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Scarefest 2014

Jamie said:
In my opinion, being touched is a big part of the "danger" in horror mazes. I always find the mazes at Scarefest less impressive than Fright Nights for that reason, and also because there are a lot less actors in the Scarefest mazes compared to the Fright Night ones.

I agree, I am really sad to see it go as it was by far the best, most popular and most impressive scare maze in the UK.
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Yeah, being TOUCHED, however, when you pose a threat to my safety by grabbing my ankles and nearly making me fall over, or start pushing me up against a wall, I have a problem.
Also, if you grab my hair, you have any idea the time I spend on my hair for this a-hole actor to mess it all up... *Grumpy face*
And please, did you do Blair Witch? WHAT ACTORS?!
 
Tarin Maria said:
Yeah, being TOUCHED, however, when you pose a threat to my safety by grabbing my ankles and nearly making me fall over, or start pushing me up against a wall, I have a problem.
Also, if you grab my hair, you have any idea the time I spend on my hair for this a-hole actor to mess it all up... *Grumpy face*
And please, did you do Blair Witch? WHAT ACTORS?!
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Blair Witch was absolute rubbish, but Asylum was fantastic, My Bloody Valentine and Cabin in the Woods were good most of the time and Saw Alive got good reviews even if I personally find it dull. I never had any actors grab my hair, but you are supposed to feel threatened by them so pushing you up against a wall is just part of the fear factor. I didn't have my ankles grabbed either (last year), although I remember they used to do it in The Curse.
 
I can remember about six separate occasions an actor at Thorpe has grabbed my ankles. Asylum just didn't have the same impact on me that ToTT or Sanctuary did cause there was just so much more character and atmosphere. In Cabin, we just had one actor standing there and telling us to move, because the door to the control room had been locked, like, he wasn't scary.
I don't find being pushed up against a wall threatening in a 'scary' sense, but more in a 'you're getting a bit overly sexual and its really unwanted' sense. Plus, I've not seen them do it to guys.
 
I think if the actors were to brush past you, or gently touched your arm or shoulder from the dark would be very scary. I always feel scared on TOTT et al because I'm scared of the dark and get uneasy about what's there, but the actors themselves don't really scare me because I know they won't do anything except shout and growl.

If I was crawling through the chain link fence tunnel in TOTT and someone reached through in the dark, silently, and touched my arm or maybe my face, I would pap myself!
 
A little late to the party here but I will really miss Carnival, I felt that it was the strongest maze of last Scarefest. For me TotT has become stale and never seems to have enough actors, which is an awful shame.
I just hope some money will be invested in lighting, or at least some street entertainment to try and give the park a bit of atmosphere, which is has desperately lacked over the past few Scarefests.

As for touching in mazes, I think if it is done correctly then it can really add an extra element to a maze - if you know an actor can only make noises or talk to you, then you know what to expect, wheras if an actor is free to touch you then you don't have that safe boundary. I've been picked up and carried around by actors in mazes before, which is really more good fun than scary and I know @Russ has been dragged through a maze by his feet before.
I think it really depends on the individual and the situation - if you really like your personal space, then an actor being able to touch you will be uncomfortable and perhaps scary.
 
I think when it's as extreme as being picked up/dragged around in a maze, it will make it less scary in a way. What would make it scary however, is if they dragged/carried you to somewhere in the maze where you were alone.
 
Tom.B said:
I think when it's as extreme as being picked up/dragged around in a maze, it will make it less scary in a way. What would make it scary however, is if they dragged/carried you to somewhere in the maze where you were alone.
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I must admit, seeing the other member of your group being carried away by an actor then leaving you in a room with a few actors was quite tense. I suppose it really depends on the individual, but whenever I've been in a maze where actors are allowed to push you about, carry you etc it just makes me laugh although that may just be a nervous reaction.
 
The Extreme run throughs are brilliant, especially when the actors have got to know you're up for the challenge.

I have seen some hilarious goings on! Never sure quite what they are and aren't supposed to do so I wouldn't ever go into details, but they really were brilliant.
 
