PrimEVIL kindly invited us down to their scare event in Norfolk which recently won a UK Best Scream Park award, but did it live up to the title? Let’s find out!
As always with these free invites we are asked to come down to deliver our always honest thoughts on this scream park, we were given VIP tickets to skip the queues to get every maze done in one evening as it was VERY busy and the crowds are something which we will discuss later in this article.
The atmosphere around PrimEVIL was apparent the second we hit the turnstiles with roaming actors aplenty, beautiful lighting around the park and a lovely little hub area complete with lighting, fire effects and a variety of food outlets, a public bar and a VIP bar and a stage with live performances.
With the VIP tickets being more expensive than the standard entry tickets they did have their perks as you had access to a private bar away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds outside in addition to a fast track of the mazes.
Five mazes were on offer at this year’s event and all of them had a nice variety to them but what surprised me the most was the effort that they went to with regards to theming so let’s dive in with each maze at PrimEVIL in 2024 and bring you my thoughts.
The Crypt
The bell rings to tell you to bring out your dead. The church will provide safety for everyone. St Cuthbert’s on the Hill provides hope from the darkness, but she has returned and you will need to pray for forgiveness. Make your way deeper into the tunnels, bring your posies, there is safety in numbers, the plague is not the only evil inside the Crypt.
The exterior of The Crypt may just be the best-themed exterior facade I’ve ever seen at a UK stand-alone maze. It drags you into the story as I spotted some Peter Evans Studios panel theming as far as the eye can see perfectly dressed up to give off this authentic and rather splendid Crypt entrance.
Whilst stunningly beautiful on the outside the maze weaves between simplistic theming inside which blends seamlessly into beautifully intricate sets and even an outdoor section that bridged the gap between the introduction and a ramped-up second half.
Actors were on point as hooded figures lurked in the shadows and there was a tension build in addition to the traditional jump scares that dragged you into the story as well as the smell pods working over time oozing that musky, dark and damp smoky Crypt smell.
From water effects and even underground tunnels, the use of lighting and blocking of actors before they scare the living daylights out of you was done beautifully.
The Crypt has instantly soared into my favourite scare mazes in the UK list and rightly so, it’s rather wonderful!
If there was one downside of this particular maze it was the mixed run-throughs we had where our first run-through was packed full of actors and our second run-through was slightly lacking in numbers.
Consistency is so difficult to deliver in scare mazes so I can completely understand why no two run-throughs will ever be the same but a set number of actors per maze at any given opportunity would plug some of the empty spaces we encountered during that second run-through but even then we were completely immersed and in awe of this lovely walkthrough space!
Route 666
Welcome to Longville, the population changes here daily. Pa and the hillbilly family are ready to welcome you to “come on in” you may even get to stay for supper to celebrate Billyboys return. Something is happening, don’t walk alone, you need to remember to stay to the path.
Our maze begins strangely as we walk a long trail through the woods and encounter a few characters along the way, the maze has begun but we’re in the open air and whilst you can see the characters a mile away they merely serve as interaction points as you make your way to the village.
Inside Longville the maze truly begins and whilst it’s still outdoors the village weaves in and out of buildings and around caravans as you encounter the locals in a very up-close and personal manner.
Whilst Route 666 still had the jump scares (including one INCREDIBLE animatronic scare) the contrast in scare experience from The Crypt was night and day.
Route 666 was a character interaction maze, intimidating and well-acted the village of Longville came alive with a hillbilly swagger and I thoroughly enjoyed the maze the second we stepped into the village.
The winding 10-minute walk to get to the village was a little quiet but with some great use of lighting certainly had a wonderful ambience to it. I personally would have had audio playing along the walk giving you a backstory of Longville or even a radio station broadcast discussing life in Longville along with a few hit records to ease you into the story before you arrive.
What impressed me was certainly the contrast between the traditional maze and outdoor space one and while outdoor space mazes usually don’t scare me due to being able to see the actors from a mile away they mixed it up inside the village to bring those scares up close and personal.
