Conference Review
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ScareCON 2010 A
Screamie
Awards Presented during ScareCON, the Screamie Awards were voted for by visitors to
haunted.atttractions.co.uk. Here’s the run down of winners for 2009: Best Year Round Attraction – London Bridge Experience, Best Seasonal Event – Scaresville at Kentwell Hall, Best Seasonal Attraction or Maze – Terror of the Towers at Alton Towers, Best Family Event – Spooky World at Apple Jacks Farm, Best International Attraction – Terenzi Horror Nights at Europa-Park, Outstanding Contribution to the Haunt Industry – Stuart Beare, Tulleys Farm (voted by Haunted Attractions UK staff), Outstanding Contribution of the Decade – Lynton V Harris, Sudden Impact Entertainment (voted by Haunted Attractions UK staff).
www.screamiewawards.co.uk
mix of established operators, newcomers, suppliers and consultants converged for the event at the Magic Circle Headquarters on May
6. Packed with magical artefacts, themed corridors and other curiosities, the venue was almost as intriguing as some of the delegate’s own attractions. Organised by Michael Bolton and colleagues from
Scare Attractions UK, this was the third edition of ScareCON, and the first in London. In this short amount of time, haunted attractions in the UK and beyond have grown in quantity, variety and attendance. There’s still a long way to go before the industry in Europe rivals that in the USA, but certainly the organisers of ScareCON are on to something. “A lot can be traced back to 2002 when Tussauds
[now Merlin] did some big productions at Alton Towers and Thorpe Park,” notes Bolton. “A few places did Halloween before that but it was only when big parks embraced it that things really took off. Now there are more and more events each year at all sorts of venues, from farms to National Trust properties.” Elsewhere in Europe, where Halloween is “celebrated” less, the big theme parks have also been instrumental in stimulating the market: “Marc Terenzi exported the idea from the States to Europa-Park, Movie Park has a good Halloween event and now others are becoming interested across Germany. Spain has always been quite big because that’s where Pasaje del Terror originated, and Halloween is now very big at Port Aventura. It has still to catch on in places like France though.” The Haunted Attractions UK website lists well over
100 attractions in the UK alone, compared with just five when the site started as many years ago. Despite new openings in recent years including the London Bridge Experience, Pasaje del Terror (also in London) and Alien Wars in Glasgow, most are still seasonal events.
Haunted attraction operators get-together in London
Europe’s only conference and trade show for the scare attractions industry took place recently in London. Owen Ralph reports from ScareCON 2010
Bloody Good Fun “As much as we love running attractions, I also enjoy scaring people,” reveals Wayne Davis of Scare Attractions UK, who got his hands bloody last Halloween as one of the actors at Frightmare in Gloucestershire, England. “I am not sure I could take part to the same extent if we did it year round.” “Some places just don’t have the right footfall to
make it pay 12 months a year,” highlights Bolton, “however I think the short term nature of many events helps their popularity. It’s also much easier to get people in the right frame of mind around Halloween when the nights are dark and long.” An alternative model is that employed by young
showman Joe Gray, who tours fairs and festivals throughout the UK with a walk-through show called Fear. Many of the effects inside were built by its owner, who was exhibiting in the bar area at ScareCON under the banner of Darkride Productions. “We’ve been doing this for about four years,” Gray told Park World, “but it’s only really in the last year or so we’ve started making more advanced moving figures.” Among a handful of other exhibits, ex-Thorpe Park
employees Lewis Cox and Adam Slevin were marketing their bespoke audiovisual services to attraction operators. “Music and audio effects really add drama to the experience,” notes Slevin. The day’s seminar programme kicked of with a
workshop session on characterisation by Porl Matthews of Sweet Dreams Theatre and the Fear Academy. Assisted by his macabre and sarcastic companion Esmeralda, Matthews stressed the importance of developing a backstory and keeping in character in order to provide an authentic guest experience. In a session on improving the guest experience, Stuart
Beare of Tulleys Farm revealed how he had overcome capacity problems and developed what started as a single haunted hayride into a “scream park” with five
Screamie Award winners together with the team from Scream Attractions UK
The Master and Esmerelda were on hand throughout the day to “assist” ScareCON guests
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One of the animated effects offered by Joe Gray of Darkride Productions
JUNE 2010
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