JoshuaWAHH3

Honestly the graffiti has been bad all season- maybe for years. The amount of snapchat plugs, phone numbers advertising selling drugs, and the "call steve 4 a good time" is actually more thrilling than the ride itself. I do wonder if they'll ever fix the station.

Some post season thoughts: So I went to Tulleys again on the penultimate night- here is my closing thoughts on the event . Cellar: I believe this maze is on its last legs- it just blends with the other attractions too much for me. Really the weakest maze for me. Cottage/Hayride- I think hayride could do with a refresh. It has been the same in terms of most characters and sets for a few years- it has seen refreshes in the past, I think it needs another one very soon. It is a great and unique attraction though. Cottage is completely fine as is with a cult following now it seems. Chop: I think this is very fun, but obviously not everyone’s cup of tea. I think maybe a few extra actors and an extended buildup would be welcomed. It’s a great maze in my opinion Wastelands/Doom Town: amazing. Doom Town in particular gave me two killer run throughs, we had 3 jump scares within the first 15 seconds on one of them! Coven: I do think some of the walks between main sections could do with work- but it is a great maze with some unique ideas- the swamp, the fire finale, ect. VIXI: I think this space should be reworked- maybe half a hooded maze with some more maze sections. Not my thing. Electrick: This one I have the most thoughts on- I think it’s a very good attraction. It has brilliant Animatronics, soundtrack, and scares. Though I have heard people miss the silly and trippy atmosphere that Twisted had, as it was such a stark contrast to every other maze in the park- especially with the bright popping colors. Electric is a lot more dark and filled with strobe lights- which is cool, but I’ve heard people don’t find it as distinctive. They find it a little akin to other mazes. My overall biased opinion that I hope we see a more light hearted or a true clown maze appear next year- though ElecTrick is great by itself, I would call it more of a loose “clown maze”. I think also they should double down on reminding us they’re not clowns lol. But overall it’s certainly creepy in there, and I love things like the strobe filled actor runs. Overall a great year- these are just some thoughts I had after that night. Another thing I would like to mention is how I love the addition of the punk rock girls and the DJ. The street team this year really seemed to be slaying the other night- I saw all the characters while queueing at some point. Brian in particular was amazing, Romeo and Juliet was also a banger of an addition. The jokes were sharp and funny- I love the mix of new with the classics like The Nurses. The park also did a very consumer friendly move in my opinion and now make repeating haunts free with a Xscream pass- on a quiet night like the 4th, it was a godsend being able to do Wastelands and Doom 3x each. I did 15 run throughs+circus of horrors without fastrack on the 4th, which compared to the 4 attractions at Thorpe for £32, the £35-40 I paid felt more than worth it.

I think the sponge walls maybe are tighter because most of them are new. I know they used the same one for years, but last year they removed most of them because of covid, and now they are all being brought back (Island also has a horribly tight one alongside Electrick). I think with the theme of Electrick it is a little confusing- basically there is a bunch of clown costumes (the ones they wore in Twisted) scattered on the walls of the first section, which kind of sets the tone of the clowns being murdered. The mannequins also have the previous costumes on them as well. The electricians in this narrative are kind of posing as clowns, they took their paint, and some of what they wore. Most of them are in boiler suits though to reflect they are not clowns. The van at the end also has some text on it which lists an electrician company with the message "the electricians you can trust!". With the lighting and the costumes being above you, it is very easy to miss. Maybe next year they can highlight some of these details a little better and elaborate on the story a bit more. I do believe it is a little Survival Games esque though, scares first and theming generally comes second.

I remember in 2014 I am pretty sure I paid £20 for a backstage tour of Cabin, and £25 for Studio 13. I know that was a while back, but got that is one price bump. Also Survival Games probably is worse to tour than Trailers I bet- it barely has any theming, it is just a big black box with moving doors. I think the structure like the maze prices is horribly extortinate, and one of the reasons why I do not go to Fright Nights as much. I'd love to rerun some of these mazes, but for £32, no thanks. Especially for only 3 mazes when I live 5 minutes away from a park that charges £40 for 10 mazes.

