I’m crawling through a dark tunnel, with just some faint light at the end and lots of dry ice obscuring my vision when, out of nowhere, a ghostly girl crawls in front of me, her face as white as snow and lips red as a rose. Just as my heart rate returns to something like normal, the black wall to my left starts moving and bulging towards me. Welcome to your worst nightmare.
The Freak Week Festival at Hop Farm in Kent, sponsored by Blinkbox, is a must for horror fans, and ideal for halloween. Set inside various buildings on the large farm, the event involves lots of actors dressed up for the part, and they might pounce on you at any time. Let’s be clear here, this is not an attraction for kids, you have to be made of strong stuff.
The first attraction, The Hatch, is probably the scariest. It’s based on the idea that six children drowned down a storm drain in 1973, and their ghosts still haunt the drains. You enter through a small door, then crawl through to the other side. When you watch a cheesy horror film you sometimes wonder what’s so scary about seeing a ghost’ coming towards you, but when it’s actually happening, trust me, it’s terrifying. There is dry ice and some very loud sound effects, and it’s adrenaline-pumping stuff.
If you survive that the next challenge is the Fun House at least with this one you’re standing up. It’s an ultra-violet lit maze, featuring clowns coming at you from all directions and doing some grisly stuff. The combination of scary clowns and kids’ toys is quite disturbing, and again having live humans chasing after you is hair-raising stuff.
The Slaughter House is pretty self-evident, another maze in which you walk through blood-spattered curtains into rooms covered in blood, and with all sorts of monsters leaping out at you, some armed with chainsaws. Some seem to have faces made of skin stitched together, none of them look pretty. The woman screaming for help was pretty disturbing.
There are six attractions in all on the farm, and once you’ve had your fill you’re ushered across a field and into a viewing room, the Living Room, to watch Cabin In The Woods. It has a bar, and believe me you’ll need a stiff drink after all the scares you’ve had. Of course, this is no ordinary viewing room while the film is playing, well, let’s just say things might happen. Hold on to your partner’s hand, the effects are certainly scarier than Joss Whedon’s film which is pretty inane, although quite funny.
All in all it’s a great fun way to celebrate Halloween, and it’s genuinely scary. One of my party was so freaked out she nearly punched one of the zombies who was attacking her it does say on the disclaimers that these are actors and they won’t touch you, so don’t touch them. Easier said than done when you’re being chased by a ghoulie. You’re also encouraged to dress up in costume, as long as your face isn’t covered.
Food and drink are available, including hog roast and hot dogs burgers. The Peckish Peacock will serve a full selection of vegetarian / gluten free food, and Dorset cider and beer will be on offer served from the Slaughtered Lamb tavern.
The blinkbox Freak Week experience will be open to the public from October 25th till the October 31st
http://www.hopfarmfreakweek.co.uk/ or call 01622 872068
Writer: Mike Martin