Scream Park is now in its 5th year and promising to be more terrifying than ever!
The event offers a complete night out boasting 4 scare mazes, roaming circus freaks, an hourly fire show spectacular, fairground rides, food & drink options, plus more. It's open for 9 nights only in 2018!
We attended the launch night which looked to be a clear success for them. The park area itself is the best it's ever looked with facades added to try and hide the marquees that the mazes are housed in. The night was very lively due to it being sold out, which created some significant lines spilling out the maze queues that didn't drop for most the night, but they appeared to batch groups efficiently and extended the opening hours to ensure everyone got everything done. The roaming actors didn't feel outnumbered and still managed to create a scene wherever they went.
The Fire Show is a real highlight every year and something unique to Fear, using lights, sound and fire to create a visually pleasing display. The roaming actors even get involved and cause more chaos throughout the duration of the show in front the stage. The fire show felt quite short this year in comparison to previous years, but it is on hourly and is always a pleasure to watch! The stage area is also used throughout the night for various character stints, including mama the blind fortune teller!
Phobia Rebirth
Phobia is in it's 4th year at Fear, but has taken a new form with a complete overhaul for 2018. The attraction aims to play on your fears with a mass of different scenarios. The attraction is no longer based at a medical facility, instead the overall theme is about fearing the reaper (death) with the other phobias added in for good measure!
The start to this maze is something we've never seen before and definitely helps keep the group sizes down whilst playing on a Phobia as soon as you step foot in the attraction. We don't want to spoil much, but once you're in the queue you'll see for yourself, but it involves coffins. The rest of the maze features pitch black sections with several routes, various other phobias and creepy scenarios including coming face to face with the reaper!
Scare: 7/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 7/10 - Actors: 6/10 - Overall: 20/30
X4
#WhatIsTheFourth? It is a secret military research facility where an alien lifeform is being monitored and is on view exclusively for you...
The military theme is really kept to with in-your-face characters setting the scene perfectly before sending you on your way down the elevator to the site. The elevator scene has to be one of the best phsycial props we've experienced in a scare attraction (you'll have to try yourself to see why). The visit to the remainder of the attraction doesn't quite go as 'planned', and they've done a great job at creating a tense environment whilst you escape the facility. Unfortunately this year on our visit a couple of key scenes involving actors creating some great scares have been modified without actors and really doesn't have the same impact as last year. The actors we did encounter though throughout the attraction definitely seemed to be very lively & interactive including more powerful effects in the end scene which worked well for some last scares.
Scare: 6/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 6/10 - Actors: 7/10 - Overall: 19/30
Anarchy Live
The longest running Fear attraction which is now in its 5th year has seen various changes, the layout has been modified a bit again this year which unfortunately felt a bit shorter than before but the concept and intensity stays the same. After the clever introduction scenes which create some jump scares themselves, you're prepped and ready to be sent into the 'games' where you're the bait for the cannibals inside seeing how long you can survive. Being called 'Live' we really wish there would be a live feed from some cameras inside shown on a screen for people at the event to see.
This is the most intense maze with lots of strobe lighting and really active 'cannibals' literally running and jumping into walls at times. They create a lot of jump scares but also love to interact and follow through parts of the mazes as well as forcibly splitting up the groups where there are different routes to take, we were even sent back around in circles! The smoke filled ending with chainsaw weilding cannibals lurking in the room somewhere is a great finale to the maze, although with these types of endings they can be a bit hit and miss, fortunately we experienced this attraction several times and got the full terror!
Scare: 8/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 7/10 - Actors: 9/10 - Overall: 24/30
House Of Clowns
NEW FOR 2018! The maze starts in an old creepy home with the lovely grandma who lives there roaming the entrance area and first room. The attention to detail in these beginning scenes are incredible, but we feel without any real backstory or dialogue it's a bit wasted, and confusing why you're in a home, and then moments later in a 'funhouse' with clowns causing chaos; we would have loved for there to be an introduction scene where poor old grandma tells us she has had her house taken over by the clowns, to set the scene properly.
This was certainly the most fun attraction of the evening with the resident clowns really being on top form playing hide and seek throughout. The variety of scenes were brilliant and included lots of smoke and flashing lights to an infectious soundtrack which really set the mood perfectly for some enjoyable scares. Our highlights were the 'curtain maze' which is the best we've seen this Halloween with several routes, we also loved the 'fake clown' corridor... But which one is real?
Scare: 5/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 9/10 - Actors: 9/10 - Overall: 23/30 The park once again continues to have a solid lineup of mazes, roaming characters and shows to keep you entertained throughout the evening... So if you're after some Halloween fun and scares then be sure to visit before the season is up! For more information and tickets visit their website: https://www.fearavonvalley.com/
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