Tulleys is my annual go-to Halloween event. Living 3 miles way, and being my local farm growing up- it has been intriguing to watch the farm turn into a mega scream park. When I started visiting in 2012 PR was minimal, there was 6 lowkey mazes, and it had no rides! It now feels gigantic! The park feels like a new kind of beast this year- it has a coaster now, and has a new haunt (10 now overall), and god is it a whole new world. I have visited every year, but this year I really felt it. This is the biggest scream park in the country, and maybe Europe. And it’s all on my doorstep! The Island: So with my current occupation, I don’t think I’m really qualified to fairly review this. The Island this year has been cut heavily in scale, but even with 1/3 of the maze gone, it still is a HUGE attraction spanning plenty of outdoor sections- I believe it needs tweaking but making it smaller this year was a smart move, as the attraction even now is of a pretty crazy length. Creepy Cottage: The OG- sure it’s not the most intense, the most long, or elaborate. But it’s such a fun maze that I’m glad returned. It truly is a living relic and shows just how much their mazes have evolved. It is a true haunted house. Hellements: Not my kind of thing. My partner liked it though! So to those people who are new to Tulleys- it can be surprisingly popular. Cellar: I had a meh run through- the cage bit was strong though, and the overall maze I think is a cool layout. I do believe it is on its last legs though. ElecTrick Circus: As someone who was in Twisted Clowns for 3 years, I absolutely shook with intrigue when I was told it was to be redone. Now ElecTrick layout wise uses a lot of Twisted’s blueprints- the actual path in 2/3 of the maze is actually the same layout, but you’d never know! It feels worlds apart from Twisted with mannequins, creepy music, erratic strobes, and "clowns". Twisted Clowns was a lot more humour and improvised- which I think was fun, but ultimately not very scary. Electrick certainly takes the tone from trippy and silly to serious and sinister, and I believe it is a really fun theme with its fairly misunderstood concept. To those who do not know, Electrick Circus is about a bunch of electricians who killed the clowns, and all the actors are not actually clowns! Previous nods to Twisted Clowns do remain in the attraction as easter eggs which is cool! Chop Shop: I really enjoyed this, and so did my partner! I think for anybody new to this event, Chop Shop is forever a bloody shock. He seemed so amused when the attraction just kept going with its chainsaws, it is truly a simple but completely chaotic experience. Sure I have been in this attraction dozens of times, dating back to its debut in 2015, but it always is a bit of fun. Hayride: Forever a icon at Tulleys, and this year it very much delivered as per usual. Some of the jokes this year hit very well with our group, and yeah. Its a very fun attraction. Doom Town: JESUS. Me and Will actually entered this first, as it did not have a queue for some reason. What a way to start a night! Doom Town is by far the best themed maze in the UK- I do not want to jump the gun, but I do not think another attraction in this country is as elaborate as this maze. It probably would wipe the floor with anything at HHN or events in Europe on the grounds of theming. It is stunning- armed with references, cars, a cinema, a blockbuster, a salon, a chinese, a church, and a zombie disco room. It just feels so complete, and so elaborate. Tulleys literally built an ENTIRE town for a maze. The sets are just detailed to the brim, it feels like more of an immersive experience than an Scare Maze. Now Doom Town may not be what you are expecting- it is very campy, has a very cool slick 80s theme, but I would say it is a lot more fun than scary. I do believe though that the maze is by far one of the best scare attractions in Europe, probably the world. One thing I really enjoyed as well was the use of scents- the smell pods felt very strong, and this is actually a new thing for Tulleys! I really hope we have more smell pods added throughout the event in the future- it makes the world class sets feel even more immersive. The music is also a joyous 80s guitar riff which just puts a smile to my face. Wastelands: Year number three for this attraction, and every run through just makes me wanna scream, or cry at the amazing design of this maze. Scares were constant, sets were beautiful, and the maze just feels so "busy" with actors always being close by. My partner's reaction was amazing- he is a hard nut to crack, but he seemed overwhelmed by the actors in the first few minutes. The first few rooms were really flowing with actors, and then when we hit the strobe maze he seemed to drop his jaw- he was shocked. It truly is a crazy moment, with the insane strobes, heavy rock music, and actors surrounding you from all angles. Probably my favourite maze at the park, but Doom Town honestly makes it a hard decision. Overall: Me and will had great interactions with the amazing street team, and we had a rocking night. I may be biased, but jesus it is a pretty rocking event. Doom Town, Electrick, and Wastelands make me very excited for what they do next.

I think one thing that is meant to be a perk of paid maze tickets is the luxury of not having to queue 2 hours to enter the attraction- obviously not.. Timed tickets should be a thing in my opinion, and they should be some leniency on how long it takes to get through the four mazes- it feels crazy to have paid tickets and not have some sort of timed order, or anyway of managing the queue times. Scarefest sure has problems, but I never queued more than 25 minutes for a maze, so a hour+ would really p*ss me off, especially when the mazes do not live up to their prices. Your critques of Survival Games is very potent and true- my friend thought it was a pile of sh**, while I really enjoyed it as I was sent in circles for 10 minutes. He basically got out on his first try, so did not see half the maze, and did not want to give another £10 for a potential other bad run through. I also am worried about the queues during Half Term- if there is 2 hour queues for SG now, imagine how bad it will be in Half Term. When you've paid too much money for mazes that are not really worth the price, queueing hours for them will anger the masses in ways I pity their complaints team..

