Doncaster Fear Factory 2025
The team were invited to Doncaster Fear Factory for their preview night. With two new mazes and a lot of little tweaks here and there we were looking forward to what they had in store.
We arrived early and the excitement started before we’d even got out of the car. Scenes unfolding and actors interacting with us from the moment we arrived. This was a really nice touch and I hope it is kept for those arriving early on other nights.
As it was a preview night we had a brief intro to the event and a teaser into what we might experience next year. A fun start to proceedings and a nice little bonus to get excited for the future of the event.
We lined up to enter the main area where we were tormented by a couple of clowns. Once checked in we made our way through a small scare zone known as Crimson Harvest just after the entrance. A lot of eerie characters lurking in the darkness here scaring passers by as they made their way into the main part of the event grounds.
As you enter you find yourself in a large open space surrounded by trees. To the left Friargate Foundry. To the right Diabolus. Slightly further along you had Shellton Motel, a stage and a couple of fairground rides (the event really has grown since its early beginnings and is lovely to see) in the distance you can see an entrance to Uncle Donk’s Scare Zone that leads you to the other two mazes, throughout the site you have roaming actors interacting with guests either offering comic relief or an eerie encounter.
Friargate Foundry
Onto the first maze and in my opinion one of the strongest of the night, Friargate Foundry. This maze is homage to the mazes that came before as the experience starts you are introduced to the creator of these attractions and his ideas. Each room had strong scares all coming from multiple angles. I genuinely got startled a few times in this maze which is often rare these days. With such varied theming throughout leaning into attractions gone by the team have the opportunity to tweak the maze each year keeping it fresh and exciting for many years to come. What a great start to proceedings.
Diabolus: Visum Mortis
Onto Diabolus: Visum Mortis a primarily dark maze but with some nice touches that make it stand out when compared to similar dark/blindfolded mazes. Really fun start in the darkness with a rope, a fun section in the middle with a unique approach to scares where you walk around the section with your back against the wall and onto an outdoor bit where scares continued to hit from multiple angles. As you left the darkness you entered an outdoor section where the actors were able to surprise and startle through to the exit.
Quinlens & Co
We moved onto the back of the site now through Uncle Donks Scare Zone where a few clowns interacted with guests as they traversed the area.
Towards the back of the park we encountered our first new maze of the night Quinlens & Co which has a fantastic facade nestled in the woodland. It is at this point we have to say the work that has gone into the facades of these mazes is absolutely superb. Our pictures don’t quite do them justice and they need to be seen to be believed. I’d say these facades honestly wouldn’t be out of place at a theme park. On to the maze itself we had a combination of theatrical scenes followed by more jump scares. The middle section being a highlight for scares we did feel that the ending didn’t quite live up to the rest of the maze and fell a little flat.
Crackle Hill: The Summoning
We then proceeded to the another returning maze Crackle Hill: The Summoning this was another solid run through multiple scenes of inhabitants. Again solid scares throughout with some nice story driven moments. This maze has always had impressive sets that fit the setting well. I feel this run was the best we’ve had in this maze over the years which may have been a combination of our small group size and refinements to the scenes over the years.
Shellton Motel
Onto the final maze Shellton Motel and when I say the event has great facades this is one that truly jumps out at you. An imposing multi story structure of an American style motel, search lights light up the space and it sets up the scene perfectly while you wait to enter. On entry you learn about the back story from the receptionist before being sent on our way to a specific room through various well themed and designed motel backrooms. Scares again coming thick and fast along with more theatrical moments. Theming of these rooms were great and in keeping with the whole motel concept with each room leading you to the impactful finale.
Summary
We love how Doncaster Fear Factory aren’t afraid to touch you throughout the mazes and feel this adds a bit more intimidation and uncertainty which just add to the impact of the scares.
Doncaster Fear Factory has gone from strength to strength. They have clearly refined and tweaked the event over the last few years making scares more impactful, sets and scenery more detailed and the overall experience is now one we would confidently recommend as one of the best scare events in the UK.
An absolutely brilliant start to the 2025 season and it’s left us excited to find out what next year will bring. Doncaster Fear Factory is situated just outside Doncaster in South Yorkshire and is running on select nights throughout October, don’t miss out.
Doncaster Fear factory 2024
Doncaster Fear Factory were kind enough to invite us along to their press night, so it was great to pop along and see what this year’s event had in store for us. The scares started before we’d even parked the car as a variety of roaming actors were around the area. We were accosted by a particularly entertaining dentist, the sort you wouldn’t go and see, no matter how difficult it is to see one through the NHS.
After the pre-event social meet up we were told that the mazes would be open so the massed crowds finished up their drinks and headed for the main event. A couple of shorter waits, first to go through the initial entrance scare zone. This section worked well in amping up the tension. We had a second wait in the main hub area to see a short dance performance on the stage. In this area you also have the entrances to two of the mazes, food and drink options and more fun roaming characters.