Mayhem Manor Hotel
If you are in the vicinity of NR9 and you’re still alive, please hang on. Mayhem Manor is a safe zone, life as we know it no longer exists, survivors who are not bitten can earn their place to join our community. We are protected, we have weapons, we have food. We live in discipline. Welcome to the hell we now call home.
Walking into the Crypt I said to my friends, “They’re not beating this for theming” and Mayhem Manor just rocked up and said “Hold my beer”.
Mayhem Manor Hotel is one of the most artistically beautiful and immersive mazes I’ve had the pleasure of walking through here in the United Kingdom. It has been lovingly created and is a wonderful exploration of an old hotel despite being introduced to me by a cockney with a riot shield.
Whilst given the strange introduction that really didn’t make a great deal of sense to me in terms of the sharp and aggressive delivery as we’ve now seemingly been invited into a community the rest of the maze was a feast for the eyes.
Combining immersive sets, atmospheric lighting, animatronics aplenty and a beautiful walkthrough of a manor it genuinely felt like you were touring a hotel. Many hotel or manor-themed mazes have a themed entrance and then introduce black corridors and limited-themed sets but here you’re walking through a proper hotel with numerous rooms of the hotel to explore along the way.
Mayhem Manor Hotel sadly was another victim of actor shortage but we didn’t let this deter us from walking around this jaw-droppingly immersive space.
Werehouse 51 Toxic Mutation
Welcome to Werehouse 51 for all your trade and storage requirements. There has been a leak in aisle 1 by Toxic laboratory storage, which the facilities team have gone to deal with, we just haven’t seen them for a while. Ignore the strange animal and inhumane screams you may hear from quarantine, no need for alarm – it is all under control.
Starting your day at a factory this maze was our least favourite of the evening as for me it was very short in length. The maze itself was nicely put together with a nice array of visuals but the actors weren’t really interacting with the guests and they were more just part and parcel of the factory which was a shame.
This little walkthrough of the warehouse came to a swift end and we felt as though out of the quality on offer from the other mazes experienced Warehouse 51 Toxic Mutation was certainly the weakest link of them all.
Circus of Terror
With a clever design, the Circus of Terror isn’t your ordinary clown-themed maze as you navigate a funhouse of immersion with some tricks and twists along the way before popping on your headphones (yes headphones) and navigating the second half of the maze with a soundtrack.
Circus of Terror is so clever because whilst the audio/headphones almost give you a security blanket away from the noise and mayhem of the maze they also give you a false sense of security from the jump scares.
One effect in the maze is certainly one I’ve never seen in a UK scare maze before and it was a joy to walk through with a variety of clown-themed spaces that went far beyond the bunting/circus tent drapes that you see in many of the other copy and paste clown mazes.
Throwing in the headphones and having a silent disco scare maze experience was unexpected but terribly good fun to walk through.
If you have a fear of clowns though, however, I’d urge you to stay away from Circus of Terror because they’re everywhere! We certainly didn’t have an actor issue inside Circus of Terror that’s for sure!
PrimEVIL Final Thoughts
PrimEvil surprised me it really did, a superb atmosphere coupled with great roaming actors and I’d say 4 very strong mazes when utilised to their full potential in regards to filling those dead spaces (especially in Mayhem Manor and Warehouse 51).
On the Sunday evening in which we attended the queues were heaving further showing the sheer popularity of this event but as the night went on the queues disapparated to a more bearable wait time for those in line.
If you’re going during the weekend I would highly suggest a fast track as when we arrived the queues were eye-wateringly long and if you have the cash to splash the VIP bar certainly came in handy for a nice quiet getaway and the fast tracks cut every single queue down to 3-4 minutes maximum and that was simply waiting for the groups to be batched.
Actors went above and beyond to delight and scare and were hot on our heels with quick witty replies and improvised dialogue when we posed questions to them.
The theming in The Crypt and Mayhem Manor will be etched in my memory for months to come, I’d go back and just walk around there with the lights on to truly appreciate every single detail.
Thanks to PrimEVIL for inviting me down to deliver my honest as always reviews.
If you’d like to purchase tickets for PrimEVIL please visit their official website for all the latest prices, dates and information
