Review – Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019

We first went to this event last year, and were blown away by this relatively unknown event – we were excited to be invited back to Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019. It’s different from other events, whilst it’s temporary like many Halloween attractions – it’s actually incredible how it all works. You see normally, Hinchingbrooke House is a school – and when half term arrives, the team move in, and turn this beautiful old building into one of the UK’s longest Horror Mazes! The maze takes you through the house, and outside, in different buildings, and temporary structures. It’s crazy!

Because the venue is a school, and dependent on the holidays, Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 is only around for a relatively short period of time – it’s only running until the 27th October 2019.

What should I expect at Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019?

You can expect one long maze, that takes about an hour to navigate. The maze is split into different scenes that are based around a variety of classic and modern horror films. You’re batched into groups of 12 and sent off on your way. You’re instructed to walk through the maze with your hands on the shoulders of the person in-front of you. This seems to work at the beginning, however that seems to be forgotten after the first few scenes!

There are very few ‘quiet’ spots during the experience, as you move from building to building you do (sometimes) get a chance to catch your breath. Beware though, it’s not always as quiet as it seems, and you might find yourself being chased. As you move around the mazes there are a variety of scares. There’s a fun soundtrack as you move around, from some cheesy pop, heavy rock, and movie scores. I love the amount of misdirection used – you find yourself focused on one thing when a scare comes flying at you from another direction!

You won’t find a myriad of hi-tech wizardry and cutting edge effects – they aren’t really needed – you get scares thrown at you by the barrel-load!

They WILL touch you – but they hopefully won’t harm you at Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019

It’s really important for me to point out that Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 is a very physical maze. I don’t mean that like you’ll be crouching and crawling. The actors do get very physical with you. It’s beyond hair stroking, or gentle touches – they MIGHT grab you, you they MIGHT pull or push you. It’s not to the point where you feel like you’re being attacked – but it’s a little unnerving. I know some people who would absolutely hate that, so just remember that when booking tickets. One of the actors actually took a nibble at my nose – although I think that was more for the vlog. Because some of the outside sections are in woodland, it’s REALLY easy to lose your footing if someone knocks you off balance, so try and keep alert!

I think it adds an extra bit of fear knowing that someone might drag you off from your group, but it won’t be everyone’s thing.

Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 – Overall

It’s really hard not to love Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 – there’s not the world-class make-up you’d find elsewhere, or the insanely intricate theming. It’s clear that a lot of time, effort and love has gone into Horror at Hinchingbrooke House – it’s made for those who love horror attractions and scary movies. It’s a little clunky in places, and there are a lot of masks instead of make-up and prosthetics – but – it excels at scaring the crap out of you. I’ve not felt fear like it at a Halloween event (aside from Room 13).

The event is a simple one, the toilets are portaloos, and there are some catering vans for food and drink.  What it lacks in polish, it makes up for in just being a bloody awesome scare event – there are a lot of companies spending a LOT more, and getting things wrong. Horror at Hinchingbrooke House does what it says on the tin. The atmosphere and setting is so unique, they don’t need ‘musty old building’ smell pods – the main building has that for real! It’s so authentic.

Horror at Hinchingbrooke House has built quite a cult following over the years, so many guests return each year and that is amazing to see. The team turn a fancy school into a kick-ass horror maze almost overnight and they do an incredible job. The cast of 85 actors do amazing work, some of them will just sit and stare, others run at you screaming, some will grab you, others will wave weapons at you. There is a great balance that really makes you wonder what the hell will happen next. It’s absolutely spot-on.

I’ve a feeling we’ll be one of those people who visit Horror at Hinchingbrooke House year after year. If you haven’t done it yet, why not make Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 your first year?

Tickets are selling out – but available here.

To get a feel of the event then check out my video below –

Disclaimer – Horror at Hinchingbrooke House 2019 gifted use tickets for the purposes of a review, all thoughts and opinions are my own