The Chasm
We headed to the back of the park first and ended up in a very short queue for The Chasm. We’ve always enjoyed our runs through The Chasm and it was great to run through again in its final year. We were lucky enough to be let through in just our own groups so we ended up having a wonderfully intense and non-stop run through. Actors assaulted us from all sides and they weren’t afraid to initiate bits of light contact. A wonderful run and a fitting send of to this still impressively themed maze.
Crackle Hill: The Summoning
Next up, also at the far end of the park was Crackle Hill: The Summoning. This years sees a different narrative to this maze with maybe a bit less of the theatrics. As this was a press event, everyone was welcome to film inside all the mazes. Completely understandably, this can detract from a more regular run through due to additional lighting, a slightly different tempo and scares becoming a bit more front-loaded. Set and theming were still great, but this run lacked the intensity of last year as most of it was spent waiting in corridors whilst all of the action was filmed out of sight of the back of the group.
The Pogo Club
The exit of Crackle Hill neatly brings you out near the entrance to The Pogo Club. We love the clown / nightclub mashup theme, and the entrance queue does end up feeling a little bit like you’re queuing to get into a club. Our wonderfully exuberant host soon came to fetch us into the club and entertainingly regaled us with the opening exposition. Sadly they didn’t lead us behind a plush velvet rope, but instead to some of the foulest smelling club toilets you may have experienced. The rest of the more traditional style of scare maze then started and it was great to begin, but did feel like the intensity petered out a bit towards the end. A more impactful finale would have really been the icing on the cake.
Diabolus: Witches of Salum
Now in its second year, Diabolus has gone through some reasonably sizable changes, not least with the narrative. Similar to Crackle Hill the theatrical opening scene felt quite a bit more curtailed this year, the hooded section has now gone completely and the impressive finale scene is now different. Sadly this was our least favourite maze of the evening, mostly as it wasn’t a regular unfilmed run through and suffered from some of the same issues as Crackle Hill. Some of the smells were truly revolting and whilst the actors inside made a good effort, none of the scares really landed.
Friargate Foundry
Last up for us was the all new Friargate Foundry replacing Y.A.N.A. Gate. The immersion starts early with a very impressive facade and first room full of easter eggs. After a short wait you then end up in a second room with a load more detail to look at whilst an impressive video courtesy of The Operator giving us the spiel for the maze. What followed was another very impressively detailed maze, that was like a ‘best of’ compilation of other mazes. Horrible smells were aplenty in this one and all the actors gave it their all. That said even with a very small group most of the scares felt front-loaded. We can easily see how this would be very intense if you were getting a more impactful run at the front.
Summary
It was fun to see Doncaster Fear Factory for its ‘5 Years of Fear’ and it has been great to see the event grow and improve over those years. The sets, design, costumes, makeup, sounds and smells are all top notch and there is a superb cast of actors that give it their all in and out of the mazes. Grouping and batching issues aside we had a fun night and Chasm in its final year gave us a great parting gift with one of the most intense maze run throughs we’ve experienced in a long time.
Doncaster Fear Factory is open on select dates from 11th October through to 31st October. If you’re in the area get yourself along.
Doncaster Fear Factory – Doncaster – October 2023
2023 sees the return of Doncaster Fear Factory for its 3rd year at Thornhurst Manor close to Doncaster in South Yorkshire. We really enjoyed our inaugural visit in 2021, but sadly couldn’t attend last year, so anticipation was high to see what improvements had been made since that first visit.
The event itself is set in a nicely smoky and eerily lit wooded area on the other side of the car park from Thornhurst Manor itself. After the ticket booths, there is a short walk before the first two mazes, Y.A.N.A. Gate and Diabolus – Keeper of Secrets. Just after is a large picnic table seating area with a lively DJ booth as well as food and drink options. Next up is a short walk to the entrance to The Pogo Club, and finally a slightly longer trip through the woods to the entrances to the final two mazes, The Chasm and The Legend of Crackle Hill.
Throughout the area, including the queue lines and even around the toilets the street team roam around terrorising anyone that looks scared or just generally causing mayhem, helping to create a fun atmosphere around the event. Just make sure you say no if someone offers to clean your teeth.
The Chasm
First up for us was The Chasm. We enjoyed the maze in its initial version in 2021 so it was great to see that this has been improved upon. This was based on a scientific military theme in an underground facility. Theming was great throughout and the actors were relentless, full of energy and not afraid to get up close, with some light touching. This set the mood nicely for the rest of the evening with a good combination of scares, fun theatrical scenes and lots of intensity.
