Final preparations are well and truly underway for Muncaster Castle’s terrifying new adults-only scare event.
Scarecaster is set to run as part of the castle’s Halloween week from tomorrow, Friday October 20 to October 29 featuring all new terrifying live horror experiences.
We went behind the scenes with show runner Ewan Frost-Pennington to get a first look at both sides of Muncaster’s changed-up Halloween week before it opens to the public for the first time tomorrow.
By day, the Halloween week – which has been running for 20 years – will remain a spooky family friendly day out, but once evening draws in, a Purge-style siren will sound alongside canons to signal that Scarecaster has begun.
The evening event is only for those over the age of 18 and will feature an immersive escape-room inspired poltergeist experience in the castle, as well as an adrenaline rush-inducing scare maze.
Dress rehearsals for the castle’s interactive horror events took place today and saw staff – and ourselves – treated to full length practice runs of the shows.
The seven deadly sins scare maze featured dozens of actors determined to relentlessly jump scare visitors under a variety of horror themes in separate sections of the maze.
Everything from clowns to satanic rituals makes an appearance in the maze and there’s a bit of ducking, squeezing and physical activity involved for those able to partake and options for those who are not.
Created by a group of horror enthusiast actors from Maryport, the maze went down a treat with its test audience and had several people jumping in fear and screaming.
Undergoing some last minute tweaks to ensure maximum scariness is The Vanishing, which is the castle’s new immersive poltergeist experience created by The Hyde Brothers from Penrith.
We’ve been sworn to secrecy to keep the content of this experience under wraps – but it does involve themes of psychological torment, mental illness and exorcism as well as plenty of special effects.
Amidst all the action of Scarecaster will be a safe space party zone with food vendors, fire dancers, live music and a bar for anyone in need of a drink to calm their nerves. A zombie trail will also take place.
For the flip side of the Halloween week, the family-friendly Frankenstein castle show also proved a hit with the test audience with its laugh out loud quick wit, playful spookiness and impressive sound and character design.
It also boasted a surprisingly heart-warming storyline, making it enjoyable for older audiences and attendees can also look forward to plenty of special effects and dramatic lighting.
Families can also expect plenty of crafty activities, sensory experiences, entertainers, live music and more during the day.
Ewan, 33, who has recently taken over the day-to-day running and event organising for Muncaster from his parents who own the castle, said the inspiration to create Scarecaster had come from noticing a divide between visitors wanting real scares and a family friendly experience.
He added: “It’s the first year we’ve done Scarecaster and we’ve added a few new things to the family festival, so we’re keen to see what people think.
“Muncaster is already pretty terrifying at night, but we want to take that to another level with Scarecaster and preparations are going really well, things are well and truly in motion and happening.
“There’s a huge amount of work gone into it. Even just the practicalities, all the actors are coming from all over the country and just the logistics of feeding them and giving them somewhere to sleep is a task – all the beds are full in the castle, it’s hardcore!”
Ewan said that thanks to the support from the community in previous years that the castle has been able to further invest in Halloween week and that they’re expecting up to 10,000 visitors this year.
He added: “We’re hoping to grow it further and make it even better in the future and we can’t wait to have people’s feedback.
“So come to our Halloween week, the most important part of it all is the people coming and along and dressing up – they make it all happen.”
Tickets for Scarecaster are still available on Muncaster’s website and additional dates for The Vanishing have been added.
