Overnight camping on lonely moors and within woods high above Oldham, near Manchester is definitely not for the faint hearted – for this is the location of Scream Camp where anything can happen. This 10 hour overnight horror experience has to be the most extreme camping session anyone could imagine.
You can find strangers entering the tent and attempting to get into your sleeping bag. Chainsaws rev up in the dark, and you might be dragged away, tied to trees, buried underground or bundled into the back of a car. It will leave you screaming with fear, never knowing just what might happen next.
Within a few weeks of its launch in 2018, the entire 2019 season had been sold out. Some participants had even flown over from Los Angeles for a night on these lonely moors just to take part in this camp of horror.
Scream Camp is the brainchild of Calum Beckett who describes himself quite simply as ‘the mastermind and evil genius behind the concept.’
“I’ve worked as an actor in scare events since 2013, and later as a producer. I came up with the idea of an overnight horror experience and camping offered a lot of possibilities. I contacted local farmers around where I live asking if they would be interested in taking part. A local guy called Dean came back, saying it sounds good; ‘Why not come up and have a look at my farm,’ he said. It was the perfect location, really isolated and there was lots of space available.”
The first Scream Camp was held in October 2018, and was an instant success. Weather conditions meant that only a few sessions could be held that year, but plans were quickly laid for 2019. By November, all the available tickets for 2019 had been sold.
“It pushes people to their limits,” says Calum. “It is intense horror but also with a touch of comedy to lighten things up a bit. Our storyline is that the farm was the scene of murders in 2009. 10 years later, the campers have come to pay their respects to those who were brutally murdered. The murderers were never caught, and during the night come to terrorize the campers.”
Throughout the night, join in the horror games and challenges or sit around the camp fire roasting marshmallows! [Photo/Scream Camp]
Small tents are provided surrounding the fire pit, where a fire burns all night. Each participant brings a sleeping bag plus food and drink. No alcohol is allowed. The night’s camping is only for adults over age 18 and involves 20 to 25 participants.
At about 9 pm the campers arrive. They are divided into two teams, each led by a sister. One of the sisters, Tracy, is described as being very Mumsy and strict, while the other, Lola, is playful and a bit chaotic. During the night, various team activities including charades, Chinese Whispers and word association games are held around the campfire, during which points can be achieved.
Over the next hour or so, the campers have time to relax, toast marshmallows and enjoy the outdoor life while taking part in warm up games. For example, they would take turns to recount the scariest thing they have ever done. It is a “get to know you” time.
Suddenly, the camp leaders stop the chat and inform the campers that there is a security problem back at the farm, and that they must get into their tents, zip them up and stay there. Everything goes quiet – until the murderers arrive. Chainsaws start revving up, tents are shaken and some are unzipped and strangers attempt to break into occupied sleeping bags. Three or four people are chosen by the actors and taken away from the camp to face the first challenge – being buried alive in a steel box!
‘Anyone with a fear of confined spaces finds it totally horrifying. They are then held by their ankles over a cliff edge while the murderers try to find out what they know,’ says Calum.
After this, they are taken back to the camp while another group undergoes the challenge. When all the participants have taken part, the next challenge begins. In between the challenges, campers can stay in their tents or gather around the campfire.
The second challenge is equally horrifying – being bundled up into the boot of a car and driven off at high speed, with the driver doing stunts such as doughnuts. Yet another challenge might involve being tied up in a barn, or having a chainsaw held against your neck.
During the 10 hour camping experience, anything can happen. The scare challenges are interspersed by moments of comedy, often involving some element of potential embarrassment such as having to participate in a dance off. During a dance off, one member from each team has to compete against the other, while the remainder of the group vote for the best dance moves. Even if it is pouring down with rain and the site is full of mud, the camp continues as normal. The action continues all night with the last challenge at about 5 am in the morning. After that, the team comes into the camp and lightens the atmosphere with jokes and more dancing. By seven o’clock, the camping session is drawing to a close.
There is a let out, or way to stop the experience, for anyone who feels that they really cannot take any more of a particular challenge as Calum indicates. “There is a safe word – Mouse – and people can say that at any point. That particular challenge will immediately stop for them, and they will be taken back to the camp site. They will not have to complete that challenge. If they want a period of calm or sleep, they can enter their tent, put a glowstick outside and they will be left alone by the team until they are ready to take part again.”
Despite being terrified beyond belief, the reactions of the campers have been really positive.
“We have had no negative reviews at all. Everyone loves this camping experience. It is a great achievement for a new business. Every session is sold out, not just to people from the area but throughout the UK, and also from overseas. We have had people coming from Los Angeles, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Austria and Germany. People have flown over from America just to spend one night on a farm in Oldham!” says Calum.
Typical reviews posted on Facebook or the Scream Camp website are as follows:
“We were not expecting the sheer volume of one-on-one scares that were present within our interactions with the killers. It was definitely very hands on and intense. Some scenes pushed us to our limits”
“A genuinely great experience, from the moment we got to our camp, to the start of the horror action, we were left in suspense throughout the entire night wondering what was going to happen next, and some of the activities left me in actual tears. This attraction pushes you to your limits and then breaks them.”
Tent campers agree to let bygones be bygones at Scream Camp [Photo/Scream Camp]
While another reviewer reflected on the ultimate outcome: “The few of us staggered our way towards civilization. Covered in mud from head to toe, war strips on our cheeks, wearing shirts that had been spray-painted, drawn upon and ravaged – unrecognizable from the pristine white state they had been some ten hours ago. Our Uber driver pulled up – a miracle he even found us at all. His face said it all.”
Within days of being released, 25% of tickets for the 2020 season had been sold with the remaining tickets set to be snapped up very quickly.
Calum operates Scream Camp with aid of a small team – 2 producers and 6 cast members. They get a lot of help from their friendly landlord, Dean, who lets them use various buildings, chops up wood for their campfire and even helps move props around the site.
Since the weather conditions are not ideal for an outdoor activity of this kind around Halloween, Calum has opted for a shorter indoor event within one of the barns. Known as Ritual, it has a different storyline focusing on guests coming to celebrate Halloween with a cult leader. Instead of a celebration, it becomes a Halloween nightmare.
He says, “I plan to continue with Scream Camp, changing the storyline each year.” Calum points out that he does not plan to do a similar event anywhere else in the UK since people can travel to Oldham. When asked about expanding to the US, Calum comments, “If someone asked us to take the concept into another country such as the States I would consider it.”
Clearly, for the foreseeable future, the wild moorlands and lonely farmland near Oldham seem set to house the scariest camping experience on the planet!
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