The Legend of Crackle Hill
Next we entered The Legend of Crackle Hill. This was a more traditional haunted house style with a great facade and a wonderful extended theatrical opening. Kudos to the actor at the beginning here who, on our visits, consistently delivered their lengthy monologue. The rest of the maze was equally impressive with some fun scares, top notch actors throughout and great use of smells to give a good sense of a burning building. Another cracking maze.
Y.A.N.A. Gate
On our first visit, Y.A.N.A. Gate was probably our favourite at the event despite some dodgy pathfinding on our part, so we had high hopes again for this maze. It’s another scientific military lab where again things have gone wrong, which ties in to the story at The Chasm as well. The theming again was great, with some impressive smells. Acting again was really high energy and intense, with plenty of light physical contact. We even managed to leave the maze properly this time after the intense final room.
Diabolus – Keeper of Secrets
New for 2023 is Diabolus – Keeper of Secrets. Starting off with a nice church facade and theatrical intro, the next section became a bit of a mixed bag for us. We’d have liked to have seen a bit more use of the multiple confessional booths during the intro, and what came after is a very polarising effect often used in scare events and more maligned than loved. During the middle section our group had quite different experiences. This reviewer had a great time with some fun and inventive elements throughout, sadly others in our group had a slightly more solitary experience. At the end there was a cool scene in the church, but one major effect was sadly only witnessed by one member of our group. I’m sure as the season goes on these minor issues can be tweaked to make the experience consistent throughout. The intro and finale were clear highlights for us with the actors in these sections immersing you into the story.
The Pogo Club
Last up was The Pogo Club. Some nice touches on the facade and the banging dance music from inside clearly indicate that you’re about to enter into a nightclub. Pogo gives clues as to another marmite aspect to the theming. For us we loved the concept, clowns and nightclubs are a match made in heaven. Another fun and for some in our group terrifying intro we went into some of the worst smelling club toilets, unceremoniously bundled into a cubicle and from them the mayhem continued throughout. Our only minor criticism would be that the finale felt a little flat after the rest of the maze because of the way it flowed, not because of the actors who were great from beginning to end.
Summary
Thanks to Doncaster Fear Factory for inviting us to their press and media event. We had a blast, all the mazes were great fun with a great variety of traditional scares, great theatrical elements including the superb intros and more intense in your face scares. The latter is always something we thoroughly enjoy experiencing, especially when done with such great energy from the actors. All the actors throughout were brilliant, in and out of the mazes.
Visiting Doncaster Fear Factory is an easy no brainer if you are anywhere near and is definitely worth a longer trip for those looking for a slightly more intense scare experience. Doncaster Fear Factory runs on selected nights through to 29th October.
Doncaster Fear Factory 2021
Doncaster Fear Factory takes a slightly different approach to scare attractions and in our opinion one that works really well. It all starts with the social media content. Covering a story about fracking and some unwanted effects of such activity. This sets the backdrop to the storyline and the theme for the 3 scare experiences. Each experience follows the theme of destroying Mother Earth with each experience taking you further into the Doncaster Fear Factory world. The mazes can be visited in any order so we started with the furthest from the entrance working our way backwards.
Mazes
Chasm
A dark and claustrophobic maze greets you. Taking you underground where you meet the creatures that live there. This maze has great scripted elements, some solid scares and the actors aren’t afraid to get up close and personal and the themeing is great. This all came together to give a nice start to the evening.
Eden
The next stop was Eden, more of a walk through than a traditional maze but great all the same. There was a fun element near the beginning where you may just spot a few of the Scare Directory team along with other ‘missing persons’ who submitted their photo. This was a really nice touch.
As we continued further into Eden we had some fun and sometimes humorous interactions with the inhabitants. There weren’t loads of scares in this area but we felt this wasn’t the aim. The area definitely had a more creepy vibe and I feel that worked in its favour offering a little bit of respite before the final maze.
Y.A.N.A.
The final maze of our evening and a truly fabulous one to end on. The theming again was great throughout. There was a nice balance between scripted sections and impact scares. The actors really worked with our group well all the way to the final scene which was disorientating to the point we literally got lost. Our group ended up heading in the wrong direction and back through the maze. Due to the excellent batching we didn’t encounter any other guests so we were unsure if intentional or not. Finally we came across an actor who in character got us to where we needed to be. We think a little additional direction from the final actor would have avoided this. The experience of getting lost actually worked quite well even if unintentional.
Summary
This was our first visit to any attraction by the Doncaster Fear Factory team. The scares were varied and worked really well. The additional characters roaming the woods added extra intensity and with actors not afraid to get close or possibly grab you the impact of the experience was only heightened.
We’d highly recommend a visit to Doncaster Fear Factory. It’s also close to a few other events so you could possibly make a weekend of it if further away.
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