FRIGHTFUL!
£15-a-ticket Halloween event horrifies families … for all the wrong reasons
WITH the promise of actors in terrifying costumes, a spooky maze and ‘amazing special effects’, Screamania was billed as a fun and child- friendly Halloween extravaganza.
But families who paid as much as £50 to attend were horrified for a different reason when they discovered a series of ‘half put-up’ marquees in a muddy field – with entertainment sadly lacking.
One disappointed visitor branded the event an ‘absolute shambles’.
Organisers advertised Screamania as offering laser shooting, slime-making, a treasure hunt and a trick- or-treat walk. But, with entry priced at £15 a child and £6 an adult, plus booking fees of up to £1.30, many families felt short-changed.
To reach the event, at Reddish Vale in Stockport, visitors have to walk along a bleak track beneath power lines. A4 posters, apparently produced by a home printer, guide the way to marquees.
When they get there, ‘attractions’ include a skeleton in a battered old car, a lonely witch’s cauldron under a gazebo and a tiny ‘haunted house’.
Families at the opening day on Saturday called the event a ‘disaster’. Dan Rees, 32, paid more than £45 for tickets for his family. He said: ‘It’s a load of half put-up marquees in a field with some go-karts in a tent and a “maze” inside another. Hilarious? Yes. Spooky? No.’ Mr Rees said a woman actor hired to be a witch apologised for Screamania.
Visitor Lauren Pritchard wrote on Facebook: ‘This event is an absolute shambles. From the advert you get the impression this will be a brilliant, exciting, immersive family experience … anticlimax is definitely what I would go with! I could have organised something better and much cheaper in my back garden. Absolutely shocking.’
Among the unhappy visitors yesterday were hairdresser Carley Bell, 33, and her children Gracie, 12, Lola, eight, and Oliver, six, who asked for a refund after spending more than £50 on tickets. Mrs Bell said: ‘For what they were charging we could have gone to Alton Towers on a two-for-one deal.’
Robin Wallis, manager of the event which runs until October 31, said: ‘We’re aware that Saturday wasn’t good. We’ve apologised to everyone and offered refunds.’
He stressed that more than 50 people visited the event on Monday and nobody had complained.