In hindsight for Fright Nights, I would like to outline some things that really stuck out for me when I visited: Scarezones: These I thought were class- my friends and I found ourselves really enjoying these. Death Doors was way more fun that expected, The Crows of Mawkin Meadow scared us more than any of the mazes did, and Creek Freak Unchained harassed me throughout the entire park. Graduation Sucks I believe is also a pivotal attraction for the park, the show is cool and the interactions with younger guest stood out. It is not scary, but a lot of the younger guests were loving chatting to the actors- it is a perfect tamer-side scare zone. Legacy and Birthday Bash compliment the scare zones well- I believe the atmosphere around the park is actually good with this stuff. Maybe it is a little nostalgia when looking back at past years? Theming has been very light since like 2013- though the soundtracks and music around the park was crap though, so that is a fair comment. But I would argue the park has more atmosphere than it has in a while, especially when you have a bunch of scare zones scattered around. In previous years they have been dead set on the mazes and nothing else, I do appreciate Fright Nights giving us some nice scare zones and shows- that is WAY more than Towers is offering. The Mazes: This is what lets the event down a little for me- you have a really strong maze in Creek Freak, and a fun but a little short maze in Survival Games, and a meh one. Do not get me started on Terminal. This lineup for me is really just okay- it gets worse when I paid £32 for it. I found the scare zones stole the show this year, and they were free! I think charging £32 for quite short mazes with varying quality is simply not worth it, and you are better off just visiting another event for the same price if you are deadset on mazes. I think if the prices were lowered I would be less pissed, but I felt my £32 purchase was one that I kind of regret, I do not think £8 (that is discounted) was spent well with Terminal, I think Thorpe are pricing their audience away from them with Scare Mazes, especially those hardcore into them. There is plenty of other events in the neighbourhood and Survival Games is fun but it is not a very layered attraction- in particular with its theming. £32 can not be justified. So overall, I think this is the best Merlin event this year for Halloween. It does have its problems, mostly with pricing with the mazes. But I do think the Scare Zones really made me enjoy this year.

The Howl is a fairly new event- debuting in 2015 in Leighton Buzzard, it has slowly became more and more known amongst the community. It is the sister park to Shocktoberfest, so it shares a lot of DNA with its brother. I first visited in 2015 on opening night- I found it to be very fun and had an AMAZING street team, though with its mazes it very much was very similar to Shocktoberfest, which meant that if you had been to Shocktober, you generally knew what to expect. 7 years on, and the event has grown and evolved into its own thing. This year it felt like a total different place to how it was in 2015, it was amazing to see the growth and its unique quirks that it has developed over the past 7 years. One thing I would like to comment on first about The Howl is that I believe it is great value for money- I paid about £30 for entry, which sounds like a lot. But at Towers and Thorpe you are looking at £32 minimum for 3-4 mazes, but for £30 you get 6 at The Howl. I also believe the roaming team are amongst the best in the country- the characters are now completely different to Shocktoberfest's, but keep a lot of the wit and charm, and made me laugh in between mazes. RED: Red is a small maze- it has a pretty small building, and lasts only a few minutes. Despite this it manages to cram in so many scares in that short time period. It reminds me of a little of Creepy Cottage if it took steroids. It has a great puppet moment, and some brilliant masks mixed in with a cast who harass you. The maze is short, but jesus it packs in so much it completely makes up for it. Attic: This maze has some beautiful theming- I love the use of levels and it has a few genius moments for scares. The actual Attic section itself is brief though intense, and certainly is a quirky moment that'll stick it out from the other mazes. The cast were more than lively too! Toppers Twister: I love clown mazes- I love the interactions, the freedom for the actors, and the contrasting colors to other mazes. Clown mazes always stick out to me, and forever have a place in my heart. Toppers Twister is a very good clown maze- it has a great trommel tunnel, some weird sets like a ball pit, and a pretty tried and tested finale- a true tulleys hat trick. The cast were very lively, full of wit, and seemed to be having a fun time- being in a clown maze is also a fun time. If you're not scared of clowns, you'll still get some laughs and fun out of this. Its a solid maze that oozes joy. Howl Valley High: First off can I comment on the theming? This maze is SO well themed it feels like a complete new chapter for the mazes at The Howl with its sets. I also love the theme, it is fairly unique in my opinion, and is a very cool concept. The cast were very interactive and lively, and in the second half became increasingly more threatening and scary. I feel the maze is a really good addition, and I cannot wait to see how it evolves over the years, and the future of new mazes at this event. The Shed: This maze is the same as it was in 2015, but I do not mind as it was great then, it is still great. I love some of the outdoor sets, and its use of hiding spots and holes for actors to come out of nowhere. There was also a moment where I saw 5 actors in one room, which was pretty amazing and equally scary as hell. Squealers Yard: Now, all of The Howl's mazes are good/great, but Squealers is by far the crown jewel in my opinion. It is the longest on park, the most varied with its sets, the most intense in my opinion, and even confusing at one point with a crazy room that ruin your sense of direction. The ending also is savage for people like me who have a certain fear. The maze even had some good comedy in the first half, which just is the cherry on the cake. Overall I would say the lineup is very equal- no maze stood out as bad, and a lot of them had very spread out queues due to this. I had an amazing night there, and I have not even mentioned the Circus Of Horrors! But yeah it is a very solid event, and great for those who are north of London and a little too far from Shocktoberfest

