One of the UK’s longest-running scare attractions, Fort Amherst Halloween Horrors is a volunteer full-contact scare event set within the Napoleonic fortification of the same name. Since 1983, this charitable haunt has been scaring visitors with intense frights, complete with touch and screams for all involved. This year, the site contained two attractions: “Underground Wonky City” within the fort itself, and “Conjurance” in a purpose-built maze outside. So whether you brave the twisting tunnels or face the terrors above ground, Fort Amherst proves that after more than forty years, fear never gets old.
In “Underground Wonky City”, your expedition begins in a mining office where we, as new recruits, are sent down into the pits, although the miners you meet seem far from stable of mind (and soul!). Some lash out violently, with a few even putting us in headlocks and dragging us down the corridors; chaotic, physical, and threatening all in the first few minutes. The route continues through increasingly odd scenes, including a toy shop where a cymbal-clashing monkey startles from the gloom and a giant “Action Man” figure appears to have burst free from its wrapping, towering over the next room from where you first saw its shredded packaging. Performers made full use of the maze’s full-contact allowance, with plenty of head-rubbing and hair-tousling to alarm us. The sequence ends with a surreal turn in Amherst Asylum, where a bearded nurse and a gas-masked counterpart separated groups, and one of us was pulled into a padded cell for wearing a coat that looked a little too much like Doctor Who’s!
“Conjurance” took on a more dramatic, gothic quality, beginning with a short vignette featuring the lady of the house, her eerie familiar, and a clairvoyant, who explained that we might not survive the ghouls and vampires within. From there, the maze filled with decadent dismay, featuring impressive vampires, a Marie Antoinette-style hostess, and ghostly girls ogling from the darkness. We felt some areas might have done with a few more monsters and ghosts, just to break up the bigger spaces. Every actor leaned into their role, giving “Conjurance” a sense of twisted stylishness that contrasted well with the chaos of the fort’s underground horrors.
Costume, masks, and makeup design were strong in both mazes at this attraction, with completely different approaches at each. We were thoroughly impressed with the costuming in “Conjurance” – it was definitely the strongest aspect of the maze by far. All of the vampires were powerful with complete head-to-toe looks, and the costumes looked expensive and really put together. The vampires at the maze’s introduction were particularly intense, and there was one Marie Antoinette character in the heart of the maze that was immensely impressive with complete 18th-century garb and period makeup to coincide. There were a few questionable costumes here though, particularly a Satanic character with an unbelievable mask who just didn’t quite sell the character they were portraying.
Equally impressive were the costumes and masks in “Underground Wonky City”. All of the characters were believable and aesthetically fit into the worlds they existed in. Of particular note were the characters in the toy store, from the Action Guy to the absolutely petrifying toy monkey mask, as well as additional larger-than-life mask work of other toy characters. And we can’t forget to highlight an amazing spider look which was part costume and part-puppet – this was such a fun and unforgettable moment for us, and really added to the theatricality of the maze.
We had a great customer service experience at this attraction. We found all the information we needed on the website prior to our experience, including information on parking as there is no free parking at the Fort or on any nearby streets – instead, there are a few parking lots within close walking distance. Our interactions with the team on digital platforms was excellent, and all of the staff we met at the event were helpful and professional. It’s worth noting that security measures at this event are very thorough, with metal detectors and security patting down each and every audience member, which isn’t abnormal for events such as these but was definitely the most rigorous we’ve experienced. There were a lot of security and attendants at this event, so we definitely felt in safe hands and didn’t have any troubles with other audience members around the site.
We had no safety issues at “Underground Wonky City,” which is definitely worth noting seeing as it was set in an old fort. However, there was lighting and attendants throughout all the stairways. The only slight safety issues we saw were in “Conjurance” – someone in front of us got caught on a splinter of wood in a doorway, and we always tripped in one of the other doorways ourselves, but these were the only two instances that would need any attention for next year’s event.
The pre-haunt atmosphere for each of the mazes is minimal, but they are both so close to the main entertainment hub that they don’t seem as unthemed as they could be. Mostly, they each have a small bit of signage and a soundtrack you listen to while queuing. “Underground Wonky City” has a stronger pre-haunt atmosphere due to the interactive queue actors we engaged with, both a miner and a creepy girl, who were great and kept us entertained while we waited to enter the maze. Post-haunt atmospheres for both mazes were non-existent, as each spits you out onto a path at a bit of a distance from the main entertainment hub.
The stories for both mazes were relatively clear, although the actor telling us the story for “Conjurance” was a little difficult to hear over the sound of the soundscape both inside and outside the haunt. This maze was a journey into a haunted mansion full of vampires and ghosts, while “Underground Wonky City” was a trek through an absolutely chaotic, insane and larger-than-life city, from their terrifying mines through a crazed shopping centre, and finally into their deranged asylum.
In terms of immersiveness, the world “Underground Wonky City” created was amazingly impressive, and we were astounded at the different realms. The biggest issue here by far were the group sizes. Unfortunately, due to the level of interactivity with the cast, the queue moved really slow, and we were often stopped in the middle of a room for minutes at a time waiting for everyone to experience the space and the actors within. Since we saw things repetitively happen to each and every single person in front of us, by the time we finished queueing and got to experience it ourselves it had often already lost its novelty. However, it was still awe-inspiring the worlds this maze was able to create, and the site-specific nature of all of the designs was really impressive. The same, however, cannot be said of “Conjurance,” which we felt might have been improved with a little more finish to the spaces themselves.
