Tulleys Shocktoberfest 2024
Tulleys Shocktoberfest is one of the UK's oldest scare events and is easily the biggest. This year sees nine scare mazes, one full show, a new first and light display, live music, street theatre and rides. It truly is the OG of scare events, and is like a giant bear that just sweeps you up in its arms and takes you on a journey that you just cant resist. From returning favorites such as Creepy Cottage through to one of the 2 new mazes - there is something to do wherever you go, and this year has seen multiple changes across the site including more hard standing to replace the muddy pathways, and even more catering then ever before.
As the event is so large, we wont go through the returning mazes one by one, but we had fantastic run through of all of them, with the actors being particularly lively throughout. A lot has been written in the past, about the "Tulleys "language" that seemed to prevail across the site, and we are pleased to see this year that the characters were more distinguishable for the mazes they were in. Ie prison inmates were shouty and threatening, the clowns were taunting and laughing and the hillbillies drawled in fake American accents. This really helped to distinguish the mazes more than previous years.
The first new maze we entered was Purgatory - a dark trip through a spooky monastery populated by creepy nuns. Well the monastery would have been dark - if it wasn't for the fact that we were quickly given a Haunted Lantern to take in. Now for those who don't know - these handheld lanterns can be controlled throughout the maze, by reacting to hidden sensors in the attraction. This means they can start to flash, change colour or even go out completely at the most unexpected time. Now because of the layout of the rooms, this worked really effectively and at different times we could see other groups ahead or behind us which was usually just enough to distract us in time for an actor to give us a good startle. All in we had a number of great scares and definitely think this was the best use of Haunted Lantern technology we have seen in an attraction.
And talking of light - definitely leave this next attraction unto the sun goes down - the atmosphere in the outdoor ares really accentuate the tension created throughout. We are of course referring to The Carving which we were worried that this was just another re brand of The Colony/The Island. Set in the same area, it is clear that some of the exiting structures have been ulilised, but this whole maze felt 100% new with a different route, and a lot of 50s Americana throughout. The actors seemed to be really abundant in this maze and we noticed that they all had intricate bespoke latex masks that looked eerie in the dimmed light of this attraction.
The final new attraction is the horror freak show Carnevil Cabaret. With the recent death of Dr Haze from The Circus of Horrors, this new show is in all respects, The Circus of Horrors under a different name. The show even contains several of the same acts and characters (such as Camp Dracula). The only really difference being that the COH shows used their own bespoke music whereas Carnevil Cabaret used recognisable classics such as Breathe by The Prodigy. It was a great show - and the chance to get up close to the freaks is always appreciated - if not just a little freaky when you are asked to pull a nail out of someones nostrils after they had just hammered it in. If you do not want to be involved - DON'T sit in the front row!
Outside of the attractions there is so much to take in and do, such as roaming characters, live bands, fairground rides and more and it really is a packed night from beginning to end. We would always recommend getting there early to get a couple of mazes under your belt before the crowds come and then plan to stay til later to experience the atmosphere across the site.
As we have said before - Tullyes really is a behemoth of an event, that really has to be experienced to believed. We are fortunate to have been visiting every year since the early 2000's and never fail to have a good time. If you have never been toTulleys before, then what are you waiting for? Make 2024 the year you finally visit #We DareYou
As the event is so large, we wont go through the returning mazes one by one, but we had fantastic run through of all of them, with the actors being particularly lively throughout. A lot has been written in the past, about the "Tulleys "language" that seemed to prevail across the site, and we are pleased to see this year that the characters were more distinguishable for the mazes they were in. Ie prison inmates were shouty and threatening, the clowns were taunting and laughing and the hillbillies drawled in fake American accents. This really helped to distinguish the mazes more than previous years.
The first new maze we entered was Purgatory - a dark trip through a spooky monastery populated by creepy nuns. Well the monastery would have been dark - if it wasn't for the fact that we were quickly given a Haunted Lantern to take in. Now for those who don't know - these handheld lanterns can be controlled throughout the maze, by reacting to hidden sensors in the attraction. This means they can start to flash, change colour or even go out completely at the most unexpected time. Now because of the layout of the rooms, this worked really effectively and at different times we could see other groups ahead or behind us which was usually just enough to distract us in time for an actor to give us a good startle. All in we had a number of great scares and definitely think this was the best use of Haunted Lantern technology we have seen in an attraction.
And talking of light - definitely leave this next attraction unto the sun goes down - the atmosphere in the outdoor ares really accentuate the tension created throughout. We are of course referring to The Carving which we were worried that this was just another re brand of The Colony/The Island. Set in the same area, it is clear that some of the exiting structures have been ulilised, but this whole maze felt 100% new with a different route, and a lot of 50s Americana throughout. The actors seemed to be really abundant in this maze and we noticed that they all had intricate bespoke latex masks that looked eerie in the dimmed light of this attraction.
The final new attraction is the horror freak show Carnevil Cabaret. With the recent death of Dr Haze from The Circus of Horrors, this new show is in all respects, The Circus of Horrors under a different name. The show even contains several of the same acts and characters (such as Camp Dracula). The only really difference being that the COH shows used their own bespoke music whereas Carnevil Cabaret used recognisable classics such as Breathe by The Prodigy. It was a great show - and the chance to get up close to the freaks is always appreciated - if not just a little freaky when you are asked to pull a nail out of someones nostrils after they had just hammered it in. If you do not want to be involved - DON'T sit in the front row!
Outside of the attractions there is so much to take in and do, such as roaming characters, live bands, fairground rides and more and it really is a packed night from beginning to end. We would always recommend getting there early to get a couple of mazes under your belt before the crowds come and then plan to stay til later to experience the atmosphere across the site.
As we have said before - Tullyes really is a behemoth of an event, that really has to be experienced to believed. We are fortunate to have been visiting every year since the early 2000's and never fail to have a good time. If you have never been toTulleys before, then what are you waiting for? Make 2024 the year you finally visit #We DareYou
Tulleys Shocktoberfest 2023
Celebrating it's 27th year, it is amazing to see how far Tulleys Shocktoberfest has come. From a small hayride nearly 30 years ago – it has now become the biggest Halloween event in the UK.
The biggest change across the site for 2023, has been the upgrade of the Hayride into Hollywood Hayride Route 666. Just about everything on the route has been moved or updated, and a number of impressive new buildings and structures have been added along the way. The ride is a still a mix of fire effects, large scares and tricks (such as the falling sign) all combined with some actor interaction as zombies, rednecks and even Father Christmas board the hayride and interact with guests. In fact, it really is the diverse mix of styles that makes the Hayride such fun.
Elsewhere across the site – all the main scare attractions have returned and were as lively as ever. Our biggest shout out needs to go to Wastelands Penitentiary which has definitely upped it's game with an insanely boisterous cast, who seemed to be having great fun throughout our runs. The same could also be said of the clowns in Electrick Circus - we have moaned in the past that a lot of actors at Tulleys make the same sound, so it was refreshing in both these mazes to hear more ad-libs and insults relevant to the theme, and not some incoherent clicking noise!
Introduced just a few years ago – it was a bittersweet return for the Circus of Horrors, as it was the first show after the recent death of their leader John Haze. The remaining members of the troupe put on a rousing show with a great mix of crazy circus style acts alongside their trademark tricks such as the character Blue Jigsaw stapling things to his body or piecing his cheeks with sharp objects. It was a great show and a fitting tribute to our good friend Haze.
Of course – the mazes and show are just a part of the whole Tulleys experience which also relies on roaming actors, fire, live music, and more to create a festival atmosphere unrivaled in the scare world. The roaming actors are everywhere, and are always great fun to stop and interact with. We particularly enjoyed the Gemma Collins inspired lady and her husband Frankie pushing their pram.
Everywhere you go at Shocktoberfest, there is an explosion of color and music with at least three different stages across the site. Alongside multiple food and drink options, and a late-night curfew (mazes generally close around 11.30) it’s very easy to spend a whole evening at the event. And in fact, this is something you really should plan to do - as with 10 mazes, 1 show and everything else the site has to offer – there is no way it can all be done in one night!
So if you are one of the few people who have never been to Tulleys before then we have to ask "what have you been doing for the last 27 years?" With the sheer scope and range of activities on offer – It is impossible NOT to have a good time at the event and we would urge anyone to check it out for themselves...
The biggest change across the site for 2023, has been the upgrade of the Hayride into Hollywood Hayride Route 666. Just about everything on the route has been moved or updated, and a number of impressive new buildings and structures have been added along the way. The ride is a still a mix of fire effects, large scares and tricks (such as the falling sign) all combined with some actor interaction as zombies, rednecks and even Father Christmas board the hayride and interact with guests. In fact, it really is the diverse mix of styles that makes the Hayride such fun.
Elsewhere across the site – all the main scare attractions have returned and were as lively as ever. Our biggest shout out needs to go to Wastelands Penitentiary which has definitely upped it's game with an insanely boisterous cast, who seemed to be having great fun throughout our runs. The same could also be said of the clowns in Electrick Circus - we have moaned in the past that a lot of actors at Tulleys make the same sound, so it was refreshing in both these mazes to hear more ad-libs and insults relevant to the theme, and not some incoherent clicking noise!
Introduced just a few years ago – it was a bittersweet return for the Circus of Horrors, as it was the first show after the recent death of their leader John Haze. The remaining members of the troupe put on a rousing show with a great mix of crazy circus style acts alongside their trademark tricks such as the character Blue Jigsaw stapling things to his body or piecing his cheeks with sharp objects. It was a great show and a fitting tribute to our good friend Haze.
Of course – the mazes and show are just a part of the whole Tulleys experience which also relies on roaming actors, fire, live music, and more to create a festival atmosphere unrivaled in the scare world. The roaming actors are everywhere, and are always great fun to stop and interact with. We particularly enjoyed the Gemma Collins inspired lady and her husband Frankie pushing their pram.
Everywhere you go at Shocktoberfest, there is an explosion of color and music with at least three different stages across the site. Alongside multiple food and drink options, and a late-night curfew (mazes generally close around 11.30) it’s very easy to spend a whole evening at the event. And in fact, this is something you really should plan to do - as with 10 mazes, 1 show and everything else the site has to offer – there is no way it can all be done in one night!
So if you are one of the few people who have never been to Tulleys before then we have to ask "what have you been doing for the last 27 years?" With the sheer scope and range of activities on offer – It is impossible NOT to have a good time at the event and we would urge anyone to check it out for themselves...
Tulleys Shocktoberfest 2022
What can we say about Tulleys Shocktoberfest that hasn't already been said before? It really is the granddaddy of scare events, that provides an impressive festival atmosphere filled with scares, rides, music and great food. Saying that - the event is never one to rest on its laurels, and every year it seems to keep adding new things or tweaking existing attractions. In fact the event is so big these days that it is nigh on impossible to experience everything in one night.
And to this point the park have made an interesting change to their ticketing bundles with the whole event being "free flow" instead of "one go per maze". This means that if you want to spend all night going round and round Wastelands Penitentiary you can. Or if you want to try and explore other mazes, you can chose which ones you may want to do.