Vicky said:
As for touching in mazes, I think if it is done correctly then it can really add an extra element to a maze - if you know an actor can only make noises or talk to you, then you know what to expect, wheras if an actor is free to touch you then you don't have that safe boundary.
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Strange really because I have the exact opposite reaction. When actors can touch you it completely removes me from the experience as it brings to your attention how little they can actually do to you and highlights how it is a constructed experience with limitations. The idea of a character meaning you harm without physically touching you creates a far more fearful experience then a character who touches their victims and in the process underlining how little power they really have, not of course that I'm condoning actors to do real harm to people.

Not to mention that I'm surprised we haven't seen a sexual assault allegation made yet. Allowing touching in mazes really seems like it would leave visitors very vulnerable to abuse and actors vulnerable to false allegations.
 
Touching is always a very sensitive issue. Personally, I agree with touching in a non-extreme maze IF there is constant surveillance of the actors. By this, I mean ents hosts who are concealed within the scenes to ensure the safety of both the guests and actors. If they get too carried away, they can be brought back in line by the host. But for me, touching means maybe a light brush with your hand or leading someone with your hand in theirs IF they agree. One experience was an "extreme" show and I allowed the team to go much further. But made them always ensure in their minds that they were considering the audience members' comfort, enjoyment and safety. No guest should be forced to partake and clearly, if they hate it and the actor's professional enough, they should, in theory, stop.

The thing is, scare mazes/immersive theatre are just full of so many intense and high emotions. I myself have had someone very happily interact with me in one piece and in another, I had someone break down. As soon as that happened, I ensured their safety, once they confirmed they were ok, I moved on. I hadn't even touched the female in question or directed any dialogue, eye contact or scare tactics towards her but had noticed on approach that she was clearly distressed.

Actors are ultimately there to heighten your experience, not hinder it. I have got very angry in the past with certain actors in a team who got very carried away with one group. The only way I can describe it is like a power overload that rushes to their head. It can quickly turn from fun to down right intimidation of a threatening kind. Now I'm not sticking up for the actors, but sometimes their characters can really get the better of them and they unintentionally go too far without realising - being in that environment is really tough for the actor and so demanding mentally and physically. Imagine being a deranged monster for 9/10/11 hours and hardly breaking out of character...you slowly live AS that character.

One of my key dilemmas whenever I am involved in an interactive piece is touching and, to be honest, I choose FAR less experiences in which touching is included. For myself, I think words, environment and good understanding of how to "attack" your experiencers via distraction techniques, team work etc is far more powerful than touching. Yes, sometimes touching is advantageous for a certain plot or creation, but sometimes it's something which can easily create more hassle than good.

The actors should follow some very basic and key steps to tell if an experiencer is willing to interact or not. It might sound tedious but it actually allows actors to easily gage people who are interactive and open to the idea...but the GP can also get too excited and it can turn into a two way street occasionally! They can get too carried away as well!

I remember in the last season of when Saw:Alive was all year round I happened to come across a delightful "actress" (she certainly wasn't one) who overheard me say to a very terrified friend that they were just actors and it wasn't real. She pushed me away from the group and made me re-do the maze 6 times...on my own and used the codename which meant the "actress" personally knew me as a family/friend member. Despite me explaining to every actor I didn't know her she continued to hold me by the scruff of my shirt and pushed me into set, into other actors, then into actor runs, onto the floor, onto a set (so she could act the scene out with me as the victim when other groups passed) and the list goes on. I love mazes but once I was finally out I had bruises and marks over me and went straight over to Guest Services...who said "strange, they should only touch you with the palm of their hand" and my response was rather colourful! This is why touching is a fine line because GS did nothing about it as it was "made aware to me before". I know what it's like to feel intimidated and actually unhappy in a maze because of some silly "actors" - it can really ruin your overall day and even future scare maze/interactive adventures.
 
That's a shocking abuse of power from the SAW actor. I guess it depends how you look at it; Did they give you a super intense, extreme run through for free... or were they actually bullying you?
 
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How on Wardley's given Earth did that silly "actress" MAKE you do the maze 6 times? Couldn't you have just stayed in the group?
 
