Fright Nights 2026 - 25 Years of Fear

Yeah yeah it's only February, but whatever.

2026 will be marketed, in some way, as 25 Years of Fright Nights. Thorpe have done a few things for 'big' / 'notable' anniversaries for FN:

-10 years, 2011: Experiment 10

-15 years, 2016: Platform 15, roaming actors inspired by old mazes

-20 years, 2021: Trailers, Legacy, Birthday Bash

-21 years, 2022: Legacy, Birthday Bash

So what will 25 years bring us?

The end of Fright Nights 2025 did nod to 25 Years of Fear with a short video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/843542461548792

Lucifer, the headline character for 2025, is speaking with 'someone / something' and telling them to "give them hell", whilst handing over a "top secret" document about Fright Nights. That at the very least suggests there will be some new headline character / Disciple of Fear for the 2026 addition (which is something the park have done for a few years now).

Personally, I think it would be a mistake to take the focus away from Lucifer. That was a near-perfect headline character for the event: clear Halloween association, simple and effective and a character guests could actually meet. Keep that character there yearly and continue to have it as a focal point / marketing piece, and it will go from strength to strength. The only thing I'd look at changing is developing the character away from "Lucifer" to an original demon, which the park could trademark, etc.

But heyho, the park will have already had thoughts about 2026 and it seems like they're going in a different direction.

Another interesting thing to note is that 2026 will be the first year that Thorpe's Entertainments team / actors have been outsourced (in a similar way to the rest of the UK Merlin parks). So it will be interesting what effect that has on the event.

As for what I'd like to see in terms of a line up...

I have two parallel pieces of thinking. What I think will happen and what I want to happen.

What I think will happen is that we'll see an existing maze replaced. I think 4 upcharge mazes is a natural peak for how busy the park is and what people will realistically pay.

I don't know what one. Survival Games I think could be the one on the chopping block, despite its changes last year. The large space it occupies gives Thorpe a lot of room to work with.

I'm a bit split on whether they'll use The Launchpad as a Fright Nights space. Before the announcement I thought it'd be nailed on that they'd move Lucifer's Lair, on some upgrade of it, there. But with the announcement that it'll be treated primarily as a rest spot, they might keep it like that and have it as a Fright Nights free zone.

If they do put a scare zone / show there, they need to go all out with it, as it won't have as much natural footfall as the other locations.

As for what I want to happen. Thorpe, as I've said before on here, are very safe with their current mazes. They've got a variety of themes, some of which are quite different, but the style of the mazes is the same - pre show, walk around highly themed sets in a linear fashion and get jump scares. There's many other ways in which a scare maze can be created. In fact, Thorpe used to be one of the most pioneering for doing things differently, but that did sometimes come at the cost of quality.

They've got a strong enough core and reputation of quality that they can afford to take a risk and do something different. My big want is an alone experience - doesn't have to be Face it Alone extreme. But looking at what Walibi Holland offer with their alone experiences, something like that fits perfectly for Thorpe. I doubt that'll ever happen though.

So something different to the 'free flow linear jump scare route'. Anything. It will take some work and some tweaking. But do it right, and it'll be the best thing they can do for the event.