Pleasurewood Chills 2024
Pleasurewood Chills has returned to Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park, and 2024 sees the fourth year of attractions Hell Express and Shaft 13: the Legend of Hob. Now with nothing new to entice us - we may have visited somewhere else this year, but the fact that these are both great mazes AND they are accessible during the daytime, we thought it would be great to visit again. And we are glad we did!
We started with Hell Express, the shorter of the two attractions, which provided an eerily claustrophobic trail through a couple of abandoned rail carriages. With several lively actors working the full length of the train - we had several great jump scares throughout.
Over at Shaft 13 - the queue moved quickly as many groups chickened out after the first scene! Which is quite handy really as the park only batch one group through at a time. Shaft 13 is a LONG attraction with some very dark spaces, low ceilings and crawl tunnels. Add the numerous actors that just seemed to torment us throughout and we had a genuinely terrifying run through here. Once again - our group got squeezed into the final cell and the actor/actors working this scene, really tormented us for a few minutes.
Once we finally got out, we all agreed that its weird this attraction sits so comfortably within a kids park. It really is genuinely scary and we can see why so many family groups departed after the first scenes.
Elsewhere around the park, we enjoyed the more family friendly Halloween theming, checked out the creepy crawlies and rode some of the larger roller coasters.
As we said at the start - this is not necessarily an event that is at the top of everyone's go to list, but it thoroughly deserves a visit, as we had some real fun scares during our afternoon there.
We started with Hell Express, the shorter of the two attractions, which provided an eerily claustrophobic trail through a couple of abandoned rail carriages. With several lively actors working the full length of the train - we had several great jump scares throughout.
Over at Shaft 13 - the queue moved quickly as many groups chickened out after the first scene! Which is quite handy really as the park only batch one group through at a time. Shaft 13 is a LONG attraction with some very dark spaces, low ceilings and crawl tunnels. Add the numerous actors that just seemed to torment us throughout and we had a genuinely terrifying run through here. Once again - our group got squeezed into the final cell and the actor/actors working this scene, really tormented us for a few minutes.
Once we finally got out, we all agreed that its weird this attraction sits so comfortably within a kids park. It really is genuinely scary and we can see why so many family groups departed after the first scenes.
Elsewhere around the park, we enjoyed the more family friendly Halloween theming, checked out the creepy crawlies and rode some of the larger roller coasters.
As we said at the start - this is not necessarily an event that is at the top of everyone's go to list, but it thoroughly deserves a visit, as we had some real fun scares during our afternoon there.
Pleasurewood Chills 2023.
We always enjoy visiting the Pleasurewood Chills event at Pleasurewood Hills, when we are in East Anglia. Firstly it has two great scare attractions to experience, and secondly - it's something to do during the day if you're visiting other events later in the evening. The fact that there is also a good number of rides as well - makes it a fun day out.
But our priority on this visit were the scare attractions. These are accessible via a Halloween passport which has a small up-charge in price, but means that queues remain pretty manageable.
We started with Hell Express, which utilises the old railway carriages that used to line the dodgems. The dodgems themselves went for a small flight earlier in the year, during a massive storm, so the area in front of the train, looks a bit desolate but does reveal the length of the attraction.
Once inside, the pathway takes quite a twisted route through the carriages where a number of lively actors were waiting to pounce. The sheer nature of the train carriage, makes for quite a claustrophobic experience, and the actors are able to get very close throughout, sometimes providing great startle scares or sometimes just following us ominously. All in - its a fun little attraction and certainly the "tamer" of the two.
And that's because Shaft 13: The Legend of Hob, is an absolutely terrifying experience from beginning to end. Built in a family theme park - it always amazes us how many people come running out the front door after the first scene! The intensity of this attraction would not be out of place in a full scale scream park.
Although nothing has really changed for this year, this maze is a twisted pathway through mine tunnels with crawl sections, detailed theming and an insanely quick acting crew, who were able to taunt us mercilessly throughout. The maze takes up the whole basement area of the castle and seems to just go on forever - something that the actors take full advantage of.
One thing we must mention is the finale room that had three of us squeezed into a tiny "lift shaft" with walls made out of stretchy material. The final actor perfectly used this to his advantage as his face leered into the room with us never knowing what direction he would be coming from next. It was a simple but effective scare that led us to being chased out of the darkness into the sunlight.
So in summary, if you are looking for some great scares in a family theme park, we highly recommend giving Pleasurewood Chills a try!
But our priority on this visit were the scare attractions. These are accessible via a Halloween passport which has a small up-charge in price, but means that queues remain pretty manageable.