No, she forced my group to continue and they left the maze despite trying to refuse to move. She also put my terrified friend in the front of the conga line as "punishment". Then every time I got to the carousel trap, she would push me round and round and block the exit with the rest of the actors (who, in their defence, genuinely thought I was a family/friend of the actress due to the codename). I was so unresponsive throughout the entire time but I was silly to say the first time round a few colourful words and that I did this for a living/would make her life hell...because then obviously she got worse...not my finest moment! Tom.B...very easily. I just shut down responding to anything because if I lashed out or hit her or did anything untoward, I would have been ejected and tbh, I couldn't deal with the agro. Eventually, after GS did nothing and a lot of strong words between myself and thorpe, this "actress" has not been invited back to Thorpe to act ever again.

My original post isn't about her though and people reading who are unsure whether to do a scare maze or not, please do. Stuff like this is extremely rare! :)

Diogoj, haha! Looking back on it, it was - what a privilege. ;) But when I got pushed violently out on my sixth "round" (so hard I went into the photo desk), I just burst into tears and that's coming from someone who's studied and loves scare mazes/audience interaction!
 
That sounds like quite an ordeal you went through! I've heard a fair share of stories about actors going too far, but not to that extent!

I've always fancied experiencing an 'extreme' maze, but then I haven't. I like just being the observer. A brush past me or a slight push doesn't bother me. In fact TOTT and Sanctuary staff did that to me last year (which is no problem, they could see I didn't mind them doing it). Although being dragged across floors, carried away, pushed into walls and cornered... for me that's not 'scary', it's just borderline abuse, and that's what leaves me staying away from these extreme experiences, just the fact actors might go too far enjoying their role. The above posts just kinda concrete my thoughts on that more.

Personally I find a maze experience scarier without touching. Just because when you're deep into the experience, you can really go mad and don't know what's what and who's who. It's amazing that in some mazes even when you're in parts with no actors, you feel like there's someone (or something) there. If touching is brought into that then the minute no actors are around touching anyone my fear level would drop, as I know there's no threat around.

I guess it's just a personal preference at the end of the day. I'm still half and half on whether touching guests can be good or not.
 
An interesting debate here... There are going to be people who don't like the whole 'touching' thing of course, although I bet if people were given the option to have an 'extreme' run-through, they would take it.

I do however, agree with MP that touching detracts from the experience, the unknown is always far scarier than the known. When it gets physical there really is very little they can do, whereas in your mind and what you can anticipate could never be replicated! Legally anyway ;)
 
Slightly off topic, but at the same time on topic.

The shipping containers next to the goal striker which had parts of the carnival in (the bag scene and puppet scene) for the past couple of years have now been removed. So I think this pretty much confirms that the new scare zone will go where the old zombie one used to be. Nothing else has changed in that area yet, and parts of carnival pieces are still in the area.
 
maybe not the right place but, i want to go to scarefest with my wife and by then, 12 week old son. Would we be able to do the mazes with him, although he will probably be asleep and in a baby harness on my chest.?
 
darren said:
maybe not the right place but, i want to go to scarefest with my wife and by then, 12 week old son. Would we be able to do the mazes with him, although he will probably be asleep and in a baby harness on my chest.?
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I sincerely doubt they would let you, and even if they did I would strongly advise against it. The mazes contain loud noises and enclosed spaces, sometimes areas where you have to crawl. They are usually unsettling/scary even for most adults so a baby will find it extremely bad. TLDR; no.
 
thanks, i had no idea it was like that. its hard being a new parent! so many sacrifices! barney is worth it though.
 
darren said:
thanks, i had no idea it was like that. its hard being a new parent! so many sacrifices! barney is worth it though.
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In my experience, Towers usually do a good job of catering to families with small children. I don't know if you've heard about the Parent Share Pass scheme they offer? I'm not sure wether it applies to the scaremazes, but it's a system where one parent queues and does the ride while the other looks after the child, and after the first parent comes off, the second can get straight on through the ride exit while the first waits with the child.

Again you would have to check with the resort wether or not they offer it for the mazes, or maybe someone on here will know, as I'm not sure if it applies :)
 
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