I think the lineup was shaky before this year, but after Duel, Nemesis, and now Enterprise closing- I can safely say Alton Towers have a terrible lineup. If they do not keep the retrosquad god help them- I feel bad for poor Galactica just sitting in the back of the park with.. The Blade when it decides to operate with it.

I was eh on this year's event, let me review it deeper. The Terminal: This was awful- a waste of £10. It looks bad, it is boring, and has the worst ending to a scare attraction? I like how they are trying something new, but when charging £10 you would expect something fully realized, but The Terminal is a failed experiment and the queueline tonight reflected it. The ending feels like some sort of crappy self help book. Being told to appreciate my friends in a scare attraction? I think if they are to experiment again, maybe make it free timed tickets? I am very sure anyone paying for this did not end the attraction feeling like their £10 was money well spent.. Just poor. Trailers: With the setup I really believe they could of mixed a room up or two, but it is the same, and it looks pretty. My main problem with it from last year is still there- it is simply not scary to me, and this year it felt even less scary as it had seemingly less actors. it just lacks a punch to it, with Trailers I never quite get into my flight or fight- I can't quite word it. I think the summer edition of this maze was WAY better as they used it more for laughs and made it way more camp. But yeah, Meh. CF: I love this maze- actors always seem to know how to work the space and it feels like it is designed for the actors and not against them. The maze was intense as per usual, with buckwheats always being within sight in this attraction. It felt full, busy, and was fun. I have done this quite a few times so I generally know it pretty well now- but I can say it retains the position of being a really good maze. Survival Games: First off I know this has been mentioned by another, low-key superior Josh. But how did this cost so much? The theming does not exist- it is too dark honestly to even see the set, and generally the theming is a oil barrel or two. In ways I do wonder if Thorpe are falling behind a little on the theming front- just look at Doom Town or some of the mazes at Xtreme Scream. Despite this though- Survival Games is a really fun maze, it has a pocket sized Sub Species vibe to it. Seperation, dark rooms, touching. It very much reminds me of Sub Species- which is a positive. I think its honestly a really strong maze for the event, and I hope they can expand on it. I really liked Thorpe Park tonight- but I believe Terminal and Trailers need changing. I also found paying +£30 for 3 mazes and a shipping container with headphones a little too much. With an entry fee I have seen my friends spend too much money on one day- it also kicks that you only get one through, and if you want more you have to pay out even more. The scarezones though were great, and brought much joy. All four were great in their own ways- the high school in Amity seemed to really please families and seemed like some mild fun, the door knocking scare zone was actually a brilliant idea for a scare zone and ended up being something we did while walking across the park- we loved it! So yeah, it was a great night. But I do wonder if the pricing is a little extortinate. + points for good ride ops tonight as well

Tbf the 3D was kind of gimmicky to be fair- when going through as a guest I never wore the glasses, and when acting inside I believe the sets were trippy enough without the use of 3D. I hope they have kept some of the UV lights, the heavy use of UV and the trommel tunnel I can hope gets carried to the next gen

The company who are behind the scenes of Shocktoberfest, Frightmare, Halloscream, and The Howl all kind of oppose touch scares. I guess from what I've seen at Alton it can be a great thing, but at Thorpe it has never really phased me or enhanced the experience. I think it depends on the attraction at hand, maybe Hellements would be well suited? Basically the reason of oppose is due to touching guests and being that close to them is a risk for the actors- if someone is drunk or reacts wrongly, it could cause more incidents than its worth. So I am unsure they'd ever take the dip. Doom Town though is extremely interesting though- I love the 80s vibe it brings, and zombies has not been done really by Tulleys surpisingly! I think the game and perhaps 80s tint could bring some freshness, I do have no idea what this attraction shall look like, but I am excited to find out. Electrick circus remains my current intruige of the day- I cannot wait to see the next generation of Tulley's clown maze.