We started with Hell Express, which utilises the old railway carriages that used to line the dodgems. The dodgems themselves went for a small flight earlier in the year, during a massive storm, so the area in front of the train, looks a bit desolate but does reveal the length of the attraction.
Once inside, the pathway takes quite a twisted route through the carriages where a number of lively actors were waiting to pounce. The sheer nature of the train carriage, makes for quite a claustrophobic experience, and the actors are able to get very close throughout, sometimes providing great startle scares or sometimes just following us ominously. All in - its a fun little attraction and certainly the "tamer" of the two.
And that's because Shaft 13: The Legend of Hob, is an absolutely terrifying experience from beginning to end. Built in a family theme park - it always amazes us how many people come running out the front door after the first scene! The intensity of this attraction would not be out of place in a full scale scream park.
Although nothing has really changed for this year, this maze is a twisted pathway through mine tunnels with crawl sections, detailed theming and an insanely quick acting crew, who were able to taunt us mercilessly throughout. The maze takes up the whole basement area of the castle and seems to just go on forever - something that the actors take full advantage of.
One thing we must mention is the finale room that had three of us squeezed into a tiny "lift shaft" with walls made out of stretchy material. The final actor perfectly used this to his advantage as his face leered into the room with us never knowing what direction he would be coming from next. It was a simple but effective scare that led us to being chased out of the darkness into the sunlight.
So in summary, if you are looking for some great scares in a family theme park, we highly recommend giving Pleasurewood Chills a try!
Pleasurewood Chills 2021
Pleasurewood Chills is back at Pleasurewood Hills with some spooky fun for all ages as well as the return of its terrifying two scare mazes.
Before we braved the mazes, we checked out the new Creepy Caves experience, which brought a number of creepy crawlies into the park. In one corner of the room, brave kids could hold creatures such as a giant cockroach, and the displays had a selection of newts, giant snails and a spiders.
The first maze we visited was the Hell Express, which is built on some abandoned train carriages that run alongside the back of the dodgems. This maze is very well themed, with some great scares amongst the tightly packed corridors. Although it looks short from the outside, the route through the carriages seems to take a while due to the winding nature of the path. Our only real criticism of this maze was that the “devil” that greeted us in Hell as we finished the experience, then stepped out of the train, smiled and wished us a good rest of the day!
The other scare experience is Shaft 13 – The Revenge of Hob. This maze is extremely long with some very dark and claustrophobic tunnels throughout. The actors were particularly active in this maze and we experienced multiple scares during our visit. New for this year were some added effects such as the “swamp“ room and a few other surprises.
Both mazes really provide some great scares, and we still find it amusing that something as scary as Shaft 13 appears in a predominantly family theme park. Not that we are complaining though – we had a great time in both and it does mean we got some daytime scares under our belts whilst in the area!
Before we braved the mazes, we checked out the new Creepy Caves experience, which brought a number of creepy crawlies into the park. In one corner of the room, brave kids could hold creatures such as a giant cockroach, and the displays had a selection of newts, giant snails and a spiders.
The first maze we visited was the Hell Express, which is built on some abandoned train carriages that run alongside the back of the dodgems. This maze is very well themed, with some great scares amongst the tightly packed corridors. Although it looks short from the outside, the route through the carriages seems to take a while due to the winding nature of the path. Our only real criticism of this maze was that the “devil” that greeted us in Hell as we finished the experience, then stepped out of the train, smiled and wished us a good rest of the day!
The other scare experience is Shaft 13 – The Revenge of Hob. This maze is extremely long with some very dark and claustrophobic tunnels throughout. The actors were particularly active in this maze and we experienced multiple scares during our visit. New for this year were some added effects such as the “swamp“ room and a few other surprises.
Both mazes really provide some great scares, and we still find it amusing that something as scary as Shaft 13 appears in a predominantly family theme park. Not that we are complaining though – we had a great time in both and it does mean we got some daytime scares under our belts whilst in the area!
Pleasurewood Chills 2020
After a few years off, Pleasurewood Hills theme park reintroduced their Pleasurewood Chills event last Halloween, with two new mazes created by AtmosFear Scare Entertainment. You can read our review of the event below, but we were impressed by the quality of scares across both attractions.
Fast forward a year, and the park are now working alone, so would the mazes be as good as previously? We are plased to report that the answer is a resounding yes
Our first experience was the renamed - Shaft 13 - The Legend of Hob, which is built in the basement of the park's castle. When we first approached there was a reasonable sized queue to enter. Well we say say there "was" as we saw 5 groups run out the first door just a few seconds after entering! In the course of just a couple of minutes, we ended up at the front of the queue, intrigued as to what was so bad in the opening scene that people weren't able to stay inside.
