Direworld Scare Park Review

Direworld Scare Park

Rating: Nightmare Fuel

Themes/Genres: Western/Zombies

Isn’t October simply wonderful?  It’s the best time of year for horror fans, having our normally widely-ignored interests suddenly being focused on and a slew of fun for the genre coming out left and right.  On top of terrifying movies, spooky parties, fantastic clothing, beautiful decor, and the second best candy of the year, (Sorry, Halloween, as much as I love my eyeball marshmallows, nothing beats the various forms of chocolate-covered cherries during Winter) there are also the more obscure season releases.  Theme parks that are designed specifically to scare the shit out of you, for example, are things you can’t really find any other time of year.

But in October, the best comes out to play.

Coming from a decently tiny-sized town, a Scare Park was completely and utterly outside of my imagination boundaries, but as my boyfriend and I were out to pick up a friend awhile back… there was the sign.  Direworld Scare Park.  I was immediately searching it up to find ticket prices.  We planned to check out a haunted house closer to us once it opened up, but this caught my eye.  With descriptions claiming “premier horror theme park of Northern California” that was “designed and built by a top team of film industry professionals” you can imagine my expectations blasting right through that proverbial roof.

Luckily, the prices weren’t up there with me and the general ticket was not only affordable, but on sale, even!  The early bird gets the worm, as they say, and the earlier you get the ticket, the more you can get off of it!  Now we absolutely had to go!

So we figured out which day we were open, bought our tickets and I waited in undying anticipation.  Needless to say, my imagination and expectations were going wild, imagining what it might be like and what I’d definitely want to see out of something like this.  Besides a cosplayer that I was rather fond of working there, I was looking forward to chainsaws, long-haired ghost girls, creepy crawlies, and… not so much to pig-head masks that were undoubtedly going to be there.

But were my expectations too high or unrealistic?  Well, plain and simply…

Absolutely not.

Not only did they hit every mark I was hoping for, but they far exceeded them!  I showed up bouncing with excitement, and I left doing the exact same.  So what all does this scare park entail?  Let’s review!  (That said, I’m going to try not to go into too many details because it’s definitely better left unspoiled and experienced first-hand)

Let’s start with my first impressions… well, firstly we ended up walking into a dog show instead of the scare park, we were riddled with confusion but also adoring all the puppies walking around.  It seemed there were two events going on that night and the scare park was set up at the far end of the parking lot.  But, following the sounds of screams and the smell of a fog machine, we found our way over soon enough.

Upon reaching the entrance, there was a quaint little setup with skull molds acting as weights for the line bars and only hints of what was inside, the air of mystery was high and exciting and the relatively short, quick line kept that from fading.  In and over we were, though still a good half an hour early.  The ticket line opened at 7, but the park didn’t officially open until 7:30, so it was a bit quiet and empty when we first arrived.  That said, it was a good opportunity to take a look around, maybe grab some food, buy some beautifully haunting art, or get in line early for the attractions.  Given that the park was only open for a grand total of 2 and a half hours and some lines can take a little while to get through depending on the length, it wasn’t a bad idea to get in on something early.

Once it got closer to actual opening time, actors started slowly making their way out and into the crowds.  They. Were. Beautiful.  Not only are the outfits and makeup brilliantly done, but the actors, themselves, kept the atmosphere nice and spooky, keeping guests on edge even while walking around the open areas.  Hell, some of them even keep things spooky in the lines!  Never a dull moment, I can guarantee that.  The actors in front of the attractions stayed well in-character, giving you small backstories to the attractions before sending you in on your own.

(This was probably my best picture)

They kept the groups small and would stagger them out so you almost never ran into the group in front of you, unless the group ahead of you stalled ridiculously long.  We had that happen only once, though.  But once you’re inside the attraction you couldn’t feel more cut-off and immersed in the world you were walking through.  Noises, lights, decorations, actors, all flawlessly set up for a truly terrifying walk.

There were 6 main attractions and a separate one only for VIP guests, which were all displayed on the wristband you’re given at the front, and each guest can visit each attraction once.  I managed to get to 5 of them but ran out of time for the last one because I did a bit of lollygagging at the start.  You really need to be on you’re A-Game if you want to get through all 6 of them in the 2 and a half hours.  That said, they set up for the entire month of October, so there’s no reason you couldn’t go back a second time if you didn’t manage to get them all the first time around.  I honestly would have, had I the money or the time for it.

The attractions I did manage to visit, however, are listed here in the order I went to them:

Deadlands – an Old Western style walkthrough

Malice 3D – a beautiful Alice in Wonderland-styled 3D walkthrough, it was easily one of my favorites

Callson Manor – a large building that supposedly went up in flames, killing many of its residents

Death Sentence – a theatrical walkthrough about an execution

Dark Realm – walk through the pits of Hell, my favorite and the most atmospheric of the ones I went to

The last attraction I didn’t get to was called Asylum, and it’s probably an easy guess as to what its theme was.  As for the VIP attraction, it was called Panic Escape and it seemed to be a very Saw-esque attraction where a group of guests need to work together to escape whatever dire situation they’re put in.  It looked fantastic.

Finally, there was a magnificent fire show that started at 8 and, with at least two shows, continued through the rest of the night.  The dancers were beautiful and talented and may have been the reason I didn’t get to all the attractions, I absolutely could not take my eyes off the show once it started.

There were a couple artist booths set up to the side of the stage, as well, and a food court across from that.  The food prices were about what you’d expect of a carnival/theme park situation, but the Deep-Fried Everything booth tested my will to stick to my diet with their deep-fried Oreos.  Oh, deep-fried cookies, how shall I live without thee?!

All in all, it was an amazing night at an amazing theme park.  I couldn’t recommend it enough.  I planned to have this review out much early in the month, but unfortunately a nasty cold knocked me clean out of function, delaying this post far too long.  Luckily it seems like it’s still open for another week so if you’re in the area, I highly suggest checking it out if you haven’t already.  I had a great time and I can’t wait until next year to go again.

I’ll leave the link to their website here, so you can check it out yourself.