There's fear on the farm this Halloween

As October arrives, shops fill up with ghost masks, witches brooms and jack-o-lanterns, and the annual pageant to the macabre and sinister is once more upon us. I’ve always been sceptical about the celebration of Halloween, generally dismissing it as another excuse to sell greetings cards and sweets, but this year I decided to get into the spirit a little more.

Farmer Ted's, near Ormskirk, is for most of the year a working farm. However, throughout October it is transformed into Farmaggedon, where guests are invited to unleash their fear in an interactive haunted house experience. With a growing reputation as the north-west’s premier Halloween treat, I decided to see if even a cynic like me could still be shocked.

On arrival, and after waiting in the considerable queue for entrance, we were greeted by a bloodied bride, a corpse on stilts and an evil clown chasing us towards the next queue for the first of the two haunted houses ‘Terror on the Farm’.

As the door slammed shut behind us, the spooky laughter began and my inner cynic began to quieten down. The first feature to walk through is a spinning tunnel, which leaves the senses a little disoriented even before the onslaught of noises, bumps, shocks and jumps which include a blood-splattered abattoir and a chainsaw-wielding butcher.

The actors seem well-trained in choosing who they chase, picking on those who are either giggling or screaming the loudest. After surviving the first ordeal, we went straight into the queue for the second house ‘Insanity’.

In truth, the length of the queues was the only negative of the Farmaggedon experience, as the 30-minute wait between houses, sound-tracked by Green Day and Killers songs, gives the brain time to re-adjust before the next set of shocks.

Insanity opens with an unexpected ride in a dimly lit transport, which is interrupted by loud banging and the appearance of an insane clown screaming “come this way”!

The first section is filled with childlike graffiti and creepy voices whispering “dead dollies, dead dollies”, whilst mutilated doll parts hang from the low ceilings. The house also includes a dentist’s surgery, complete with zombie dentists and a screaming, toothless patient; a room of hanging clowns, and an asylum full of escaped inmates.

The second house was by far the scarier of the two, preying on all the senses to create a quite bizarre experience. However, it is only after leaving that the real effect of Farmaggedon reveals itself, as I now find myself looking timidly around corners, and looking hurriedly for light switches in my own house.

For those looking for a Halloween treat, or for seasoned horror thrill-seekers, Farmaggedon comes highly recommended. You'll have to be fearless for another year now, sadly, as tickets for this year's show sold out as fast as you can say 'chainsaw'.