Now granted - that first scene was very impactful, but no worse than any other scare attractions. But it was doing its job well to weed out the wimps! If they couldn't face the opening scene there would be no way they would make it through the rest of the attraction. Like before the trip down the mines included some very small tunnels, dark spaces and a number of very lively actors. The maze itself was very disorienting, which was compounded by the fact we were experiencing it alone. It was almost like the miners knew how to scare us and we must apologise now for any rude words we may have uttered! One small concern on exiting was that we did end up touching a lot of the walls in the darkness, so we made sure we found some sanitiser as soon as got out!
After emerging from the darkness, we headed over to the other rethemed attraction - Hell Express, which is built in the railway carriages that back onto the park's dodgems. Like before, this maze is incredibly dark and confusing and included a number of great scares throughout. It really is amazing how much is cramped inside this attraction and towards the end we were genuinely pleased to see daylight ahead and get out the final door.
One of the striking things for us at the park was how many younger guests were attempting to experience the mazes - The groups that backed out of Hobs were mainly young teenagers, and at Hell Express we saw several traumatised kids when they came out. It's not the parks fault - there are warning signs everywhere about the intensity, so no-one can say they didn't know what was about to happen. But it was funny to see kids and adults as scared as they were!
Elsewhere around the park, there are some Halloween props and theming, and of course all the rides are open for a fun family day out.
In summary, we genuinely think that the park have done really this year - easily equalling the quality and scares of the AtmosFEAR attractions in 2019. It will be interesting to see where the event goes next, but we will definitely be back to visit again!
Fast forward a year, and the park are now working alone, so would the mazes be as good as previously? We are plased to report that the answer is a resounding yes
Our first experience was the renamed - Shaft 13 - The Legend of Hob, which is built in the basement of the park's castle. When we first approached there was a reasonable sized queue to enter. Well we say say there "was" as we saw 5 groups run out the first door just a few seconds after entering! In the course of just a couple of minutes, we ended up at the front of the queue, intrigued as to what was so bad in the opening scene that people weren't able to stay inside.
Now granted - that first scene was very impactful, but no worse than any other scare attractions. But it was doing its job well to weed out the wimps! If they couldn't face the opening scene there would be no way they would make it through the rest of the attraction. Like before the trip down the mines included some very small tunnels, dark spaces and a number of very lively actors. The maze itself was very disorienting, which was compounded by the fact we were experiencing it alone. It was almost like the miners knew how to scare us and we must apologise now for any rude words we may have uttered! One small concern on exiting was that we did end up touching a lot of the walls in the darkness, so we made sure we found some sanitiser as soon as got out!
After emerging from the darkness, we headed over to the other rethemed attraction - Hell Express, which is built in the railway carriages that back onto the park's dodgems. Like before, this maze is incredibly dark and confusing and included a number of great scares throughout. It really is amazing how much is cramped inside this attraction and towards the end we were genuinely pleased to see daylight ahead and get out the final door.
One of the striking things for us at the park was how many younger guests were attempting to experience the mazes - The groups that backed out of Hobs were mainly young teenagers, and at Hell Express we saw several traumatised kids when they came out. It's not the parks fault - there are warning signs everywhere about the intensity, so no-one can say they didn't know what was about to happen. But it was funny to see kids and adults as scared as they were!
Elsewhere around the park, there are some Halloween props and theming, and of course all the rides are open for a fun family day out.
In summary, we genuinely think that the park have done really this year - easily equalling the quality and scares of the AtmosFEAR attractions in 2019. It will be interesting to see where the event goes next, but we will definitely be back to visit again!
Pleasurewood Chills 2019
After a couple of years break, Pleasurewood Hills theme park in Lowestoft have got back into the Halloween game, with the return of their Pleasurewood Chills event. Once again, they have teamed up with AtmosFEAR! Scare Entertainment to create their scare attractions, and with park wide theming such as spooky music, props and pumpkins, it's great to see them embracing the season. We visited on a wet day primarily to experience the two new scare attractions.
First up was Full Scream Ahead which has been built in some abandoned railway carriages that run down the side of the park's dodgems. We are not sure what the purpose of the train is normally, but it is the perfect setting for a scare attraction, as the corridors are small and tight, and already well themed. Once inside, we were stalked and attacked by several ghosts and we enjoyed the fact that each actor was able to give us multiple scares. The jilted bride character must have got us at least 3 or 4 times, with some of her appearances coming from really unusual angles! One of our favourite scenes, looked like a harmless train corridor and with the lighting effects making it look like the train was moving. Whist walking through thinking "that's a cool lighting effect" we suddenly had two very rapid consecutive scares that nearly brought this reviewer to the floor. It was such a simple effect but was executed perfectly. Our only real gripe to this attraction was the chainsaw finale at the end, which just felt tacked on to get a final run out scare. Apart from that - Full Scream Ahead was a very impressive maze with great storytelling, acting and scares throughout.
