Thorpe Fright Nights 2015

[Ben]

^^What did they do in Big Cock? Did they strip you, cover you in anything, spank you?

God I want it to be next Halloween already just to do that again.

But no safe word last weekend. They'd have just called you a pussy if you tried it.

 

[JoshC.]

^^What did they do in Big Cock? Did they strip you, cover you in anything, spank you?

God I want it to be next Halloween already just to do that again.

But no safe word last weekend. They'd have just called you a pussy if you tried it.

I wasn't stripped, but did see some who were slightly. I was spanked a few times and got to know the chainsaw very well too.. A photo of me afterwards should answer the rest of your questions:

I got off alright compared to others. But then again, this photo doesn't show the amount of hay coming out my rear end though.

Interesting about lack of safe word last weekend. Wonder if there was an incident that made them do it, or if they did it expecting some not-so-brave people to try it on Halloween?

 

[Ian]

Face It Alone does sound amazing but I genuinely would get turned on by it, so it's not something I would do publicly. A deviant yes, an exhibitionist no.

By the sound of it, Face It Alone has been the saving grace for Thorpe's Fright Nights this year.

 

[cjbrandy]

Jheeze wtf is this kinky ****, being spanked and safe words? That's some bdsm **** and credit where credits due, I've never heard of anything like it in a horror attraction.

 

[Lofty]

^ It's a very common occurrence and has been present in the UK since around 2010 with Tom Spindler and had a resurgence in 2013 with 'Psychomanteum'.

 

[Serena]

Face It Alone was the absolute highlight of Fright Night for me. I came out shaking with adrenaline and slightly shocked. I'm not sure I'll be phased by a normal scare attraction ever again now!

One of the best parts is how you enter. They line you up outside with your heads against the wall, and grab you from behind in random order. So you're all just stood there, hearing other people dragged off screaming, unable to tell when it's going to be your turn. It was so tense!

Some of the spanking and whipping genuinely hurt, they do not do it lightly! The most extreme part was getting stripped and bound with duct tape then thrown face first down the slidey crawlspace in MBV, only to fall out and be gagged at the bottom. I couldn't move my arms and felt so helpless being dragged along the wet, disgusting floor!

The experience is so different from a regular scare attraction, it's not jumpy or spooky. It's more like having your limits tested. I'm so glad I got coerced into doing it, will definitely do it again next year. I think it's great that Thorpe are doing something so extreme.

 

[cjbrandy]

Scare mazes just don't appeal to me but damn I really want to try face it alone next year!

 

[SaiyanHajime]

I don't get this face it alone stuff at all, I'm hoping someone can explain to me why its appealing or they enjoy it?

You know its not real, so its not actually scary. So what are you getting from it? Regular mazes are funny, watching other people jump is funny and then falling for it yourself is funny.

The only thing that's actually scary about any horror is jump scares, because they're innate fear reactions. Everything else fails if you know its not real. In my opinion, anyway. Psychological horror just is not scary to me, at all, because I'm not susceptible to "suspension of disbelief" I guess...

So, unless mazes are just cool looking or thematically interesting or narratively interesting, I don't really get them past enjoying watching other guests get spooked.

Being touched or breathed on or spat on or made to crawl isn't scary, its gross. It's awkward and psuedo-sexual, which is playing into the one fear left for horror to successfully attempt, and I'm not sure its an OK thing to do. What I want to know is why you guys enjoy that? Did you go through laughing, or playing along? How is it not awkward?

 

[Lofty]

It's because it takes you out of your comfort zone and out of your regular life. The feeling of a character actually touching you makes you feel so much more immersed into the narrative - not to mention the feeling of vulnerability that being alone causes.

It's completely down to your own personal taste though - if you don't understand it or have ever experienced anything like it, you simply won't get it - you have to try it to be able to understand it.

The awkward level also plays a key part - when you're aroused, you release the same endorphin as you get when you feel fear. I'll link the actual name of the endorphin and stuff when I get time to get the paper I have on it all - it's at work on the computer.

These types of things are awkward, that's why they work.

 

[cjbrandy]

I'm curious to know did any of you genuinely get aroused by it? I don't mean getting a raging hard boner or soaking wet through jeans, but was anyone enjoying it a little too much?

Also I wonder if Ian was being serious when he stated his reason for not doing it?? I like to think I'm not gullible but I really couldn't tell :lol:

 

[JoshC.]

I don't get this face it alone stuff at all, I'm hoping someone can explain to me why its appealing or they enjoy it?
...
Being touched or breathed on or spat on or made to crawl isn't scary, its gross. It's awkward and psuedo-sexual, which is playing into the one fear left for horror to successfully attempt, and I'm not sure its an OK thing to do. What I want to know is why you guys enjoy that? Did you go through laughing, or playing along? How is it not awkward?

ha, I've always wondered when I'd get a chance to answer a question like this. Even when explaining the gist of Face it Alone to non-enthusiasts (who always seem very surprised by it), I've yet to be asked 'Why is that appealing to you?' in a serious way.

For me, I think Lofty pretty much hit the nail on the head - it takes you out of your comfort zone (I hate using that phrase, but I can't think of another way to word it) and is a form of escapism; what theme parks should be about. The main reasons I enjoy theme parks is for the escapism and for the thrill of it. With FiA, you still get the escapism you get from going through the maze in the first place. But you also get the thrill. Waiting to go in is genuinely nerve-wracking (something I don't get before riding rides, going into mazes, watching horror films, etc), and so I really get that thrill and buzz from it for that alone. The actual feeling I get afterwards as well is great; it's a sense of accomplishment almost.