This does mean that potentially the bigger and arguably more impressive mazes like Wastelands or the new Doom Town, could see more queue traffic than attractions that have been around for years such as the Creepy Cottage. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on busy days.
But on the VIP night we visited - the park was quite empty due to the torrential rain and although the queue lines, and most of the park are protected from the weather, we did decide to forgo the more outdoor attractions such as The Hayride, The Island and The Coven as we didn't want to drive home soaked to the bone. But from what we could see - the actors were giving it their all through these horrible conditions for which they have to be praised.
Obviously returning attractions such as Wastelands, Chop Shop, Creepy Cottage, Hellements and The Cellar are pretty well known so we don't propose to go through a detailed review for each one. But we had an incredible run through of all of them, made even more special by the fact we had a scare virgin with us! Although we still get genuinely scared in attractions - sometimes its easy to forget that full "WTF?" moment that we all experienced in our first ever scare maze. Seeing these very familiar (to us) mazes through a new pair of eyes, really brought them back to life and gave us a fresh appreciation of how good they are. Although we did feel that Hellements was quite underpopulated on the night we visited.
But of course something that was new to all of us was the brand new Doom Town, which has replaced a large portion of where The Colony/The Island once stood. Although we didn't do the shortened version of this out door maze, we have heard that the changes have made it more impactful than the sprawling experience it used to be.
But Doom Town is a suitably impressive replacement, with literally a whole town built in the middle of a field in Sussex. Everything about this town feels real from the tarmac road underfoot, the abandoned cars on the streets and the multi storey buildings on either side. Starting in a church - we soon found ourselves zig- zagging across the street, going in and out of different buildings including a Chinese restaurant, a pub and an 80's style video store. Each shop was intricately designed to look realistic, and all of them were populated with an army of the undead - many of them still in the uniforms they were infected in!
We really couldn't find anything to fault in this maze. The set design and theming was incredible and the whole thing genuinely gave the feeling of walking through a zombie infested town. Well done to everyone involved in designing and creating this - it truly is another Tulleys masterpiece.
Funnily enough - in the cinema scene in Doom Town we saw a movie poster for Clowns 5 which was a fun nod to the fact that the park's clown mazes has changed so many times in the past. It started off as It's Curtains, and then extra elements have been added to make it Pan DEMONium 3d Circus, Twisted Clowns, and now Electrick Circus. Although none of the changes have felt like a full fundamental rebuilding of the maze, each iteration has added new elements and tricks whilst retaining the fun loving clowns. If anything - tying in with the Electrick theme - this year's maze seemed brighter and more colorful than before but still hosted a number of great jump scares. We loved the decoy clowns in multiple positions around the maze which often left us wondering which was real and which wasn't. Also, as stated in the other mazes, visiting this with a scare virgin was particularly fun (especially with their first experience of the spinning tunnel effect!)
So despite the appalling weather (it literally was raining horizontally for most of the night) - we once again had a terrific time at Tulleys Shocktoberfest this year. The new additions are just even more reason to visit as well as the return of the classic mazes, shows and more. All we can really do is reiterate what we said at the start of this review - Tulleys truly is the granddaddy of all scare events, and one that should never be missed by anyone!
And to this point the park have made an interesting change to their ticketing bundles with the whole event being "free flow" instead of "one go per maze". This means that if you want to spend all night going round and round Wastelands Penitentiary you can. Or if you want to try and explore other mazes, you can chose which ones you may want to do.
This does mean that potentially the bigger and arguably more impressive mazes like Wastelands or the new Doom Town, could see more queue traffic than attractions that have been around for years such as the Creepy Cottage. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on busy days.
But on the VIP night we visited - the park was quite empty due to the torrential rain and although the queue lines, and most of the park are protected from the weather, we did decide to forgo the more outdoor attractions such as The Hayride, The Island and The Coven as we didn't want to drive home soaked to the bone. But from what we could see - the actors were giving it their all through these horrible conditions for which they have to be praised.
Obviously returning attractions such as Wastelands, Chop Shop, Creepy Cottage, Hellements and The Cellar are pretty well known so we don't propose to go through a detailed review for each one. But we had an incredible run through of all of them, made even more special by the fact we had a scare virgin with us! Although we still get genuinely scared in attractions - sometimes its easy to forget that full "WTF?" moment that we all experienced in our first ever scare maze. Seeing these very familiar (to us) mazes through a new pair of eyes, really brought them back to life and gave us a fresh appreciation of how good they are. Although we did feel that Hellements was quite underpopulated on the night we visited.
But of course something that was new to all of us was the brand new Doom Town, which has replaced a large portion of where The Colony/The Island once stood. Although we didn't do the shortened version of this out door maze, we have heard that the changes have made it more impactful than the sprawling experience it used to be.
But Doom Town is a suitably impressive replacement, with literally a whole town built in the middle of a field in Sussex. Everything about this town feels real from the tarmac road underfoot, the abandoned cars on the streets and the multi storey buildings on either side. Starting in a church - we soon found ourselves zig- zagging across the street, going in and out of different buildings including a Chinese restaurant, a pub and an 80's style video store. Each shop was intricately designed to look realistic, and all of them were populated with an army of the undead - many of them still in the uniforms they were infected in!
We really couldn't find anything to fault in this maze. The set design and theming was incredible and the whole thing genuinely gave the feeling of walking through a zombie infested town. Well done to everyone involved in designing and creating this - it truly is another Tulleys masterpiece.
Funnily enough - in the cinema scene in Doom Town we saw a movie poster for Clowns 5 which was a fun nod to the fact that the park's clown mazes has changed so many times in the past. It started off as It's Curtains, and then extra elements have been added to make it Pan DEMONium 3d Circus, Twisted Clowns, and now Electrick Circus. Although none of the changes have felt like a full fundamental rebuilding of the maze, each iteration has added new elements and tricks whilst retaining the fun loving clowns. If anything - tying in with the Electrick theme - this year's maze seemed brighter and more colorful than before but still hosted a number of great jump scares. We loved the decoy clowns in multiple positions around the maze which often left us wondering which was real and which wasn't. Also, as stated in the other mazes, visiting this with a scare virgin was particularly fun (especially with their first experience of the spinning tunnel effect!)
So despite the appalling weather (it literally was raining horizontally for most of the night) - we once again had a terrific time at Tulleys Shocktoberfest this year. The new additions are just even more reason to visit as well as the return of the classic mazes, shows and more. All we can really do is reiterate what we said at the start of this review - Tulleys truly is the granddaddy of all scare events, and one that should never be missed by anyone!
Scary - Fourth visit in the last five years to the UK's #1 Halloween "place to be" and this was the best yet.
A big bonus this year was the VIP Fast Pass which didn't limit you to one pass per attraction. You can use all eleven whichever way you want, which we took advantage of as three of the attractions didn't need us to use it as they were small queues.
We were looking forward to revisiting Wastelands Penitentiary, Circus of Horrors, The Chop Shop and Horrorwood Hayride. None disappointed. Even Creepy Cottage went up a gear with the amount of scareactors. But it was the two new attractions which we were looking forward to the most, and both got big thumbs-up.
The first of the new attractions was Electrick Circus. I've never understood why people are scared of clowns but this does a very good job at changing my opinion. There are some cracking scenes with animatronics and props which makes it easily the best clown-related attraction Shocktoberfest has had.
Doom Town is an instant favourite. Love it! in fact, did it three times. The main review lays out the attraction so all I will add is look out for the tongue in cheek building names. The cinema is "The Odious", the pub is "The Cockwell Inn", the Chinese is the "Sum Ting Wong", the salon is "Snip an Tuck" and the newsagents is "Myers Newsagents". The variety of the buildings and their theming has knocked Wastelands off my favourite attraction.
Special mention to the roaming scareactors, Shocktoberfest always do a good job. Frankenstein's Bride was hilarious and what a handsome baby she has! The Circus of Horrors ringmaster is another highlight.
The food and drink prices continue to be way over-priced. Come on Tulley's, you can do better than this.
We started at 18.00 and did 13 attractions by 20.15 with the VIP pass so had an easy getaway in the car park which can take an hour when the park closes.
Overall, 10/10 from us. Keep the momentum going!
A big bonus this year was the VIP Fast Pass which didn't limit you to one pass per attraction. You can use all eleven whichever way you want, which we took advantage of as three of the attractions didn't need us to use it as they were small queues.
We were looking forward to revisiting Wastelands Penitentiary, Circus of Horrors, The Chop Shop and Horrorwood Hayride. None disappointed. Even Creepy Cottage went up a gear with the amount of scareactors. But it was the two new attractions which we were looking forward to the most, and both got big thumbs-up.
The first of the new attractions was Electrick Circus. I've never understood why people are scared of clowns but this does a very good job at changing my opinion. There are some cracking scenes with animatronics and props which makes it easily the best clown-related attraction Shocktoberfest has had.
Doom Town is an instant favourite. Love it! in fact, did it three times. The main review lays out the attraction so all I will add is look out for the tongue in cheek building names. The cinema is "The Odious", the pub is "The Cockwell Inn", the Chinese is the "Sum Ting Wong", the salon is "Snip an Tuck" and the newsagents is "Myers Newsagents". The variety of the buildings and their theming has knocked Wastelands off my favourite attraction.
Special mention to the roaming scareactors, Shocktoberfest always do a good job. Frankenstein's Bride was hilarious and what a handsome baby she has! The Circus of Horrors ringmaster is another highlight.
The food and drink prices continue to be way over-priced. Come on Tulley's, you can do better than this.
We started at 18.00 and did 13 attractions by 20.15 with the VIP pass so had an easy getaway in the car park which can take an hour when the park closes.
Overall, 10/10 from us. Keep the momentum going!
Very scary - I mainly wanted to write this to mention how incredible I thought the Cellar was for me in my run through. I didn't have high hopes as it was on a 5 minute queue nearly all night but the actors were all really going for it and made it the scariest mass of that night. I dont know how it was in previous years but it was top notch. I only wish I could go in again!
Everything else was great too, except for The Island in which I had a run with only 4 actors present, a step down after my first which was alright but enhanced by some interactions I had. I did prefer the old twisted clowns to the new electrick circus and doom town was the best themed attraction I've ever seen, even if I'm not sure how that's a 10/10 scare rating at all. Overall, the event was a 9 with some small nit picks and I'm excited to see how it grows even more!
Everything else was great too, except for The Island in which I had a run with only 4 actors present, a step down after my first which was alright but enhanced by some interactions I had. I did prefer the old twisted clowns to the new electrick circus and doom town was the best themed attraction I've ever seen, even if I'm not sure how that's a 10/10 scare rating at all. Overall, the event was a 9 with some small nit picks and I'm excited to see how it grows even more!
Not scary at all -
It was a bunch of teenagers who stomp their foot and wave their hand in your face over and over again. It wasn't scary the first time, it certainly wasn't the 30th time.
It was a bunch of teenagers who stomp their foot and wave their hand in your face over and over again. It wasn't scary the first time, it certainly wasn't the 30th time.