The second attraction at the park is a sequel to the old Hob's Pit ride that used to housed at the park. This dark ride/scare attraction hybrid, closed down several years ago to be converted into a more family friendly ride, but the character lives on in a new maze built in an empty castle at the back of the park. We were invited back into Hob's mine and within seconds of entering we were being assaulted by very unwelcoming miners who chased us through the tunnels. This maze comprised of multiple small tunnels including some crawl sections and really utilised the darkness to create the impression we were lost underground. Of course all the actors made use of the darkness and we experienced multiple scares throughout. By the end of our run, one of our party was singled out and locked in a mine cell, while the rest of the group were forced to flee. Trapped and alone in the darkness, they experienced a uniquely terrifying scare before being pushed out to join the rest of us. We enjoyed everything about Hobs Revenge, and were all surprised at just how many scares we got.
And that in fact, is a good way to sum up the whole Pleasurewood Chills mazes - surprisingly scary for a family friendly theme park. The mazes are both recommended for ages 16+, but all our group found them very intense and genuinely terrifying. It's a brave move for the park to go so scary, straight away, but if it can pull in the older audiences and scare the parents and braver teenagers, then who are we to complain. We are certainly very grateful that the park took the gamble as we were highly impressed with both attractions. It will be interesting to see what the park do next year.
First up was Full Scream Ahead which has been built in some abandoned railway carriages that run down the side of the park's dodgems. We are not sure what the purpose of the train is normally, but it is the perfect setting for a scare attraction, as the corridors are small and tight, and already well themed. Once inside, we were stalked and attacked by several ghosts and we enjoyed the fact that each actor was able to give us multiple scares. The jilted bride character must have got us at least 3 or 4 times, with some of her appearances coming from really unusual angles! One of our favourite scenes, looked like a harmless train corridor and with the lighting effects making it look like the train was moving. Whist walking through thinking "that's a cool lighting effect" we suddenly had two very rapid consecutive scares that nearly brought this reviewer to the floor. It was such a simple effect but was executed perfectly. Our only real gripe to this attraction was the chainsaw finale at the end, which just felt tacked on to get a final run out scare. Apart from that - Full Scream Ahead was a very impressive maze with great storytelling, acting and scares throughout.
The second attraction at the park is a sequel to the old Hob's Pit ride that used to housed at the park. This dark ride/scare attraction hybrid, closed down several years ago to be converted into a more family friendly ride, but the character lives on in a new maze built in an empty castle at the back of the park. We were invited back into Hob's mine and within seconds of entering we were being assaulted by very unwelcoming miners who chased us through the tunnels. This maze comprised of multiple small tunnels including some crawl sections and really utilised the darkness to create the impression we were lost underground. Of course all the actors made use of the darkness and we experienced multiple scares throughout. By the end of our run, one of our party was singled out and locked in a mine cell, while the rest of the group were forced to flee. Trapped and alone in the darkness, they experienced a uniquely terrifying scare before being pushed out to join the rest of us. We enjoyed everything about Hobs Revenge, and were all surprised at just how many scares we got.
And that in fact, is a good way to sum up the whole Pleasurewood Chills mazes - surprisingly scary for a family friendly theme park. The mazes are both recommended for ages 16+, but all our group found them very intense and genuinely terrifying. It's a brave move for the park to go so scary, straight away, but if it can pull in the older audiences and scare the parents and braver teenagers, then who are we to complain. We are certainly very grateful that the park took the gamble as we were highly impressed with both attractions. It will be interesting to see what the park do next year.
Terrifying
Oh my God it is me first horror maze I have been on it is good and fun but you are paying £10 pp for a ticket for two horror mazes.
Oh my God it is me first horror maze I have been on it is good and fun but you are paying £10 pp for a ticket for two horror mazes.
Pleasurewood Chills
Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft, Suffolk, opened 30 years ago as an American–themed family park, and has celebrated its landmark Birthday in some style. In addition to a number of new rides and attractions for 2013, including the 12A-rated dark ride/ haunted maze combo Hobbs Pit, the park announced earlier this year they were raising the bar on their Halloween offering. Of course we couldn't wait to see if all the promises would be fulfilled, given that the park has only dabbled with Halloween festivities in the past…well, we were not disappointed with what we experienced.