The atmosphere was very high within “Underground Wonky City” due to its setting within the historic fort itself. The set is built into the stone corridors and chambers of the fort, which you wind through as you progress, with the stone naturally amplifying sounds and casting shadows, creating an authentic sense of descent (especially into the mine). Opening in the mining office, wooden beams and mining props make you feel you’re actually about to set out on an expedition, whilst in the mine itself timbre-lined tunnels are oppressive. Low, ominous soundtracks rumble through parts of the maze, particularly in the mining sections, although the use of audio is not entirely consistent throughout the route.
The set design evolves into a bizarre underground shopping centre, complete with a toy store, clothing shop, and even a conservatory/greenhouse. This unexpected environment is filled with surreal props, including a giant “action man” packaging that appears burst open and a convincing puppet-style Venus flytrap that repeatedly shouts “Feed me!” as its jaws snap open and closed in the style of Little Shop of Horrors. The effect is both funny and troubling. Other physical particulars, such as a camouflage-net passageway and a crawl-through “mini house,” add to the sensory mix by breaking up the walking pace and forcing you into confined places. Toward the finish, the route becomes increasingly confusing, with the Amherst Asylum section using padded walls and repeated turns to make it feel like you are circling back on yourself (in fact, many times we did!).
“Conjurance” shifts from industrial deterioration to gothic haunt. You are sent in smaller groups, entering what is meant to be an old mansion divided into themed rooms such as sitting areas and studies. Each contains simple touches like worn furniture, aged photo frames, cobwebs, and skulls, although the sets feel a little sparse compared with the detailed premise. The design aims to create a free-roaming haunted house, which adds to the confusion as you circle repeatedly through dim corridors and narrow passageways until you find a hidden exit. A very tight birth canal beckons the exit, but in fact, you’re led back into the maze. The soundscape is eerie and reliable, filled with low murmurs and ambient creaks that build pressure. Smoke and light effects are used to good effect in one fog-filled area, though some unfinished chipboard surfaces occasionally broke the illusion. There’s a lot of ambition here, but we would have liked to see a bit more polish to the rooms themselves, bringing them fully to life.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 6.75
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.5
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.13
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 6.63
Fort Amherst Halloween Horrors is a full-contact haunt, and in “Underground Wonky City,” these assaults start from the very beginning when you enter the maze, with various miners attacking us and putting some people in headlocks. There is a lot of head rubbing and hair fluffing in this maze, with an increase in physical intensity in the final of the experience as each and every audience member is singled out and forced to endure a terrifying trek through a maze of an asylum’s padded rooms, along the way being attacked by inmates and from one of us even receiving a syringe full of liquid down our backs!
It’s important to note that this maze is really hit and miss in terms of providing scares to everyone, with some scenes failing to do this and others going above and beyond in making sure everyone is abused and manhandled. While the miners seemed to ignore us, often opting to attack the younger girls in the group, the insane asylum inmates and some of the doctors attacked each and every person. While these attacks were sometimes frightening, they unfortunately often felt repetitive, as if the actors were just doing them by rote. This was probably due to the sheer size of the groups, so we do have to applaud the actors for being able to handle such a high number of audiences in front of them at once while also trying to provide personalised experiences.
“Conjurance” didn’t hit the scares as hard, however, but we did feel this maze introduced a different variety of scare tactics. The open-style concept of this maze with an exit that wasn’t clearly marked left audiences wandering around for ages, completely disoriented due to rooms full of fog or the quite claustrophobic birth canal. This confusion and disorientation straddled the line between disconcerting and frustrating, and we think with a bit more trial and error and a bit more sinister actions from the cast would help to veer this maze further from confusing and more into chilling. We did feel a little ignored in this maze, and we wondered if this too was due to audience numbers – we saw a lot of people being stalked and pinned to walls, but we were mostly left alone as we lost ourselves over and over again trying to find the exit.
At a ticket price of approximately £29, and with a walkthrough time of twenty-five minutes for the two mazes, the ratio of scares per pound is just under £1 per minute, which is average compared to the haunts we’ve attended this year. There is some extra entertainment on the site, with numerous food stalls, archery and shooting games, but it’s worth noting these come at an additional cost. There were a few roaming actors and a stage for live entertainment, but there was only a single singer during our visit and the roaming cast didn’t seem very interactive, so we do think there’s room for improvement here. Ultimately, we want to highlight that while most of the overall scores for Fort Amherst are average, their maze “Underground Wonky City” is really quite something, and wholly unique compared to other haunts this year. This maze scored quite high for us, and if it wasn’t for us being short on time we’d probably have done a second run through as we enjoyed it so much. This maze was of really high quality, with interesting design features and some fascinating mask and puppetry work unlike anything we’ve ever seen. However, their other maze, “The Conjurance” did not fare as well, which resulted in lower scores for the event as a whole. We think that with a bit more work into this second maze and the rest of the entertainment on the site, Fort Amherst could give other scare parks a run for their money in terms of unique and site-specific mazes. If you’ve never tried a contact haunt we definitely suggest Fort Amherst – while the attacks are frequent, they lean more towards the fun side of scariness than just pure abuse and terror, and thus offer a good intro into what chaos and fear being manhandled can bring!
Dock Road, Chatham, United Kingdom ME4 4UB