So I actually really admire Thorpe this year with their lineup- I actually after the reveals am excited to slot a visit in between Tulleys. I feel Creek Freak returning was a good move- I think its a stellar attraction and deserves to return. The scare zones also look like a lot of fun, the new door based one looks awesome, even if it just is a bunch of easter eggs with a few actors, it sounds like a fun little attraction. The other two are also very fun, and bring a bit of atmosphere to the park outside of the main mazes. For the Terminal I do believe it is going to be interesting- I kind do not presume VR, but maybe a maze completely based on sound- I have no idea how this attraction will work, but honestly sounds very outside of the box, and I certainly commend Thorpe with trying something completely new. Even if it fails, Thorpe tried something unique. Survival Games remind me of Sub Species/Cabin, I love multi route mazes and if it takes things as extreme as Sub Species I'd be shocked. But it could be a kickass maze- I am guessing it is going to be pretty big. I hope they really play on seperation here and touch scares. Cabin was a bit mild compared to Sub Species, so I hope they ramp up the multi route/seperation aspect of it all, also provide us with good theming which I am sure they will. Trailers, honestly I have mixed opinions. I went to Thorpe at the best time probably, at an event of 200-250ish people. So generally the mazes were at the most optimal. Even with low group sizes and optimal conditions, oh my Trailers did not scare me at all. Platform left me running every run through, I went through CF alone 3 times and got chased by the roamers after being chased out of the main maze itself. Both left me wanting more, but Trailers- it just did not do much for me. Even in a group of 3. I think the problem is the overall concept- it is highly unique, but honestly the way the maze is designed is really bad for impact scares. I found myself watching some of the actors more than interacting at points too- kind of like they were acting out scripted stuff instead of engaging with us. This in a maze can be good in moderation, but after a while it gets boring. Breakout at Bozo's though flips the script- is is not scary, but is a utter joy to walk through. Laced with a few good impacts (using the few impact oppertunities they have to properly startle me), and plenty of great interactions and laughs. I hope they make trailers more like this- this was immense fun and having a slightly less scary maze would be fun. With CF and the new maze probably being pretty scary, I do think having a more mild fun maze would not go amiss.

I went recently and experienced the carnival event and overall- I liked it. I usually slate Thorpe Park, but besides some bugbears, I was impressed. The carnival section itself is fun- I love the popcorn and candy floss on sale, all the performers and interactions. I believe some of the roamers were really getting into it. I do believe potentially it would be good to have some more spread out across the park, as having all the actors in one spot kind of limits the interaction possibility. It also is a bit of an obscure section of the park to walk through. I had to really 'detour' to go through it. Ride ops were good, Nemesis Inferno impressed me the most by a long way. The trains at one point seemed to not even stack at all, literally as soon as you're near the holding break the other train just flies away. The crew on their deserved a medal that day. I decided to give Trailers: Breakout at Bozo's a go, and here is some thoughts. I wasn't really fully sold on the original Trailers- I loved the concept, but it never seemed to hit the spot with me. I think for me it was the maze seemed to lack impact scares, and also a bit of a 'kick'- it just did not get anything out of me. The sets were brilliant though, and the actors were lively. It just was missing a 'spark', it did not give much humour to be funny, but it didn't scare me in the slightest either barring a moment or two. I felt more like I was observing actors at points rather than being in a live experience with actors. Breakout At Bozo's completely turned this round for me- the maze has adopted a very silly tone, it does not take itself seriously- I love it. Anyway here is some spoilers Thorpe really impressed me with this maze- I love what they did with trailers, and the cast were stunningly good. Funny, fast witted, and also smart with grabbing scares in between fits of laughing.

So ElecTrick Circus has been announced- Twisted's replacement. The maze probably will include shock panels similar to the volt, and has seemingly a very cool concept and a refreshing twist on the Tulleys Clown Maze, which has been warping and evolving since 2009 now. I love how they're making their clown maze editions unique. I believe the entire thing has been rebuilt probably with a new layout and very much its own thing. RIP Twisted Clowns though! A new haunt will be announced on Friday, with an advertised 10 scare rating. This is going to be very interesting having a whole new attraction from the ground up. I can't wait to be able to explore both as a guest or potentially an actor.