FOR Porl Matthews, the truth is certainly more frightening than fiction.

The “scare industry” expert has worked at Halloween-themed attractions across the country including the leading ones in the field at top theme parks at Alton Towers and Thorpe Park.

Now he, along with his team at fear firm Bad Omens, have been tasked with setting up a scream park in Colchester’s Castle Park.

Fully opening to the public later this week, the three maze attractions are themed on the town’s rich history with Tempum Claudii having a Roman look, And All the Kings Men focusing on Victorian times and the Witchfinder General which is based on the man himself, Matthew Hopkins.

“The last attraction I worked at I banned zombies,” Porl explained.

“I’m a big history buff and if you have history – which Colchester definitely does – then there is no need to make stuff up.

“If we can get some teenagers through here who perhaps never paid attention at school and they twig something about the Witchfinder General and go home and research it then it has to be a good thing.

“The whole point is to get people thinking.

“You don’t have to have vampires and weird space aliens in places like this because it just has no relevance.”

Tickets for the Doomsday start at £22 for off peak times but can rise to £27.50 at prime time. Pass holders will be able to go on as many mazes as they like when they attend the attraction.

But passes to access the Verdict, an additional segment to the Witchfinder General maze, have to be purchased separately.

This part of the park has been labelled is the first attraction of its type in the world.

Details are a closely guarded secret but it is thought to be some kind of execution experience.

Porl has been working on the idea for years and has been waiting to find the right place to try it out.

He said: “Five or six years ago my sick brain started to come up with this concept and it aims to try and tap into what it is to be scared and what fear really is.

“There are certain circumstances in real life where we are really frightened and we are trying to generate it in a safe environment.

“We want people to be in the attraction thinking ‘They are not going to do it’ and then go a step further. The basis of fear is the brain not knowing how to deal with a situation it has been presented with.

“What we are trying to do is to create that split second where people don’t know how to react.

“After a few seconds it will be all over.

“We estimate groups will be in there for five minutes but are hoping it will feel like an eternity.

“This is the first time it has ever been done and it has involved working with experts from so many different industries.”

Tickets have already been sold to people in Colchester, but also to people as far afield as Bournemouth, Brighton and Swindon to die hard scare fans willing to travel to be terrified.

Porl said: “The scare industry is getting bigger and bigger and people are willing to travel for new experiences.

“There were two companies putting on events, now there are 25 and in the last 15 years the number of attractions to choose from have gone from four to 40.

“It has proved to be a very good entertainment filler between the summer and Christmas.”

Despite this being the first year the event is being held in Colchester, Porl’s team have decided to be ambitious about what they can achieve and even more is already in the pipeline for next year, He said: “We have taken the decision rather than to open with one maze and see how it goes, to move ahead with a full scream park.

“It is going to be the biggest attraction of its kind on the opening night and has brought with it some amazing challenges.

“Working around the heritage and bringing in a whole scream park has been interesting.

“Next year we want to bring in some different flavours and utilise more buildings and move away from Castle Park with things which are further away.

“We want to get as much of the town as possible involved and have events in different venues.”

Youngsters will not be forgotten in the Halloween events either, with a parallel Gloomsday event running at the park during daylight hours for little horrors to have their fun as well.

A spooky feast is also scheduled for the town hall.

For more information about tickets and opening hours, visit thedoomsday.co.uk.

Gazette reporter Chad Nugent was given an exclusive preview of Doomsday before it fully opens this week. This is what he made of it...

ALONG with approximately 50 other brave souls, I was given the chance to preview the scream park.

It is debatable whether I was the best man for the job.

I don’t watch horror films because I have no desire to be frightened and my mother revels in revealing as a youngster I was afraid of going to school if a grey cloud hung in the air.

In fact, I’m pretty much scared of my own shadow and am 
almost constantly at a nervous disposition.

But after being unceremoniously told I would be the guinea pig because I broke the story about the park’s arrival, I summoned up a week’s worth of courage to give it a bash.

It was with more than a degree of trepidation I approached the mazes in the pitch black.

Thankfully, for my own sake, The Verdict was off limits on the night, but I was able to experience the horrors inside the other attractions.

And take it from me, they are scary.

The acting inside the mazes is very good and the makeup was realistic enough for me to wince at the sight of the scarers.

The real thing this week is likely to be even worse, or better depending on your viewpoint, once more window dressing is added.

I’m not ashamed to tell you, dear reader, the Tempum Claudii, managed to entice a couple of shrieks from me, a fully-grown man, who knew full well he was in no real danger.

I’ve been offered the chance to head back and take on The Verdict when it opens.

But I’m pretty sure I wont be brave enough to have a go.