Amongst the locomotives and fairground rides of Statfold Country Park, you’ll find the brand new Statfold Scream Park, which has crept in this Halloween for its first year. Located in Staffordshire close to around a 10 minute drive from Tamworth, engineering and industrial history is prominently on display (this is, after all, the cradle of Reliant Motors). Three scare mazes spread across the park’s grounds are yours to experience: “End of the Line”, “Clowns of the Corn”, and “The Offering”. Add to this fairground rides (courtesy of the National Fairground Museum), live music, roaming actors, and a warm and inviting central hub, and you have the makings of a potential new classic of the UK haunt scene.
The cast across all Statfold Scream Park’s haunts offered really quite terrifying and hands-on performances, keeping the energy high all the while and us pulsing along with them. Most memorable were those of “End of the Line”. From the moment we stepped off the train into the chaos of this maze, the undead, post-apocalyptic actors surrounded us, grasping, dragging, and attacking with persistent eagerness that matched the locomotive setting (we wondered whether they might be the denizens of lost train workers from long ago). In this haunt, you actually arrive by steam engine which takes you around a circuit of the park’s wider area. We would have loved to see some actors on this, which might have geared us up for what was coming. Contrasting this, cast members brought a cultish unease to “The Offering”, where performers took a more physical and dare we say ceremonial line, steering us through dark places, blocking trails, and whispering unsettling lines before ending in a frenzied weapon-wielding dénouement.
Then, in “Clowns of the Corn”, the cast brought a disordered playfulness, combining acrobatics and puzzles with ingenious misdirection that made the maze as mystifying as it was discomforting. Each clown seemed to delight in confusing us, twisting and bending acrobatic-style so that we had to literally travel under them at some points, while sending us the wrong way with happy mischief. Between haunts, the roaming actors kept the atmosphere active with outstanding innovation, including a needy baby-faced man searching for his “daddy” (and this turned out to be one of us), a skeletal stilt walker who towered and “massaged” our heads, and clowns who loved to menace as much as make us laugh. Altogether, the cast made the experience erratically scary and full, showing that at Statfold Scream Park the scares do not stop when the mazes end.
The costuming and makeup at Statfold Scream Park was for the most part robust and well-matched to each theme. In “End of the Line”, the engineering, post-apocalyptic look came through with distressed clothing, encrusted textures, and details such as a grill-faced mask that had a boiler room influence. The characters appeared worn and hard by their situation, creating a gritty genuineness that reinforced the disordered setting.
“Clowns of the Corn”, however, was a riot of colour. The clowns’ patterned clothes, overstated greasepaint, and hooting horns made one believe they had escaped from some possessed circus. “The Offering” was far darker, with more ritualistic attire. One performer’s black veil adorned with spiky accents was almost sharp to look at, a witch-like design that added to the cultish feeling. The roaming actors maintained this high standard, with the unsettling baby-faced figure in his almost “uncanny valley” mask and the skeletal stilt walker whose long fingers and clacking movements were integrated into their costume really being highlights for us. The wardrobe across the event felt as if each character slotted perfectly into the world they were trying to inhabit.
We had a great customer service experience. The park was easy to locate, with parking also simple to find, and with the entire site well-lit for navigation. All the staff we came across were friendly and helpful, especially those we spoke with during our experience of “End of the Line”. We also commend Statfold Scream Park for the digital experience we had before our actual arrival. All the information we needed was online and accessible, and our communications with staff members via email were lovely and accommodating. The experience and the staff were superb, and we were so surprised this was the first year for this event, as it seemed to run like clockwork and be very put together from start to finish.
The atmosphere and environment around Statfold Scream Park places you in a frame of mind that means you’ll be searching for creatures behind every shadowy train stored in this depot. Not only does the main hub have some brilliant decorations, spookifying each and every train, but many of the pre-haunt areas here lend themselves strongly to your experience. We were particularly impressed by the pre-haunt area for “End of the Line”, where you wait on an actual railway platform, bedecked in devilish decorations and a skeleton emerging from the ground, to actually board a moving train. “Clowns of the Corn” was also fun in terms of pre-haunt, with a circus inspired sign, giant skulls, and a roaming actor tormenting everyone in the queue – and circus music of course. We think the pre-haunt area for “The Offering” though could use a little work, as this just consisted of a sign and a covered waiting area before entering the woods.