Tulleys Shocktoberfest 2021
Shocktoberfest is back from an enforced break in 2020 due to Covid, and with a new maze and some tweaks across the site, we couldn't wait to once again experience Europe's largest and most popular Halloween event.
As expected - every aspect of the Tulleys Shocktoberfest experience is an assault on the senses. The nine scare attractions, Circle of Horrors show, roaming actors, live music and fire and light shows all gang up to grab you by the collar and force you to have fun. If you don't have a great night at Tulleys - then you clearly must already be dead!
New for 2021 is The Island, which is a makeover of the site that has been used for The Colony and The Wreckoning in recent years. As the longest maze of the event, there are elements that feel very similar to the attractions in that space before, but the addition of some new hospital themed sets enhance the story of medical experiments gone awry. Unfortunately due to the uncertainty of UK weather this attraction can get a little "boggy" in places so make sure you pack sensible footwear (this is a farm after all - but we were amazed that people were still turning up in bright white pumps or heels!)
For the first year back after Covid, The Island works well enough as something new, but we hope that 2022 sees a completely different style and theme of attraction to add to the variety of the event (we understand there is a lot more space within Wastelands that could be used - so watch this space!
So of course we cant talk about Tulleys without mentioning the incredible Wastelands Penitentiary. The whole area is just wild and chaotic (especially when the fire shows are launched on a regular basis ) But this chaos extends into the attraction. The journey through the maze provides some impressive scares and characterisations from the inmates, before culminating in a loud and bright cell block escape which has to experienced to believed! The fact you can openly see other parties around you in the massive area, just adds to the confusion and the air of anticipation of what coming next. All in, Wastelands is everything you could look for in a scare maze - well themed, over populated with lively actors, dark, scary and with a terrifying finale that makes you want to get out as fast as you can!
Another chaotic maze this year was Chop Shop. Fortunately we weren't batched in such huge groups as previously, so got the chance to enjoy a smaller group and got more attention from the actors. When the ending works well and the actors pick you out for the whole of the chainsaw finale, the maze is up there with Wastelands in terms of intensity!
The Clowns have been at Tulleys for years since they first appeared in the classic Curtains maze, and we went in basically expecting a fun run through of a maze we have experienced plenty of times before. But wow - what a cast they have in there this year! Instead of the unintelligible noises that many of the creatures make in the other attractions, all these clowns were extremely chatty and vocal as they teased us mercilessly throughout our run. The jump scares were mixed with laughter throughout and it easily became one of our favourite experiences of the night.
The Cellar is another long time attraction at the event and parts of it have remained the same as when we first visited, although the new prison element remains fun and chaotic (you can clearly see how this was extrapolated into Wastelands after it first appeared!)
Down on the other end of the farm VIXI has been renamed back to Hellements, but we didn't notice anything particularly different inside and Creepy Cottage and Coven of 13 return with minimal changes. All of these, along with the revamped Horrorwood Hay Ride gave us a good mix of jumps and scares through our runs, especially the swamp scene in Coven!
Of course along side the mazes there are the incredible live bands and a return of the awesome Circus of Horrors show. This potted version of the main stunts and tricks is a great part of the Tulleys experience and we were pleased to be able to pose with the Doc and his freaks as part of the media event.
One of the main things we get asked about is why is Tulleys so good? Whereas some events live and die by the strength of their scare attractions, Tulleys provides a total package, with fun attractions, great entertainment and a genuine festival atmosphere throughout. This is their 25th year of the event and if you haven't been before then you really owe it to yourself to come and see what the fuss is about. Until you have been here, you will never understand the magic that just IS Tulleys Shocktoberfest, Halloween isn't Halloween without a visit!
As expected - every aspect of the Tulleys Shocktoberfest experience is an assault on the senses. The nine scare attractions, Circle of Horrors show, roaming actors, live music and fire and light shows all gang up to grab you by the collar and force you to have fun. If you don't have a great night at Tulleys - then you clearly must already be dead!
New for 2021 is The Island, which is a makeover of the site that has been used for The Colony and The Wreckoning in recent years. As the longest maze of the event, there are elements that feel very similar to the attractions in that space before, but the addition of some new hospital themed sets enhance the story of medical experiments gone awry. Unfortunately due to the uncertainty of UK weather this attraction can get a little "boggy" in places so make sure you pack sensible footwear (this is a farm after all - but we were amazed that people were still turning up in bright white pumps or heels!)
For the first year back after Covid, The Island works well enough as something new, but we hope that 2022 sees a completely different style and theme of attraction to add to the variety of the event (we understand there is a lot more space within Wastelands that could be used - so watch this space!
So of course we cant talk about Tulleys without mentioning the incredible Wastelands Penitentiary. The whole area is just wild and chaotic (especially when the fire shows are launched on a regular basis ) But this chaos extends into the attraction. The journey through the maze provides some impressive scares and characterisations from the inmates, before culminating in a loud and bright cell block escape which has to experienced to believed! The fact you can openly see other parties around you in the massive area, just adds to the confusion and the air of anticipation of what coming next. All in, Wastelands is everything you could look for in a scare maze - well themed, over populated with lively actors, dark, scary and with a terrifying finale that makes you want to get out as fast as you can!
Another chaotic maze this year was Chop Shop. Fortunately we weren't batched in such huge groups as previously, so got the chance to enjoy a smaller group and got more attention from the actors. When the ending works well and the actors pick you out for the whole of the chainsaw finale, the maze is up there with Wastelands in terms of intensity!
The Clowns have been at Tulleys for years since they first appeared in the classic Curtains maze, and we went in basically expecting a fun run through of a maze we have experienced plenty of times before. But wow - what a cast they have in there this year! Instead of the unintelligible noises that many of the creatures make in the other attractions, all these clowns were extremely chatty and vocal as they teased us mercilessly throughout our run. The jump scares were mixed with laughter throughout and it easily became one of our favourite experiences of the night.
The Cellar is another long time attraction at the event and parts of it have remained the same as when we first visited, although the new prison element remains fun and chaotic (you can clearly see how this was extrapolated into Wastelands after it first appeared!)
Down on the other end of the farm VIXI has been renamed back to Hellements, but we didn't notice anything particularly different inside and Creepy Cottage and Coven of 13 return with minimal changes. All of these, along with the revamped Horrorwood Hay Ride gave us a good mix of jumps and scares through our runs, especially the swamp scene in Coven!
Of course along side the mazes there are the incredible live bands and a return of the awesome Circus of Horrors show. This potted version of the main stunts and tricks is a great part of the Tulleys experience and we were pleased to be able to pose with the Doc and his freaks as part of the media event.
One of the main things we get asked about is why is Tulleys so good? Whereas some events live and die by the strength of their scare attractions, Tulleys provides a total package, with fun attractions, great entertainment and a genuine festival atmosphere throughout. This is their 25th year of the event and if you haven't been before then you really owe it to yourself to come and see what the fuss is about. Until you have been here, you will never understand the magic that just IS Tulleys Shocktoberfest, Halloween isn't Halloween without a visit!
Terrifying- Shocktoberfest never fails to disappoint us and despite always being an exceptional event, our 2021 visit was somehow the best one yet. As always, the atmosphere was electric, and we'd barely stepped through admissions before a pair of actors caught us off guard. We were still fiddling with our wristbands and hadn't even noticed there were actors in the area, so they well and truly surprised us, giving us a glowing welcome to start the evening.
We always enjoy the terrifying and hilarious interactions that the roaming actors provide here, but this year they seemed more interactive than ever. Almost any time we stopped somewhere, we found ourselves speaking to all sorts of characters, some friendly, some not so much! The masked actor outside Wastelands Penitentiary was relentless. He managed to get me every time we entered the area, and later in the night was even running into the indoor queue line to hunt people down. I don't often jump, but this particular roaming actor seemed incredibly observant and somehow always managed to catch me off guard when I was distracted, only to appear right in my face when I was least expecting it.
We started our night with The Cellar Imprisoned since the actors at the entrance ushered us that way and it was nearby. Since we had VIP wristbands, we were able to go through a couple of times, and in both runs, the actors were numerous and doing a fantastic job of working the whole group throughout.
We then moved on to our personal favourite, Twisted Clowns. We've never once been through this attraction without leaving in stitches, huge grins on our faces, and this time was no different. In the couple of runs we experienced completely different scares, alongside being recognised by a few of the actors, who then provided our highlight of the season. We were dressed as Victorian ghosts of a sort, and these two particular clown actors adopted a completely different attitude to us compared to the rest of our group, referring to us as their “distinguished guests” bowing profusely, and being on their best behaviour whenever we were around. Upon recognising us the second time around, they upped their game even more, almost acting as our guides and protectors, blaming things like farts on other guests, generally being evil clowns to everyone but us, where they reverted to sheer politeness and respect. It almost turned the maze into a crazy sort of roleplay session for us and will go down as one of our favourite ever actor interactions.
It never fails to amaze me when actors manage to recognise you on repeat runs. Granted, if you're in costume and makeup as we were, you do tend to stand out a little more than those who aren't, but when the actors are scaring hundreds of guests at such a huge event, on a busy night at that, performing in dimly lit settings, it's incredible that they manage to recognise someone going through again, let alone remember what happened in the interaction the first time around! This seemed to be a theme with most of the mazes we returned to though, as almost every attraction we ran through a second time, we got to experience extended interactions with actors who remembered us from the first go around.
The Chop Shop is endearing, despite not really being our cup of tea. When you've done it once, you pretty much know what to expect, and even if you're not a screamer like me, it's always a joy to watch everyone else's reactions in this attraction. There was one particular actor in here who was the most active I've ever seen anyone be with a chainsaw! She almost looked like she was having a fit with the thing still on. It was quite a sight to behold.
Diving in to Wastelands Penitentiary, I couldn't help but be completely awestruck at the maze despite having been through it a few times in 2019. Our group was quite large, yet somehow the actors effortlessly terrorised everyone. This is one of those attractions like Darkest Depths at Alton Towers that truly immerses you in its setting, causing you to feel as though you've been transported to an actual in-progress prison riot. The strobe section is one of my favourites, and the actors used it to great effect.
We never quite know what to make of each iteration of what is now called The Island this year. The length of the attraction is phenomenal, but it seems to often result in large sections being unpopulated, leading to a walkthrough devoid of actors. This is a maze that often gets pretty boggy in bad weather, but Tulleys did a terrific job of making it less so this year. We loved the new theme, and some of the 'subjects' had truly incredible costumes and makeup. I remember turning to my dad and saying, “That guy had a scythe grafted onto his arm!”
Next up, we jumped on Horrorwood Haunted Hayride and proceeded to laugh throughout at the various performances by the actors. Everyone was so entertaining, that by the time it came to an end, my cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.
By this time it had grown pretty cold, and so we decided to get some grub (we went with gyros, and they were delicious) before going to warm up and watch The Circus of Horrors. For the first time, we managed to snag some seats near the front, which made the show even more exciting than usual. I'll never get bored of watching these guys perform, not only because the lineup of acts seems to change each time we see them at Shocktoberfest, but because they're such amazing performers in general. Our personal favourite act of the night was the Voodoo King, who wowed everyone in the tent with his crazy moves.
