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I'll give my honest immediate reviews now. I'm honest here. This isn't "TPM Josh" talking. This is "JoshC., Thorpe Fan but fair" talking. DeadBeat Ehhhhh, not for me. Visually it looks great; no dead spots. However, the story is a little...lost. The pre show talks about a rave being hosted by a DJ. But there's no reference to the DJ when you're in there. The maze is just going through a club / bar / similar areas. It's cool, but very incoherent. The maze isn't the longest, but makes best use of its space. They've also cleverly designed the maze to make it feel like you're repeating yourself / going in circles, which I liked. However, this had a downside of a group thinking they'd gone the wrong way and turned back on themselves. That's just something which needs actor knowledge though, so no issues. It's a bit of a passive experience too, with you watching clubbers and demons (known as "Viscerals") interacting with each other. There's nothing wrong with passive experiences / scenes, as they can create fear, but it's not for me. The final quarter is much more interactive, just focusing on the Viscerals, and is nice. The finale is great (some have said it's like The Cellar at Tulleys, of which they ain't wrong, but so what) It does need time to bed in and the actors to really know what ticks. It needs tweaks with the presentation and story line too. A big positive though: I did it 3 times, and it was very consistent. Consistency is a huge thing to sort out in mazes, and it's something directly within the park's control during the event (in that, they can encourage / coach / train actors to be consistent, they can't change say the space the maze takes). Based on today, it's great to see they had that right, as even on previous press nights, mazes haven't been consistent run to run. Hopefully that continues. My personal opinion, is that the maze needs to start off completely as a rave. No scares. No viscerals. Just pure fun. There are already "dancers"/"ravers" actors, just make them happier, with a bit of an edge if necessary. Then have a scene where everything goes wrong, and it's purely demons. It involves you in the story, and creates the necessary distinction. Stitches This remains very similar to last year. Which means I don't like it. It's a completely passive experience, focusing on creepiness and a fear of what is happening to others, as opposed to what is (or could be) happening to you. Absolutely fine as a maze, and there's a place for those experiences as it gets people. but not for me. Was a bit disappointed they didn't change the mirror scene at the start. They could have put something different there. Survival Games My favourite of tonight, although I will have extra bias as there was only 2 of us in the whole maze. It remains intense, in your face and hands on. That's great. It's not for everyone (like Stitches), but it is for me. I heard some mixed reviews through the evening, so I think actors need to bed in and get used to what they can and can't do with guests, but that comes in time. 2022 Survival Games was exactly the same. There's currently no chainsaws in the finale, for reasons I'm not sure I can say. I believe they're working on it though and they should return. Trailers A very good version this year. 3 scene: -Hell Cell has been changed into Creek Freaks -Vulcan Voodoo has been changed into Knock Knock -Ship Happens and Nightmare on Staines Street have been turned into The Sleeper Express Knock Knock is a nod to Death's Doors, and re-uses the good costumes there. The pre-show is now no longer a cinema employee, but The Director. The pre show is a bit meh for me, but it is fan-servicey, which is what the whole maze is. However, they've completely cut the second pre show in the cinema screen - meaning the removal of what I unaffectionately referred to as the "orgasming actor" - HURRAY. The premise of the maze is much the same. Unfortunately, the new scenes aren't so much "new". They are just overlays of what was already there. Creek Freaks still has the prison bars from Hell Cells, but they've got Buckwheat actors and some stuff added to the walls. Knock Knock is still in a wooded area, but with doors added. Sleeper Express has the same layout as the other two, just made to feel more like the maze. It's fine, but don't go in expecting something totally new. As I say though, strong maze. Good cast, and the maze works well. The Crows This hasn't quite hit the highs of last year yet, but it's still very good. The new fenced section looks cool from afar, as well as very big, but it's not. There's two routes too: One which takes you in that fenced section, one that takes you round. The ended is incredibly dense with smoke (I expect that might change soon tbh, but if it doesn't, great!). It's a great scare zone and I'm glad they've kept it. One point of note: It now starts a little further down the pathway, with a little queue made of hay formed, which should help the batching into it. Creature Campus Only caught a glimpse of it due to how busy the night was, but it looks nice. The removal of the werewolves and vampires has meant they've brought the music into a more modern era, and it seems pretty cool. Will be watching properly tomorrow. Lucifer's Lair My absolute highlight of the night. There's a fire / dance show which is INCREDIBLE in my opinion. It's only 8 minutes long, but there's so much crammed in there that it felt twice the length (in the best possible way). The concept of the zone is perfect. The actors are fab. I expect I'll spend a lot of time round there this year. IT 4D Didn't watch. Will watch tomorrow. Little bit of theming dotted around the cinema. Is cool. This is a strong Fright Nights. Maze-wise, they do have 4 mazes which are good. And I will say this again as I have done in previous years: If you take any maze this year and put it in any other FN line up from before 2020, it would almost definitely be the highlight and best received. If not, it would rival Big Top, Ex10 or Asylum. That's the quality of the mazes on show. I don't think any of them are worth £10 still. The £5 mark would be best. £6-8 is reasonable. But beyond that is pushing it. And I think Thorpe are very formulaic now: pre-show, wander around highly themed sets in a linear fashion, flashy ending. It's another reason I like Survival Games so much: it breaks that formula. I hope we see something different next year. There's still stuff to iron out, and not all of it is for me, but I think this is again a good showing. I hope it stands the test of time for the event.

Tonight - BEST FRIGHT NIGHTS EVER Tomorrow - where did all the actors go?!

Thanks for the in-depth review JoshC Thorpe Park Fan. Have to say.... I don't really feel too bad about not doing Fright Nights this year. I think I did the same thing when Trailers was new and then went the next year when SG was new so the effort and expense was worthwhile I know this is unlikely to change, and keep repeating myself, but the £10 a maze fee I just can't entertain when every FN seems to be busy now as there are purposefully no "quiet days" meaning the likelihood of a "busy" run through in a massive group is always a risk. Plus I still feel burned by paying out for all the mazes last year, and nearly not getting them all done (by mere minutes). Impressed that Lucifer's Lair is evidently so good when it's not an upcharge. Bit of a shame there's no Death's Doors either this year, that was a fun - free - addition.

As are the park - the last car was lifted off the track at around 4pm this afternoon - unfortunately not giving enough time to open for the day guests but I’ve no doubt if it had been a 6 or later close it would have opened! The stalled train isn’t in the maintenance shed as of around 10pm tonight, I would guess they would hopefully be able to get it over there tomorrow and work on building it up tomorrow, I guess as you say the issue is when they can test it before the weekend! Im not sure why it would be closed, assuming there’s no issues with it testing tomorrow I’m certain it will be open!

With the VIP Preview Event tonight and opening tomorrow, it's that time once again to open up a spoilers thread... This thread remains open for general, non-spoiler discussion. Happy Fright Nighting!