The Invitation was an audio-based attraction where guests were invited to visit The Lakeside Cemetery in 2022 and 2023 for a grave experience that would live with them for eternity.
Fact File
- Location: Near The Games Bunker
- Opening Year: 2022
- Closing Year: 2023
Guests entered the exterior queue-line for The Invitation on the left-hand side of the Games Bunker, venturing past a number of graves and then through the Cemetery’s gates. In this second part of the queue line, situated behind the Games Bunker, there were a number of theming features, including various tombs.
The attraction itself was housed within a number of shipping containers on the right hand side of the Games Bunker. The experience began with guests meeting a friendly funeral director, who joined guests for their descent in a ‘lift’ down to the burial chamber.
Once inside the chamber, guests took a seat on either side of a metal cage and put on headphones in order to listen to the audio in complete darkness. The audio experience centred on vampires, and was of a more psychological nature, although did also integrate some physical effects. The scene that played in the audio saw a fellow guest lured by the vampire to unlock its cage, allowing it to feast on those in the chamber.
While 2022 saw the experience end immediately upon guests exiting the burial chamber, a live action finale was added for Scarefest 2023 that took guests through a mausoleum.
Located in the space occupied by Freak Show: Toxic Junkyard in the preceding couple of years, The Invitation was the only new addition for Scarefest 2022, despite this being marketed as representing ’15 Years of Scarefest. Being an audio experience, it expectedly provided quite a different experience to the traditional scare maze which many did not find to be as thrilling, making it a controversial addition.
Despite the reception in 2022, The Invitation returned for 2023. Although the core experience remained unchanged, the attraction did benefit from the addition of a new live action finale. This would nonetheless still be its final year.
Scarefest 2022
2022 saw the debut of a new audio-based scare attraction, alongside returning scare mazes and family-friendly entertainment.
Scarefest 2023
The Invitation returned for a second year with a new live action finale, although this would nonetheless still be its last Scarefest.