The park has worked closely with AtmosFEAR worked to design a series of seasonal scare attractions that would represent an investment 10 times that seen in previous years at the park. It all sounded very promising.
The first thing you notice as you enter the park is a huge array of pumpkins and seasonal decoration. Talking of first impressions, they don’t come much better than this one- we were drawn to a side-stand near the entrance with a scarecrow holding a noose and a sign suggesting you pose for a photo. When we stood there to get a quick snap, the scarecrow came alive and slammed his stick into the floor with an enormous bang! It turns out this was the park’s local menace, Stitch, but we had no idea it was a scare actor until he startled us!
Pleasurewood Chills Scream Park, as it was known, includes a number of scary attractions, many of which were open to all guests, although three attractions required you to buy a Terror Ticket, and was an upcharge of £5 for unlimited access, but given the normal admission was reduced to only £13.50 and that all the rides and coasters were open for much of the day it represented great value for money.
Apart from the general Halloween theming around the park, ride operators sporting scary attire and make-up and a host of ambient street theatre characters, there were seven scare attractions for guests to experience.
Spooky Storytellers – This is a brand new stage show created for the Halloween season, featuring various scary characters performing spooky skits at various times during the day. As the park describes it, there were plenty of chances for interaction, photo opportunities, laughs and fun. Whilst we didn't sit down to any of the story sessions, from what we could hear and see from the nearby Horror Express queue the performers were certainly nicely in character and enjoying their roles.
Tales of the Haunted Coast – This is basically a Halloween customisation of the park's Tales of the Coast boat-ride. After a short (disappointingly un-themed) outside section, guests sail through the haunted tunnels meeting the eerie inhabitants on the way. This was very entertaining, and again all the scare actors were interacting well with the guests. Throughput was slow though and boats were going round only partly filled, so although it was quiet on the day we visited you could see this attraction getting long queues on busier days.
Hopton Ghosthunters – This was a 90-minute ‘real ghost investigation’ experience which the park claims uses the latest technology and spiritual mediums. You had to sign-up for this event on the day and with limited spaces available we didn't get the opportunity to try it out.
Trick or Treat – A simple but fun addition to the line-up featuring a small building with a number of doors…behind the doors were characters that would offer guests brave enough to knock a treat or a trick. This was hilarious to watch, and the children (and big kids) taking part were ‘treated’ to some great entertainment, with responses including sweets, cuddles with the park’s mascots, bursts of air horns, piercing screams, evil looks and some water pistol and silly string action!
The Terror Ticket then gave you unlimited access to the following three attractions:
Horror Express – Guests are invited to walk through a pitch-black abandoned train carriage, making excellent use of the carriages that have sat in the middle of the theme park for many years. The actors inside were very lively and guests who were brave enough were treated to a short but action-packed fumble through the darkness, meeting a number of sinister characters on the way. Horror Express features some good startles and use of strobe lighting and a surprise element in the middle that really put you in a spin. The only negative to report is the low throughput - the attraction only handles one group of guests (two or three people) at one time, so waiting times could get lengthy.
Hob’s Pit: XScream – After being impressed with Hobbs Pit at its opening this year we were pondering what changes they would make to the ride for Halloween season. The ride itself we felt was a bit of an anti-climax, as it remained pretty much identical to how it was before. Where the park has changed things is to add more scare actors at the end section of the ride and the exit tunnel, which made for some interesting guest interaction. We would have liked to have seen a few more startles around the ride element, but maybe that’s being a little picky.
Satan’s Circus Scare Maze – Saving the best until last, this was a very good maze, and we were very impressed with the overall theming of the attraction, the enthusiasm of the scare actors, and the whole immersive experience. Satan has taken over the circus, and the end result is a devilishly exciting maze that can only be described as in-tents (sorry folks!). Featuring scary clowns, flesh-eating freak-shows and a crazed magician who poses the all-important question, ‘have you seen my rabbit’, Satan’s Circus sends guests on their way with something far more sinister than myxomatosis!
The combined creative juices of the park’s imagineers and AtmosFEAR have resulted in a seasonal offering that would be a credit to even the largest of corporate parks, so to experience this at a regional UK park is a huge achievement. They certainly have ramped up their scares to the next level. Hopefully the park can address the low throughput issues for next year’s events.
The park’s invitation for guests to come in fancy dress was also a great idea and adds to the overall ambiance of the park, especially as the light starts to fade. Finally we must quickly mention Sean Alexander’s illusion show at the Castle Theatre…whilst it was not part of the Halloween extras, the show is breathtakingly spectacular, leaving the audience constantly stunned and confused how on earth he did it.
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