Next up, we headed down to The Creepy Cottage. Despite being given a low scare factor on the Shocktober website, we've often found the scares in here to be quite intense, and that rang true once more, with one actor, in particular, being incredibly active on both of our runs. Whispering in the ear is something that always gets me feeling creeped out, and he was excellent at combining that with banging the wall. Other memorable actors were a girl who we thought should win creature screech of the year because her noises were on a whole other level. On our second run, we were treated to an actor pulling off a chilling scare by utilising some corridor walls and backlights to make it look as though she was floating in true ghost style!
Upon leaving the cottage, we were accosted by the friendly mummy, her partner, and ever so slightly hideous baby, who had an amusing conversation with us, referencing our costumes. We then headed to The Village: Coven of 13. What else can we say aside from there were witches everywhere! A pair of American guests visiting for the first time were behind us in our group, and listening to their reactions at the sheer number of scares the witches provided only made the attraction even more entertaining.
We weren't sure whether to just leave Hell-Ements out this time, since we assumed it was still the same as VIXI, and we've never been fans of hooded mazes since they tend to be the most uneventful of scare attractions for us and we were still somewhat covid cautious. In the end, curiosity got the better of us, and we decided to go through anyway. I personally adore the usual ending of this attraction, even if the hooded part isn't for me, but sadly, this time around, it didn't really work due to another guest spoiling things for everyone else, forcing an actor to break character in order to try and deal with the situation.
Alongside rerunning several of the mazes, we also managed to catch the dancers in action down at the Wastelands area, though the blacksmith that was there when we visited in 2019 was absent, it was still a fun show. Everything about the Wastelands area is so attractive that even when the show isn't on, it's nice to just hang around in the area and soak up the atmosphere. What we heard of the bands playing that night sounded fantastic too, especially the guys near Hell-Ements.
We also had fun with the handful of photo booths that were placed near the Hayride, and even though we don't generally take selfies, we couldn't help but think it was a brilliant idea that worked really well, and a wonderful way for groups to get photos together without having to ask a stranger to take it for them.
We had the time of our lives at Shocktoberfest this year. Neither of us wanted the night to end! If we lived closer, I would absolutely consider purchasing the season ticket that was on offer this year. It's worth a visit for the atmosphere of the event alone, and then there's everything else to see and do. It's pure paradise for a scare fan!
We always enjoy the terrifying and hilarious interactions that the roaming actors provide here, but this year they seemed more interactive than ever. Almost any time we stopped somewhere, we found ourselves speaking to all sorts of characters, some friendly, some not so much! The masked actor outside Wastelands Penitentiary was relentless. He managed to get me every time we entered the area, and later in the night was even running into the indoor queue line to hunt people down. I don't often jump, but this particular roaming actor seemed incredibly observant and somehow always managed to catch me off guard when I was distracted, only to appear right in my face when I was least expecting it.
We started our night with The Cellar Imprisoned since the actors at the entrance ushered us that way and it was nearby. Since we had VIP wristbands, we were able to go through a couple of times, and in both runs, the actors were numerous and doing a fantastic job of working the whole group throughout.
We then moved on to our personal favourite, Twisted Clowns. We've never once been through this attraction without leaving in stitches, huge grins on our faces, and this time was no different. In the couple of runs we experienced completely different scares, alongside being recognised by a few of the actors, who then provided our highlight of the season. We were dressed as Victorian ghosts of a sort, and these two particular clown actors adopted a completely different attitude to us compared to the rest of our group, referring to us as their “distinguished guests” bowing profusely, and being on their best behaviour whenever we were around. Upon recognising us the second time around, they upped their game even more, almost acting as our guides and protectors, blaming things like farts on other guests, generally being evil clowns to everyone but us, where they reverted to sheer politeness and respect. It almost turned the maze into a crazy sort of roleplay session for us and will go down as one of our favourite ever actor interactions.
It never fails to amaze me when actors manage to recognise you on repeat runs. Granted, if you're in costume and makeup as we were, you do tend to stand out a little more than those who aren't, but when the actors are scaring hundreds of guests at such a huge event, on a busy night at that, performing in dimly lit settings, it's incredible that they manage to recognise someone going through again, let alone remember what happened in the interaction the first time around! This seemed to be a theme with most of the mazes we returned to though, as almost every attraction we ran through a second time, we got to experience extended interactions with actors who remembered us from the first go around.
The Chop Shop is endearing, despite not really being our cup of tea. When you've done it once, you pretty much know what to expect, and even if you're not a screamer like me, it's always a joy to watch everyone else's reactions in this attraction. There was one particular actor in here who was the most active I've ever seen anyone be with a chainsaw! She almost looked like she was having a fit with the thing still on. It was quite a sight to behold.
Diving in to Wastelands Penitentiary, I couldn't help but be completely awestruck at the maze despite having been through it a few times in 2019. Our group was quite large, yet somehow the actors effortlessly terrorised everyone. This is one of those attractions like Darkest Depths at Alton Towers that truly immerses you in its setting, causing you to feel as though you've been transported to an actual in-progress prison riot. The strobe section is one of my favourites, and the actors used it to great effect.
We never quite know what to make of each iteration of what is now called The Island this year. The length of the attraction is phenomenal, but it seems to often result in large sections being unpopulated, leading to a walkthrough devoid of actors. This is a maze that often gets pretty boggy in bad weather, but Tulleys did a terrific job of making it less so this year. We loved the new theme, and some of the 'subjects' had truly incredible costumes and makeup. I remember turning to my dad and saying, “That guy had a scythe grafted onto his arm!”
Next up, we jumped on Horrorwood Haunted Hayride and proceeded to laugh throughout at the various performances by the actors. Everyone was so entertaining, that by the time it came to an end, my cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.
By this time it had grown pretty cold, and so we decided to get some grub (we went with gyros, and they were delicious) before going to warm up and watch The Circus of Horrors. For the first time, we managed to snag some seats near the front, which made the show even more exciting than usual. I'll never get bored of watching these guys perform, not only because the lineup of acts seems to change each time we see them at Shocktoberfest, but because they're such amazing performers in general. Our personal favourite act of the night was the Voodoo King, who wowed everyone in the tent with his crazy moves.
Next up, we headed down to The Creepy Cottage. Despite being given a low scare factor on the Shocktober website, we've often found the scares in here to be quite intense, and that rang true once more, with one actor, in particular, being incredibly active on both of our runs. Whispering in the ear is something that always gets me feeling creeped out, and he was excellent at combining that with banging the wall. Other memorable actors were a girl who we thought should win creature screech of the year because her noises were on a whole other level. On our second run, we were treated to an actor pulling off a chilling scare by utilising some corridor walls and backlights to make it look as though she was floating in true ghost style!
Upon leaving the cottage, we were accosted by the friendly mummy, her partner, and ever so slightly hideous baby, who had an amusing conversation with us, referencing our costumes. We then headed to The Village: Coven of 13. What else can we say aside from there were witches everywhere! A pair of American guests visiting for the first time were behind us in our group, and listening to their reactions at the sheer number of scares the witches provided only made the attraction even more entertaining.
We weren't sure whether to just leave Hell-Ements out this time, since we assumed it was still the same as VIXI, and we've never been fans of hooded mazes since they tend to be the most uneventful of scare attractions for us and we were still somewhat covid cautious. In the end, curiosity got the better of us, and we decided to go through anyway. I personally adore the usual ending of this attraction, even if the hooded part isn't for me, but sadly, this time around, it didn't really work due to another guest spoiling things for everyone else, forcing an actor to break character in order to try and deal with the situation.
Alongside rerunning several of the mazes, we also managed to catch the dancers in action down at the Wastelands area, though the blacksmith that was there when we visited in 2019 was absent, it was still a fun show. Everything about the Wastelands area is so attractive that even when the show isn't on, it's nice to just hang around in the area and soak up the atmosphere. What we heard of the bands playing that night sounded fantastic too, especially the guys near Hell-Ements.
We also had fun with the handful of photo booths that were placed near the Hayride, and even though we don't generally take selfies, we couldn't help but think it was a brilliant idea that worked really well, and a wonderful way for groups to get photos together without having to ask a stranger to take it for them.
We had the time of our lives at Shocktoberfest this year. Neither of us wanted the night to end! If we lived closer, I would absolutely consider purchasing the season ticket that was on offer this year. It's worth a visit for the atmosphere of the event alone, and then there's everything else to see and do. It's pure paradise for a scare fan!
Tulleys Shocktoberfest 2019
2019 brings some exciting changes to the already widely-renowned Tulleys Shocktoberfest in the form of two new mazes - The Wreckoning, which replaces The Colony and Wastelands Penitentiary. This brings the total number of attractions to an impressive 10, leaving guests spoilt for choice in what promises to be an action-packed night out.
Let’s start with the new attractions.
The Wreckoning is the park’s new pirate-themed maze. It uses much of what used to be The Colony and the former maze is still recognisable in parts, though this existing theming lends itself well to create an environment fit for a pirate. In terms of new theming, we particularly loved the new entrance facade, and the Quay scene is absolutely beautiful. Whilst we found the scares to be not as intense as some of the park’s other attractions, we enjoyed swashbuckling our way from scene to scene. It was also nice to hear the pirates interacting with us in English rather than the incomprehensible language used more traditionally across many of the other mazes here.
On to Wastelands Penitentiary. This is undoubtedly the new centrepiece attraction. To look at, it instantly places itself into the category of iconic Shocktoberfest attractions. The area surrounding the maze is jaw-dropping on a grand scale and some would argue steals the show from the maze itself. That’s not to say the maze isn’t great because it’s brilliantly chaotic, intimidating and scary - all that you’d imagine a post-apocalyptic prison overthrown by its inmates to be.
The Wastelands area can be seen from all over the park as the prison’s many searchlights reach far into the smokey night sky. It’s a joy just walking the area and taking in the atmosphere, the street performers (including an operational blacksmiths!) and watching the show that runs every 30 minutes, packed with impressive pyrotechnics and lasers - Cameras at the ready! In Wastelands, Tulleys have set the bar incredibly high, producing something that’s way more than just a new maze, it’s an entire community that begs you to interact with it.
Looking at more general changes in the park, we noted the addition of a bar to the main ‘hub’ area which thankfully seems to have reduced the queues for a drink to settle the nerves between attractions. So what of the returning attractions?
The Cellar and Coven Of 13 really stood out for us on the night. The characters of The Cellar were brimming with energy and Coven has a new finale scene that uses a multitude of effects to attack the senses, creating a brilliantly disorienting experience.
Our annual house-call to the Creepy Cottage was up next. Whilst we felt a little underwhelmed as it seemed the cottage was somewhat underpopulated, the creepy residents that did lurk provided some good jumpy moments.
Onto the Horrorwood Haunted Hayride. One of the most popular returning attractions Shocktoberfest has on offer, the hayride features several new scenes this year. We particularly enjoyed the exorcism scene with its rather dramatic conclusion between priest and the possessed. Other new additions to the hayride include an alley of clowns that made great use of a large cage set piece, and a spectacular new location for the jack-o-lanterns previously located at the park’s entrance.
Twisted Clowns and VIXI were largely unchanged. We had good fun in Clowns, particularly enjoying the bungee clown scare. VIXI, however, suffered from some considerable clumping of groups throughout causing stop-start delays to the experience. Whilst not an unusual challenge for hooded mazes, we deliberately waited for a quieter period so didn’t expect to encounter quite the delays that we did whilst passing through. The unhooded finale still delivered some good scares nonetheless.
Chop Shop provided it’s usual punchy, larger-than-life experience with it’s labyrinth of blood-spattered corridors coursing with chainsaw-wielding hillbillies.
The street entertainment across the park were on top form again, proving to be big crowds pleasers and perfect photo ops for your social timelines!
With all the excitement, sadly we ran out of time to experience the Circus Of Horrors this year - testament to how action-packed a visit to Shocktoberfest can be!
In summary, we’d say that Shocktoberfest 2019 ranks as one of the best years Tulleys have delivered. The unprecedented variety of attractions, coupled with an authentic festival atmosphere and an award-winning street team makes for a fantastic night out. With The Wreckoning and Wastelands Penitentiary being largely well-received, we’re excited to see what the future holds for some of Shocktoberfest’s other attractions.
Although I do HHN and Howl-O-Scream annually in central Florida I am a recent visitor to my own UK scream parks having done Scare Kingdom and Xtreme Scream the last 2 years. I had heard all of the plaudits regarding Shocktoberfest so was determined to prioritise it this year. I managed to get an early-bird ticket when they went on sale in May. So how did it stack up to the other UK scream parks I have attended?
The scale of the event is certainly impressive with 9 houses and a Circus of Horrors show, plenty of food and drink outlets, 2 stages for live bands but I didn't see much in the way of street entertainment/roaming scareactors.There are certain similarities with the houses at Xtreme Scream and I personally prefer theirs.
Owing to time constraints I did 8/9 houses, missing out Twisted Clowns and didn't see Circus of Horrors, although I have seen them on their fully-blown national tours. Horrorwood Haunted Hayride is a great attraction. Something I hadn't experienced before. Good fun! The queue was large and we had an hour's wait. My advice is to have a £5.00 fast pass for this one.The houses I did were a mixed bag. See ratings below:
1.Wastelands Penitentiary - 4,25/5 (please be aware that this is full-on strobe lighting. Too much even for me at times) but, WOW!, this is intense.
2.The Cellar - 4/5
3. Haunted Hayride - 4/5
4.The Wreckoning - 3.5/5 (this is one seriously long and meandering house)
5.The Chop Shop - 3/5
6.The Creepy Cottage - 2.5/5
7.The Village Coven at 13 - 2.5/5
8.Vixi - 0.5/5 (hood and following a rope is lazy and cheap so I don't like them and wouldn't have visited it if I had known in advance)
Twisted Clowns - N/A
Circus of Horrors - N/A
Overall rating:
House theming - 4.5/5
House jumps - 3.75/5
House actors - 4/5
General staff - 4.5/5
Food/drink - 2/5 (poor quality and too pricey for what you get)
Atmosphere - 4/5
Oveall experience - 4/5
I would definitely go again. I can see why it is regarded as our #1 Halloween venue, The crowds were large by 21.00 and many had fast passes so be aware that you may not get to see everything with a standard ticket.
Leaving was literally a nightmare as it took us 45 minutes to get off the car park owing to the crowds, when we left and where we parked. This really does need addressing.
I prefer Xtreme Scream as it has The Village but this is easily the most complete Halloween event in the UK.
Glad I did it and I will be back!
Thank you to all of the creative and operational staff for providing a top night of horror!
The scale of the event is certainly impressive with 9 houses and a Circus of Horrors show, plenty of food and drink outlets, 2 stages for live bands but I didn't see much in the way of street entertainment/roaming scareactors.There are certain similarities with the houses at Xtreme Scream and I personally prefer theirs.
Owing to time constraints I did 8/9 houses, missing out Twisted Clowns and didn't see Circus of Horrors, although I have seen them on their fully-blown national tours. Horrorwood Haunted Hayride is a great attraction. Something I hadn't experienced before. Good fun! The queue was large and we had an hour's wait. My advice is to have a £5.00 fast pass for this one.The houses I did were a mixed bag. See ratings below:
1.Wastelands Penitentiary - 4,25/5 (please be aware that this is full-on strobe lighting. Too much even for me at times) but, WOW!, this is intense.
2.The Cellar - 4/5
3. Haunted Hayride - 4/5
4.The Wreckoning - 3.5/5 (this is one seriously long and meandering house)
5.The Chop Shop - 3/5
6.The Creepy Cottage - 2.5/5
7.The Village Coven at 13 - 2.5/5
8.Vixi - 0.5/5 (hood and following a rope is lazy and cheap so I don't like them and wouldn't have visited it if I had known in advance)
Twisted Clowns - N/A
Circus of Horrors - N/A
Overall rating:
House theming - 4.5/5
House jumps - 3.75/5
House actors - 4/5
General staff - 4.5/5
Food/drink - 2/5 (poor quality and too pricey for what you get)
Atmosphere - 4/5
Oveall experience - 4/5
I would definitely go again. I can see why it is regarded as our #1 Halloween venue, The crowds were large by 21.00 and many had fast passes so be aware that you may not get to see everything with a standard ticket.
Leaving was literally a nightmare as it took us 45 minutes to get off the car park owing to the crowds, when we left and where we parked. This really does need addressing.
I prefer Xtreme Scream as it has The Village but this is easily the most complete Halloween event in the UK.
Glad I did it and I will be back!
Thank you to all of the creative and operational staff for providing a top night of horror!
Scary
Shocktoberfest is already so huge I hadn't considered it might somehow be even bigger this year! Our little group usually purchase VIP tickets or at the very least, fast track for fear of running out of time to experience the sheer volume of attractions on offer here. This year we decided to attend the fireworks night.
As always, the atmosphere was incredible and unlike any other scream park in the UK, you always get a sense that you've turned up at a proper festival for scare enthusiasts and this year was just that, amped up even further by the new addition of the Wastelands area. As soon as we arrived at the gates of Wastelands we just stopped, mouths agape in awe as we stared at the theme park level of theming. With the roaming actors and the blacksmiths it just felt like you'd walked onto the set of something like Mad Max, a feeling that only increased once the dance and light show was performed... we could only describe it as a post-apocalyptic rave and we heard a few people shouting "Rammstein!" throughout the evening.
The roaming actors throughout the entire event were just amazing as always, our group had many entertaining interactions with them throughout the evening that put big ol grins on our faces.
As for the mazes, it's difficult to be brief when discussing them since there are so many but I'll attempt to summarise our group's experiences in the order we did them.
VIXI
We chose to go through here first since we were all in agreement that it's the least fun attraction (I say the least fun rather than worst because the unhooded ending is still fairly enjoyable!) It wound up being the same as always with our group running into the back of the one in front and then it wasn't long before the group behind ran right into me at the back. I spent most of the maze being shoved by the leader of the group behind and it wasn't particularly enjoyable. There was one redeeming highlight though... at one point we heard someone shout "Wagon Wheel!" at the time I thought, well that was rather random but whatever and presumed it was a guest, however, upon taking off his hood my dad discovered someone had placed a Wagon Wheel inside the hat he was carrying as part of his costume! Bewildered, we concluded that it must have been donated by one of the actors in there!
Creepy Cottage
We usually all love this maze despite it being a fair bit shorter than the rest of them. We only did it after VIXI because of how close together they are. We were surprised there was no queue at all and excited to be entering as a 3, sadly though, our run was pretty empty. The few actors that were in there made good use of the layout, attempting to scare us over and over again, but it was just too devoid of life in there to be immersive.
Chop Shop
Our group was debating going through here before VIXI because we're just all a bit bored of it now and aren't even remotely phased by chainsaws. The group of 25 we were sent inside with was a little ridiculous considering the queue was no more than 10 minutes long. Pushed to the back we just wandered around as though strolling through a park. The best thing about it was one actor who repeatedly popped up and said to my partner "I will get you to smile!" and he certainly did!
Horrorwood Hayride
This attraction is always highly entertaining and makes for a nice break from wandering through mazes on foot. We normally leave it closer to last but due to a bad weather forecast, we chose to go for it while it was still dry! There were a decent few new scenes this year which were a nice surprise. It's always amusing to watch others squirm when the actors here come to play.
Coven of 13
The witches from the coven were as numerous, lively and creepy as previous years. For some reason, there wasn't enough fog in the laser swamp when we went through as you could quite easily see the legs of the actors as we passed on by. We were put in as a huge group of 20+ again and managed to run into the group in front to make matters worse, it was still a decent experience though and the actors seemed to cope well with the large volume of guests, managing to provide scares for everyone. The new ending scene left us a bit confused, we weren't entirely sure what was supposed to be going on and again, there was very little fog in the room so it seemed like a big empty space with a few actors running around.
The Cellar
This maze is always one of our favourites and we were able to enter in a fairly small group. Some of the effects we've seen used in the past seemed to be missing on our run but to make up for it, we encountered the most aggressive version of the snake puppet so far. After witnessing my dad get practically knocked to his feet and chomped on, my partner and I both figured we were safe, but the snake popped out to strike, again and again, causing each of us to topple and fight its grip. Never in a million years did we imagine that that would be our favourite moment in The Cellar!
The Wreckoning
As this was one of the new mazes we wanted to leave it towards the end. Having missed out on Darkest Depths at Alton Towers after hearing so many positive things about it, we were hoping that this pirate-themed maze would make up for it. Unfortunately, throughout the entire first part of the maze, nothing really happened. My group of 3 were leading and could hear those behind us muttering about the lack of anything going on, alongside complaining about some rather large puddles. At one point we were all unsure where to go and decided to proceed through the largest looking gap. As soon as we entered it was a very wet, very muddy bog, people started hiking up their trousers to cross but I noticed there were two actors at the other side of the bog with their backs to us. I began to call out to those getting incredibly muddy that I thought we had probably taken a wrong turn and should head back to look for another way, but I was ignored and then the group behind caught up and followed everyone else despite us trying to warn them against it. Eventually, the two actors in there realised people were soldiering through the boggy pit and sent everyone back.
After the error, the maze improved significantly with much more theming making it less recognisable as The Colony. Plenty of actors appeared and we had some amusing interactions with some of them which made a change to being groaned at by the usual creatures that patrol a lot of mazes. We ooo'd and ahh'd at the beautiful quay scene which suddenly made our muddy trek seem like we were immersed for the first time in the attraction. Then it let itself down again at the end, albeit in a hilarious way. We got held up and the actors stayed in character making jokes as to why we weren't allowed to proceed until one man said "Is it because you've run out of petrol?" remaining in character the actor nodded and took the piss out of the situation until someone arrived with a chainsaw which was passed to an actor through the curtain behind us while the actor in the chair in front said "Now that was rather embarrassing, wasn't it!" We all chuckled as we were herded into the old Colony finale which confused us even more than the ending of Coven!
Twisted Clowns 3D
We were going to save this one until last because clowns always seem to put on the greatest show, but with Wastelands being so spangly we felt we should leave that until the end instead. I normally wear glasses and it can be a pain in the bum to wear the 3D glasses over the top, this year, however, I came prepared with contact lenses and was able to experience the 3D effects fully for a change. The clowns were sinister and all over the place as we've come to expect from them, nowhere is safe! We've never had a bad run in this maze and every run is slightly different with various scenes sometimes in use and others abandoned for more up close and personal scares. I can't think of any stand out moments but the entire thing is just a blast from start to finish.
Wastelands Penitentiary
We thought we were saving the best until last and we probably hyped ourselves up a bit too much for this maze as it fell a bit flat after the excitement and grandeur of the area surrounding it. Most of the beginning of the maze was sparsely populated which was a huge disappointment as we were expecting utter chaos. One scene looked like it should have had a brilliant jump scare in it but was for some reason abandoned when we walked through.
It did get a lot better towards the end with the large, loud strobe maze that gave us the chaotic feeling we'd been hoping for. The inmate actors in that section were everywhere and going crazy which was a joy to watch. The theming throughout was exceptional and in keeping with the area outside, altogether it does feel sort of like walking onto a movie set. It's just a huge shame that much of the maze was spent walking through admiring the scenery without any scares to interrupt us. I imagine that this maze is something to behold if you get a better run through and we wished we had VIP tickets to give it another chance.
Fireworks
For some reason, we had to walk pretty far away past one of the car parks to get to the firework site with some groups of people around us deciding to just go back and miss out because the conditions of the ground were too muddy. We trudged one because all of us had donned our wellies in anticipation of something like that occurring. Firework displays are generally fairly lovely to gaze at and this was no exception, however, I was surprised to learn that it was put on by Dragon Fireworks as I presumed it was another company due to the fact that the timing and quality of the music to the display seemed lesser in quality compared to previous years when done by the same company.
Circus of Horrors
We decided to go and sit in the tent to watch these guys and warm up after standing out in the freezing fields to watch the firework display. The show seems largely unchanged from what we witnessed last year but still worth going to check out. We did see one different performer this year who we hadn't seen before, a man who pierced his flesh with various items. A sword swallower was introduced during the opening but he didn't perform so we presumed that performers are rotated throughout the night and who you get to see may differ depending on what time you end up viewing the show.
As a scare fan, I don't think Shocktoberfest can be missed, it's such a grand spectacle that every year we're just left amazed at this spectacular celebration of spookiness!
Shocktoberfest is already so huge I hadn't considered it might somehow be even bigger this year! Our little group usually purchase VIP tickets or at the very least, fast track for fear of running out of time to experience the sheer volume of attractions on offer here. This year we decided to attend the fireworks night.
As always, the atmosphere was incredible and unlike any other scream park in the UK, you always get a sense that you've turned up at a proper festival for scare enthusiasts and this year was just that, amped up even further by the new addition of the Wastelands area. As soon as we arrived at the gates of Wastelands we just stopped, mouths agape in awe as we stared at the theme park level of theming. With the roaming actors and the blacksmiths it just felt like you'd walked onto the set of something like Mad Max, a feeling that only increased once the dance and light show was performed... we could only describe it as a post-apocalyptic rave and we heard a few people shouting "Rammstein!" throughout the evening.
The roaming actors throughout the entire event were just amazing as always, our group had many entertaining interactions with them throughout the evening that put big ol grins on our faces.
As for the mazes, it's difficult to be brief when discussing them since there are so many but I'll attempt to summarise our group's experiences in the order we did them.
VIXI
We chose to go through here first since we were all in agreement that it's the least fun attraction (I say the least fun rather than worst because the unhooded ending is still fairly enjoyable!) It wound up being the same as always with our group running into the back of the one in front and then it wasn't long before the group behind ran right into me at the back. I spent most of the maze being shoved by the leader of the group behind and it wasn't particularly enjoyable. There was one redeeming highlight though... at one point we heard someone shout "Wagon Wheel!" at the time I thought, well that was rather random but whatever and presumed it was a guest, however, upon taking off his hood my dad discovered someone had placed a Wagon Wheel inside the hat he was carrying as part of his costume! Bewildered, we concluded that it must have been donated by one of the actors in there!
Creepy Cottage
We usually all love this maze despite it being a fair bit shorter than the rest of them. We only did it after VIXI because of how close together they are. We were surprised there was no queue at all and excited to be entering as a 3, sadly though, our run was pretty empty. The few actors that were in there made good use of the layout, attempting to scare us over and over again, but it was just too devoid of life in there to be immersive.
Chop Shop
Our group was debating going through here before VIXI because we're just all a bit bored of it now and aren't even remotely phased by chainsaws. The group of 25 we were sent inside with was a little ridiculous considering the queue was no more than 10 minutes long. Pushed to the back we just wandered around as though strolling through a park. The best thing about it was one actor who repeatedly popped up and said to my partner "I will get you to smile!" and he certainly did!
Horrorwood Hayride
This attraction is always highly entertaining and makes for a nice break from wandering through mazes on foot. We normally leave it closer to last but due to a bad weather forecast, we chose to go for it while it was still dry! There were a decent few new scenes this year which were a nice surprise. It's always amusing to watch others squirm when the actors here come to play.
Coven of 13
The witches from the coven were as numerous, lively and creepy as previous years. For some reason, there wasn't enough fog in the laser swamp when we went through as you could quite easily see the legs of the actors as we passed on by. We were put in as a huge group of 20+ again and managed to run into the group in front to make matters worse, it was still a decent experience though and the actors seemed to cope well with the large volume of guests, managing to provide scares for everyone. The new ending scene left us a bit confused, we weren't entirely sure what was supposed to be going on and again, there was very little fog in the room so it seemed like a big empty space with a few actors running around.
The Cellar
This maze is always one of our favourites and we were able to enter in a fairly small group. Some of the effects we've seen used in the past seemed to be missing on our run but to make up for it, we encountered the most aggressive version of the snake puppet so far. After witnessing my dad get practically knocked to his feet and chomped on, my partner and I both figured we were safe, but the snake popped out to strike, again and again, causing each of us to topple and fight its grip. Never in a million years did we imagine that that would be our favourite moment in The Cellar!
The Wreckoning
As this was one of the new mazes we wanted to leave it towards the end. Having missed out on Darkest Depths at Alton Towers after hearing so many positive things about it, we were hoping that this pirate-themed maze would make up for it. Unfortunately, throughout the entire first part of the maze, nothing really happened. My group of 3 were leading and could hear those behind us muttering about the lack of anything going on, alongside complaining about some rather large puddles. At one point we were all unsure where to go and decided to proceed through the largest looking gap. As soon as we entered it was a very wet, very muddy bog, people started hiking up their trousers to cross but I noticed there were two actors at the other side of the bog with their backs to us. I began to call out to those getting incredibly muddy that I thought we had probably taken a wrong turn and should head back to look for another way, but I was ignored and then the group behind caught up and followed everyone else despite us trying to warn them against it. Eventually, the two actors in there realised people were soldiering through the boggy pit and sent everyone back.
After the error, the maze improved significantly with much more theming making it less recognisable as The Colony. Plenty of actors appeared and we had some amusing interactions with some of them which made a change to being groaned at by the usual creatures that patrol a lot of mazes. We ooo'd and ahh'd at the beautiful quay scene which suddenly made our muddy trek seem like we were immersed for the first time in the attraction. Then it let itself down again at the end, albeit in a hilarious way. We got held up and the actors stayed in character making jokes as to why we weren't allowed to proceed until one man said "Is it because you've run out of petrol?" remaining in character the actor nodded and took the piss out of the situation until someone arrived with a chainsaw which was passed to an actor through the curtain behind us while the actor in the chair in front said "Now that was rather embarrassing, wasn't it!" We all chuckled as we were herded into the old Colony finale which confused us even more than the ending of Coven!
Twisted Clowns 3D
We were going to save this one until last because clowns always seem to put on the greatest show, but with Wastelands being so spangly we felt we should leave that until the end instead. I normally wear glasses and it can be a pain in the bum to wear the 3D glasses over the top, this year, however, I came prepared with contact lenses and was able to experience the 3D effects fully for a change. The clowns were sinister and all over the place as we've come to expect from them, nowhere is safe! We've never had a bad run in this maze and every run is slightly different with various scenes sometimes in use and others abandoned for more up close and personal scares. I can't think of any stand out moments but the entire thing is just a blast from start to finish.
Wastelands Penitentiary
We thought we were saving the best until last and we probably hyped ourselves up a bit too much for this maze as it fell a bit flat after the excitement and grandeur of the area surrounding it. Most of the beginning of the maze was sparsely populated which was a huge disappointment as we were expecting utter chaos. One scene looked like it should have had a brilliant jump scare in it but was for some reason abandoned when we walked through.
It did get a lot better towards the end with the large, loud strobe maze that gave us the chaotic feeling we'd been hoping for. The inmate actors in that section were everywhere and going crazy which was a joy to watch. The theming throughout was exceptional and in keeping with the area outside, altogether it does feel sort of like walking onto a movie set. It's just a huge shame that much of the maze was spent walking through admiring the scenery without any scares to interrupt us. I imagine that this maze is something to behold if you get a better run through and we wished we had VIP tickets to give it another chance.
Fireworks
For some reason, we had to walk pretty far away past one of the car parks to get to the firework site with some groups of people around us deciding to just go back and miss out because the conditions of the ground were too muddy. We trudged one because all of us had donned our wellies in anticipation of something like that occurring. Firework displays are generally fairly lovely to gaze at and this was no exception, however, I was surprised to learn that it was put on by Dragon Fireworks as I presumed it was another company due to the fact that the timing and quality of the music to the display seemed lesser in quality compared to previous years when done by the same company.
Circus of Horrors
We decided to go and sit in the tent to watch these guys and warm up after standing out in the freezing fields to watch the firework display. The show seems largely unchanged from what we witnessed last year but still worth going to check out. We did see one different performer this year who we hadn't seen before, a man who pierced his flesh with various items. A sword swallower was introduced during the opening but he didn't perform so we presumed that performers are rotated throughout the night and who you get to see may differ depending on what time you end up viewing the show.
As a scare fan, I don't think Shocktoberfest can be missed, it's such a grand spectacle that every year we're just left amazed at this spectacular celebration of spookiness!
Tulleys Shocktoberfest - 2018
We first visited Tulleys Farm in 2002 and have never missed a year since then. Over that time, we have seen the event grow from a simple hayride into the behemoth event that is undoubtedly the biggest and most popular in the UK. However, why is it so popular? What does Tulleys have that other scare attractions do not? The answer is experience and history. They know what works and what does not and they clearly love doing it. Although designed to be a scary event, the best word to describe the event is fun. If you don’t have fun at Tulleys Shocktoberfest then you must be already dead!
This year hasn’t really seen any major changes, but there have been some amendments to several of the mazes and a new show added to the entertainment line-up. We started at the bottom of the site with one of the oldest attractions...
Creepy Cottage remains a short sharp shock with some great theming and enthusiastic actors who terrorised our group throughout. There is not really much else, to say about the Cottage as we always have a great time in the tight Claustrophic corridors.
VIXI is the slightly rebranded Hellements and has been extended with a short maze section towards the end. Sadly, after 8 years, the hooded maze section has become too predictable and we would love to see a new story, or new effects, applied if the maze returns in future.
The Horrorwood Hayride remains one of the highlights of any visit to the event and really, sums up Tulleys desire to mix fun with frights. The jump scares come thick and fast, and were accompanied by some great character interactions as the actors board the hayride and get up close and personal. There were several scene changes along the way and more fire effects appear to have been added. If the park were to ever get rid of this attraction, we would lead the campaign to keep it! It is a true Halloween classic!
Although frequently copied at other scare events, the swamp section in The Coven remains the most impressive installation of this effect we have seen. The room is so large and the actors really know how or work the lasers in the darkness to get some genuine scares throughout. The rest of the attraction remains as beautifully detailed as before and the actors were some of the most physical we experienced all night.
The other big outdoor maze at the event is the Colony. We have been through this attraction many times in the past and we still never know where we are going or what to expect. Of course, with a maze so big, there were a few quiet patches along the route but the actors were lovely and vocal when we saw them.
Talking of vocal – this may sound like a nit-pick but by the time we got to The Cellar, we were really getting tired with hearing the same guttural sound from the actors. Granted – it was nice not to hear the awful “help me” or “get out” that are prevalent in so many other attractions, but doing all these mazes one after each other made us realise how similar the scares were. We would love to hear each set of “creatures” have their own unique style. Also in the Cellar, we have to ask what the “Imprisoned“ element had to do with the rest of the attraction. It has always been beautifully themed so we didn’t understand why there was suddenly a prison section halfway round. Don’t get us wrong - this section was actually incredible and we had so many scares in the strobes but it just did not fit with the overall story of the Cellar.
By the time, we got to the final two mazes we were pleased to find actors and characters who could actually talk in English. The hillbillies in Chop Shop being quite rude and direct, and the clowns in Twisted Clowns being completely playful. Both mazes gave us some good runs through, although the chainsaw finale in Chop Shop suffered from the batch size we experienced it in. We were grouped as 28 people in one batch – the attraction host shouting at us to squeeze into the first room whilst the preshow story was playing. Half of the group were still in the room when the door was opened and the next group were shoehorned in!
Of course, this massive group meant we were literally one large conga line through the attraction, which meant we missed several scare along the way. This was most prevalent in the final scene where the chainsaw actors seemed to only pick on the front of the group and we just walked through with no scares. It’s great that the park are keeping queue lines to a minimum but if they are going to use batches this size then there should be more actors to ensure everything gets the same level of scares.
Outside of the mazes, the park really has an amazing atmosphere with roaming street characters, live music fairground rides and more. New for this year was a show by the World famous Circus of Horrors – a sort of greatest hits compilation of the best bits from the main touring show. The show is really good fun and its addition to the overall Tulleys line up really helps to make Shocktoberfest into a true destination night out.
As always – we had an amazing time at Tulleys Shocktoberfest and would always recommend it to anyone who has never been before. It really is an assault on the senses and was a great way for us to finish our Halloween season.
This year hasn’t really seen any major changes, but there have been some amendments to several of the mazes and a new show added to the entertainment line-up. We started at the bottom of the site with one of the oldest attractions...
Creepy Cottage remains a short sharp shock with some great theming and enthusiastic actors who terrorised our group throughout. There is not really much else, to say about the Cottage as we always have a great time in the tight Claustrophic corridors.
VIXI is the slightly rebranded Hellements and has been extended with a short maze section towards the end. Sadly, after 8 years, the hooded maze section has become too predictable and we would love to see a new story, or new effects, applied if the maze returns in future.
The Horrorwood Hayride remains one of the highlights of any visit to the event and really, sums up Tulleys desire to mix fun with frights. The jump scares come thick and fast, and were accompanied by some great character interactions as the actors board the hayride and get up close and personal. There were several scene changes along the way and more fire effects appear to have been added. If the park were to ever get rid of this attraction, we would lead the campaign to keep it! It is a true Halloween classic!
Although frequently copied at other scare events, the swamp section in The Coven remains the most impressive installation of this effect we have seen. The room is so large and the actors really know how or work the lasers in the darkness to get some genuine scares throughout. The rest of the attraction remains as beautifully detailed as before and the actors were some of the most physical we experienced all night.
The other big outdoor maze at the event is the Colony. We have been through this attraction many times in the past and we still never know where we are going or what to expect. Of course, with a maze so big, there were a few quiet patches along the route but the actors were lovely and vocal when we saw them.
Talking of vocal – this may sound like a nit-pick but by the time we got to The Cellar, we were really getting tired with hearing the same guttural sound from the actors. Granted – it was nice not to hear the awful “help me” or “get out” that are prevalent in so many other attractions, but doing all these mazes one after each other made us realise how similar the scares were. We would love to hear each set of “creatures” have their own unique style. Also in the Cellar, we have to ask what the “Imprisoned“ element had to do with the rest of the attraction. It has always been beautifully themed so we didn’t understand why there was suddenly a prison section halfway round. Don’t get us wrong - this section was actually incredible and we had so many scares in the strobes but it just did not fit with the overall story of the Cellar.
By the time, we got to the final two mazes we were pleased to find actors and characters who could actually talk in English. The hillbillies in Chop Shop being quite rude and direct, and the clowns in Twisted Clowns being completely playful. Both mazes gave us some good runs through, although the chainsaw finale in Chop Shop suffered from the batch size we experienced it in. We were grouped as 28 people in one batch – the attraction host shouting at us to squeeze into the first room whilst the preshow story was playing. Half of the group were still in the room when the door was opened and the next group were shoehorned in!
Of course, this massive group meant we were literally one large conga line through the attraction, which meant we missed several scare along the way. This was most prevalent in the final scene where the chainsaw actors seemed to only pick on the front of the group and we just walked through with no scares. It’s great that the park are keeping queue lines to a minimum but if they are going to use batches this size then there should be more actors to ensure everything gets the same level of scares.
Outside of the mazes, the park really has an amazing atmosphere with roaming street characters, live music fairground rides and more. New for this year was a show by the World famous Circus of Horrors – a sort of greatest hits compilation of the best bits from the main touring show. The show is really good fun and its addition to the overall Tulleys line up really helps to make Shocktoberfest into a true destination night out.
As always – we had an amazing time at Tulleys Shocktoberfest and would always recommend it to anyone who has never been before. It really is an assault on the senses and was a great way for us to finish our Halloween season.
Tulleys Shocktoberfest - 2017
It's the UK's biggest Halloween event (and is due to get even bigger with NINE attractions in 2018!) and Tulleys Shocktoberfest remains as entertaining and fun as always. The strongest element to the whole attraction is the atmosphere across the whole site - from the live music, roaming actors, and different food and drink options, it's easy to spend a whole night at Tulleys and still not fit everything in!
To get the most of the night, we visited on a very busy fireworks night (who doesn't love a good bang?) and made sure we purchased fast track tickets for the attractions. This was important for us as we also had to squeeze in a visit to the incredible Outfitters room escape as well as doing all the mazes and watching the fireworks!
We started down at the end of the site and visited Creepy Cottage first. The attraction gave us a number of scares and batched us in small groups of 4's and 5's which meant we all experienced the scares from the lively actors (even when we caught up with the group in front). We had two scare attraction virgins with us, so this was an ideal maze to start with.
Next up was the Horrorwood Haunted Hayride which remains one of the biggest highlights of the whole event. It's definitely more fun than fear, but is all delivered with such knowing winks to the audience, that you can't help but have fun. Let's face it - how many trailer rides do you know where you will see two nuns pole dancing??!!
VIXI - was a new re-branded Hellements- but the majority of the show was identical. Confusing, scary and intimidating, this attraction still has the ability to make you jump and the new story implies this is a Medieval experience. Therefore we didn't quite understand why the new finale (a short, unhooded scare maze) went down an industrial theme with rolling barrels. We had some great scares but felt the ending was inconsistent.
Coven of 13: The Village has been extended for 2017 and includes a number of extra huts and scenes along the way. The intensity of the attraction continued all the way through and we had some really fun scares - especially during the incredible swamp scene. Our only criticism? The impressive "podium witch in the wind machine" has been replaced by a less dramatic burning pyre. It didn't quite have the same effect as last year!
After the incredible time in the above 4 attractions, we are really sad to say that our enjoyment in the following four mazes, was severely hampered by the group sizes. We understand that it was a busy night, but there is no excuse for being batched in groups of between 15 and 20 people. In every one of the mazes we missed so many scares as the actors were just not able to reset themselves in time. The actors were genuinely giving their all, but seemed as perplexed as us at times, as to why they had such large groups to deal with. It's such a shame, as it forced them to just perform the same scare over and over and if we were near the back of the conga line then we just missed any impact.
This probably affected The Colony the least, as the maze is so big and sprawling, and we definitely saw a big increase in the number of actors working the attraction. It still remains an entertaining attraction and we still managed to get lost in the dark sections!
The Chop Shop started really well with many great scares in the opening scenes but by the time we hit the chainsaw finale, some people had broken away from our group and the actors focussed on the front of the pack and we walked through with only a few jumps. We remember opening year when this attraction was insane, and we would love to see that intensity come back. It wasn't bad in any way - just wasn't as terrifying as it could be.
The Cellar managed to keep up an incredible intensity throughout with some great scares from beginning to end and we all managed to get a number of great scares. Finally The Twisted 3D Clowns had some great new 3D effects and we enjoyed the fun house atmosphere throughout.
It's so hard to be negative about Tulleys in any way, as it is genuinely one of our favourite events each year. The sheer volume of attractions and the atmosphere throughout is easily the best in the UK, but sadly on our visit we just missed so many scares - mainly due to the batching. We spoke to the owner of the park afterwards, and even he seemed surprised at the batch numbers we had experienced. So we will just chalk that up to experience and move on.
With the announcement of the new ninth attraction for 2018, we really look forward to coming back to Tulleys and hope that the operational issues we experienced were a one off for this year.
To get the most of the night, we visited on a very busy fireworks night (who doesn't love a good bang?) and made sure we purchased fast track tickets for the attractions. This was important for us as we also had to squeeze in a visit to the incredible Outfitters room escape as well as doing all the mazes and watching the fireworks!
We started down at the end of the site and visited Creepy Cottage first. The attraction gave us a number of scares and batched us in small groups of 4's and 5's which meant we all experienced the scares from the lively actors (even when we caught up with the group in front). We had two scare attraction virgins with us, so this was an ideal maze to start with.
Next up was the Horrorwood Haunted Hayride which remains one of the biggest highlights of the whole event. It's definitely more fun than fear, but is all delivered with such knowing winks to the audience, that you can't help but have fun. Let's face it - how many trailer rides do you know where you will see two nuns pole dancing??!!
VIXI - was a new re-branded Hellements- but the majority of the show was identical. Confusing, scary and intimidating, this attraction still has the ability to make you jump and the new story implies this is a Medieval experience. Therefore we didn't quite understand why the new finale (a short, unhooded scare maze) went down an industrial theme with rolling barrels. We had some great scares but felt the ending was inconsistent.
Coven of 13: The Village has been extended for 2017 and includes a number of extra huts and scenes along the way. The intensity of the attraction continued all the way through and we had some really fun scares - especially during the incredible swamp scene. Our only criticism? The impressive "podium witch in the wind machine" has been replaced by a less dramatic burning pyre. It didn't quite have the same effect as last year!
After the incredible time in the above 4 attractions, we are really sad to say that our enjoyment in the following four mazes, was severely hampered by the group sizes. We understand that it was a busy night, but there is no excuse for being batched in groups of between 15 and 20 people. In every one of the mazes we missed so many scares as the actors were just not able to reset themselves in time. The actors were genuinely giving their all, but seemed as perplexed as us at times, as to why they had such large groups to deal with. It's such a shame, as it forced them to just perform the same scare over and over and if we were near the back of the conga line then we just missed any impact.
This probably affected The Colony the least, as the maze is so big and sprawling, and we definitely saw a big increase in the number of actors working the attraction. It still remains an entertaining attraction and we still managed to get lost in the dark sections!
The Chop Shop started really well with many great scares in the opening scenes but by the time we hit the chainsaw finale, some people had broken away from our group and the actors focussed on the front of the pack and we walked through with only a few jumps. We remember opening year when this attraction was insane, and we would love to see that intensity come back. It wasn't bad in any way - just wasn't as terrifying as it could be.
The Cellar managed to keep up an incredible intensity throughout with some great scares from beginning to end and we all managed to get a number of great scares. Finally The Twisted 3D Clowns had some great new 3D effects and we enjoyed the fun house atmosphere throughout.
It's so hard to be negative about Tulleys in any way, as it is genuinely one of our favourite events each year. The sheer volume of attractions and the atmosphere throughout is easily the best in the UK, but sadly on our visit we just missed so many scares - mainly due to the batching. We spoke to the owner of the park afterwards, and even he seemed surprised at the batch numbers we had experienced. So we will just chalk that up to experience and move on.
With the announcement of the new ninth attraction for 2018, we really look forward to coming back to Tulleys and hope that the operational issues we experienced were a one off for this year.
All photos taken and used with permission from Stephen Candy Photography
Tulleys Shocktoberfest -2016
It's the UK's biggest Halloween event and one that we visit every year without fail. Last year we experienced it early in the season and there were several things that weren't quite finished or needed tidying up. So this year, we waited a couple of weeks, and visited just as the park starts its long run down to Halloween night itself.
First up - we have to say that no other park has the atmosphere of Tulleys Shocktoberfest. With rides, midway games, food and drink, 2 music stages and a whole host of roaming characters, you could have a great time at the park without even stepping foot inside one of the eight live scare attractions. Part of our enjoyment of the event each year is spending time just soaking up the festival vibe across the whole site and interacting with the freaks. The sexy nurses remain as amusingly non-pc as ever, whilst other characters entertain and scare in equal measures.
The Coven of 13 - is a brand new maze for 2016 and is a stunning replacement for last year's The Volt. The attraction has some of the most original effects and scenes we have ever seen in a UK scare attraction - especially the simply incredible swamp effect. It would be hard to adequately describe this scene in words but we could have spent ages in this massive room - just taking in the visuals and enjoying the scares. It has been a talking point for just about anyone who has visited the event this year, and rightly so - it has to be seen to be believed. The rest of the maze utilises some new structures that appear to be purpose built for it, and the actors throughout kept us on our toes from beginning to end. Everything about this maze oozed class and we loved it!
Pan DEMONium's 3D Carnival is a new makeover of the park's traditional curtains clown maze and the changes throughout have really taken the whole experience to the next level. The mix of crazy clowns, fun house effects and the 3D walls all combined to make a really fun attraction that had us screaming and laughing in equal measure.
The Chop Shop - we didn't have the best run through of the Chop Shop as we seemed to get caught between different groups and so missed a lot of the big chainsaw finale. The attraction remains a mix of two halves - the detailed theming of the first half giving way to the white and red bloodbath of the second half. When the chainsaw guys did find us - they certainly gave us some very close calls with the blades, but it wasn't quite as chaotic as our last visit.
The Cellar is back and still provides an intense experience from beginning to end. We have to just mention the incredible snake puppet and whoever it was that was controlling it. Not content with appearing and just slightly knocking into people, the snake grabbed several of our group in its jaws and refused to let go. Once it did - we all scrambled past it quickly in case it came after the rest of us! Great fun and a great start to a very lively and scary maze.
Hellements is pretty much unchanged from previous years but always manages to scare and unnerve in equal measures. The actors were working hard to get us to scream with some genuinely off putting noises, barks and moans all aimed right in our ears.
Horrorwood Haunted Hayride - The Hayride is a staple of the whole Shocktoberfest event and remains hugely entertaining with a great mix of scares and laughs. Some of the characters this year, were hilarious, and we think all of us got propositioned in at least some form by the time we headed back to the loading platform!
Creepy Cottage - we nearly didn't go in the Creepy Cottage as it is slightly tucked away in a furthest corner of the park, but we are so glad we didn't miss out. In fact one of the team got the biggest surprise scare of the whole evening as an actor swung towards us with a door, causing the whole group to stumble back and scream.
The Colony is back for a 2nd year and seemed even longer than previous. Despite the size of the maze, there seemed to be so many actors, and the scares just came thick and fast. We also enjoyed how the different elements all work together to make one huge attraction. From the pitch dark tunnels, through to the impressive settlement structures, the maze just seems to go on forever and we started to wonder if we were ever going to get out. Especially as teh residents clearly didn't want us to leave!
By the time we had visited all 8 attractions, we were in desperate need of a drink and fortunately, this year has seen the event add a new bar area, where we were able to relax before heading back out into the party again.
This year has really seen some changes at the park - from the incredible new additions to the mazes, through to the new ghost town structures and facades. All of this, along with the impressive attractions, the lively actors (both in and out of the mazes) and the general live entertainment, means that we look forward to heading back down to Tulleys again very soon. To us it's like our Halloween home - friendly, welcoming and absolutely terrifying! We wouldn't have it any other way! Well done to everyone involved!
First up - we have to say that no other park has the atmosphere of Tulleys Shocktoberfest. With rides, midway games, food and drink, 2 music stages and a whole host of roaming characters, you could have a great time at the park without even stepping foot inside one of the eight live scare attractions. Part of our enjoyment of the event each year is spending time just soaking up the festival vibe across the whole site and interacting with the freaks. The sexy nurses remain as amusingly non-pc as ever, whilst other characters entertain and scare in equal measures.
The Coven of 13 - is a brand new maze for 2016 and is a stunning replacement for last year's The Volt. The attraction has some of the most original effects and scenes we have ever seen in a UK scare attraction - especially the simply incredible swamp effect. It would be hard to adequately describe this scene in words but we could have spent ages in this massive room - just taking in the visuals and enjoying the scares. It has been a talking point for just about anyone who has visited the event this year, and rightly so - it has to be seen to be believed. The rest of the maze utilises some new structures that appear to be purpose built for it, and the actors throughout kept us on our toes from beginning to end. Everything about this maze oozed class and we loved it!
Pan DEMONium's 3D Carnival is a new makeover of the park's traditional curtains clown maze and the changes throughout have really taken the whole experience to the next level. The mix of crazy clowns, fun house effects and the 3D walls all combined to make a really fun attraction that had us screaming and laughing in equal measure.
The Chop Shop - we didn't have the best run through of the Chop Shop as we seemed to get caught between different groups and so missed a lot of the big chainsaw finale. The attraction remains a mix of two halves - the detailed theming of the first half giving way to the white and red bloodbath of the second half. When the chainsaw guys did find us - they certainly gave us some very close calls with the blades, but it wasn't quite as chaotic as our last visit.
The Cellar is back and still provides an intense experience from beginning to end. We have to just mention the incredible snake puppet and whoever it was that was controlling it. Not content with appearing and just slightly knocking into people, the snake grabbed several of our group in its jaws and refused to let go. Once it did - we all scrambled past it quickly in case it came after the rest of us! Great fun and a great start to a very lively and scary maze.
Hellements is pretty much unchanged from previous years but always manages to scare and unnerve in equal measures. The actors were working hard to get us to scream with some genuinely off putting noises, barks and moans all aimed right in our ears.
Horrorwood Haunted Hayride - The Hayride is a staple of the whole Shocktoberfest event and remains hugely entertaining with a great mix of scares and laughs. Some of the characters this year, were hilarious, and we think all of us got propositioned in at least some form by the time we headed back to the loading platform!
Creepy Cottage - we nearly didn't go in the Creepy Cottage as it is slightly tucked away in a furthest corner of the park, but we are so glad we didn't miss out. In fact one of the team got the biggest surprise scare of the whole evening as an actor swung towards us with a door, causing the whole group to stumble back and scream.
The Colony is back for a 2nd year and seemed even longer than previous. Despite the size of the maze, there seemed to be so many actors, and the scares just came thick and fast. We also enjoyed how the different elements all work together to make one huge attraction. From the pitch dark tunnels, through to the impressive settlement structures, the maze just seems to go on forever and we started to wonder if we were ever going to get out. Especially as teh residents clearly didn't want us to leave!
By the time we had visited all 8 attractions, we were in desperate need of a drink and fortunately, this year has seen the event add a new bar area, where we were able to relax before heading back out into the party again.
This year has really seen some changes at the park - from the incredible new additions to the mazes, through to the new ghost town structures and facades. All of this, along with the impressive attractions, the lively actors (both in and out of the mazes) and the general live entertainment, means that we look forward to heading back down to Tulleys again very soon. To us it's like our Halloween home - friendly, welcoming and absolutely terrifying! We wouldn't have it any other way! Well done to everyone involved!
Links:
Official Website: www.halloweenattractions.co.uk/locations/crawley/shocktoberfest
ScareTOUR review of 2015
ScareTOUR review of 2015
You Review
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Very scary
Great value for money apart from the food being overly priced. Especially the fact that you can't even take in water and they charge a lot for it when they should have free tap water at least.
Batching issues for some of the mazes (especially The Colony) where both runs we had to stop for 2 or so minutes as the groups in front would not move.Great roaming actors and general atmosphere!
Great value for money apart from the food being overly priced. Especially the fact that you can't even take in water and they charge a lot for it when they should have free tap water at least.
Batching issues for some of the mazes (especially The Colony) where both runs we had to stop for 2 or so minutes as the groups in front would not move.Great roaming actors and general atmosphere!
Scary - Some attractions were extremely scary (chop shop) but others could be better (like the coven and pandemonium). The actors and special effects were great.
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