The narrative within the mazes was variable. “End of the Line” felt stronger, the undead occupation theme running throughout the experience, but this was less apparent in “Clowns of the Corn”, and somewhat there in “The Offering”, where we were set to meet a witchy/cultish group and (perhaps?) be sacrificed. Regardless of storyline, actual immersion within each of the haunts was strong, and we weren’t taken out of the moments of horror surrounding us. After the haunts, you were delivered to different places on site, either the start of a new maze as was the case with “Clowns of the Corn”, or back onto a platform but further down with “End of the Line”.
Both “Clowns of the Corn” and “End of the Line” had very effective soundscapes, with crazed sped up carnival music with periodic laughs and horns in the former and techno music with train sounds in the latter. “Clowns of the Corn” had quite simple set design as a majority of the maze relied on the corn maze itself, but there were a few themed sections to walk under with hanging red flaps as well as really fun multicoloured flashing lighting across the whole maze that added to the chaotic fun. “The Offering” was also relatively simple in terms of set design and special effects, relying heavily on the eerie woods as a backdrop, but also interspersing this with fabric hanging from trees, body parts attached to trees via chain, and even at one point a spit roasting a body.
“End of the Line” started off very strong, with a journey on an actual steam train in the dark, with prop skeletons sitting with us in the carriages and some fun theming outside the train to look at, as well as a themed train depot and platform to wait on until the train’s arrival. Unfortunately, our journey suffered technical difficulties – the train carriage in front of us seemed to have some spooky narration during this trip, whereas our carriage was in complete silence. We definitely felt like we were missing out and ended up being a bit confused as to the point of the journey, but it was still really fun to be on a steam train in the dark and ultimately was an effective intro to the maze itself. While this maze was simple as well there were still quite a few environments to navigate, from store rooms to a fence maze with low strobe and smoke.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7.17
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 10
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.58
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.17
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 5.5
There was a large variety of frights and intensity through the park, which certainly varied between the haunts. “End of the Line” was one of the most disorientating of the evening. The continuous pulling on us by the cast and their unexpected movements kept us off kilter whilst strobes and dense atmos made it impossible to see where you are going (in that incredibly creepy way billowing mist does)! The setting of a haunted train ride added a supernatural sense of captivity that made every sound and shadow feel insidious.
“Clowns of the Corn” mixed warped humour with real nervousness. The clowns closed in, honking horns inches from our faces and sending us the wrong way, only to laugh as we retrace our steps through the maze. “The Offering” increases the intensity even more, with actors clutching at shoulders, obstructing pathways, and compelling you into unforeseen turns. The encounter ends with (in our case, for sometimes it was a chainsaw) a sudden machete scare that leaves a keen edge of adrenaline in your system.
At £20 and with a scare walkthrough time of 34 minutes, a minute-per-pound ratio of 1.7 makes this a very affordable and well valued experience. “The Offering” is a pretty good length outside trail at 10 minutes, and while “End of the Line” is a decent length as well, the time here is extended due to a lengthy train journey you take on a locomotive before the maze itself begins. Statfold have created a beautiful event – the Country Park itself is a unique location with all its steam engines, and the attraction has completely decked out the space with fun and spooky decorations from wall to wall, with skeletons in every corner you can see, creating eerie but also humorous tableaus. There is live music, food and drink vendors, hilarious and unique roaming actors, not to mention an entire section of the site with fairground rides. The vibe made us feel like we were in a town fair, but with the hub of the park indoors it was also cozier and more intimate than expected. We had a fantastic night, and for this being the park’s first year we can’t commend them more. We are very excited to see what these folks have in store in the years to come.
Statfold County Park, Ashby Road, Tamworth, United Kingdom B79 0BU