I don't think it's all that different to what many people experience on standard maze run-throughs, or even on rides. Many people will be a bag of nerves before doing a scare attraction, but they come out the other end and feel like they've accomplished something and even enjoyed themselves. It's satisfying for them. A standard run through doesn't give me that 'scared' feeling, even if I do enjoy them. So I guess for me, it helps emulate the feeling of what a scare attraction should do to you.

I feel as though I've rambled and not really answered the question. Why did I enjoy it? I guess it's a mixture of the feelings it gives me both before and after the experience, as well as the fact that you can never be quite sure what is going to happen during the experience. A sense of unknown which I rarely come across! I didn't go through it laughing or anything, I just sorta went along with it.

I'm curious to know did any of you genuinely get aroused by it? I don't mean getting a raging hard boner or soaking wet through jeans, but was anyone enjoying it a little too much?

No, I did not get aroused. I get no sexual pleasure from any of the stuff they do, and I wouldn't inside the bedroom either. In fact, any parts of the experience that were in any way sexual (like the spanking) were the parts I enjoyed the least.

However, that's not to say there are some people who don't of course. I was speaking to an actor recently who mentioned how they got requests to do certain things to certain people, or people who would only want certain actors to do those things. Some people really do enjoy that little bit too much and see it as a way to get pleasure, which I personally considered as a bit weird..

 

[Smithy]

it's a sense of accomplishment almost.

And that's the problem with it for me. This logic is what Merlin are having to aim for each year, visitors who view rides as accomplishments, knock it off and that's it, what can you do next year.

What happens next year if face it alone is the same as this year? You've done it, so you'll probably find it boring second time round. So next year you'll be expecting them to sandpaper your arse and pour vinegar on it, right? Immerse yourself, get out of your comfort zone etc. Maybe the year after that they'll even forget all pretence and just open up a bondage themed brothel after hours?

I'm with Joey on this one. Don't understand the enjoyment on a fear level. I get the sexual level, and that's why I think it's all a bit crass. But eh, each to their own and people get their kicks in different ways.

 

[JoshC.]

What happens next year if face it alone is the same as this year? You've done it, so you'll probably find it boring second time round.

I get what you are saying. But if they kept Face it Alone the same for next year, I'd have no problem. This year they made it so that every experience was different - the actors had control and they decided what happened. I spoke to a few people after my experience and some had very different experiences to me (even though it was the same maze and same set of actors). Even just reading comments on here, it's clear the other mazes offered wildly different experiences.

Of course, until I actually try it next year, it's hard for me to say for certain whether I'd find it boring or not. But I would be surprised if I did. It's hard to explain I guess.

One thing which is important to me is that I only do it once a year. I don't want to get 'used' the experience, and I want to keep it as something special and different. I want to still be able to experience that sick-with-nerves feeling before going in. That weird enjoyment whilst going through. That buzz afterwards. It means there's less chance of me finding it boring. I've seen people who have done FiA several times this year, which just screams of overkill and a waste of money to me.

 

[Lofty]

What happens next year if face it alone is the same as this year? You've done it, so you'll probably find it boring second time round. So next year you'll be expecting them to sandpaper your arse and pour vinegar on it, right? Immerse yourself, get out of your comfort zone etc. Maybe the year after that they'll even forget all pretence and just open up a bondage themed brothel after hours?

What I think you're not realising is the scope of these attractions and the interactive elements you can use to get the same effect. There's HUNDREDS of 'full contact haunts' (actual term) across the world, and they operate year-on-year without people getting bored. The only reason are talking about these so much is that they're pirated by a Merlin park and are more well known in the public.

This is all just immersive theatre, yes, if you do not have a creative mind you'll just assault people, restrain them etc. (I'm looking at you McKamey Manor), that's not enjoyable at all. Scare attractions are forms of 'entertainment' and therefore are meant to be enjoyed. If you're coming out of an attraction in tears and genuinely hated every moment, it is not a form of entertainment. If you're utilising the human senses, touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell - and removing some of the said senses, you\re increasing the others and therefore making a much more interactive immersive atmosphere.

For example: an attraction I've designed and run for 3 years now includes hooding a guest, false waterboarding them, restraining them in a wheelchair and pushing them down a corridor into a following scene that smells of human faeces. Now, some of you will be saying that it's going too far, but let me tell you the logic behind it:

1) The removal of sight heightens the senses of touch and smell.
2) The hood causes a claustrophobic feeling and the adding of a tiny amount of water causes the guest to truly believe they are to be waterboarded (obviously, they're not).
3) The restraining of their arms and legs to the wheelchair makes them feel completely vulnerable and out of control, which is against every human nature, you do not want to be out of control of your own body.
4) The wheeling of them down the wheelchair again removes the control element of them walking.
5) The following scene smells of faeces as by this time, due to the removal of the sight sense, their smell sense has heightened and when the hood is removed, they're immersed into a disgusting bathroom facility.

That's just one example, I've wrote and produced 8 variations of that show and each has had completely different elements included, every single one of them thought about in as much detail as the above. These attractions aren't just done on a whim, they're thought about and how every element will make the guest feel - it's about humiliation and degradation. Well, mine are anyway :lol: