With the Launch Event tonight for Fright Nights, all spoilers for 25 Years of Fear here!

Follow along your favourite Thorpe Park dedicated fansite for all the best coverage!

Very weird year at Fright Nights this year, on paper it should be very strong. (More scare zones/shows and a new maze).

It is not strong and possibly very weak.

A good line up has had to come with sacrifices which are:

The removal of a free walkthrough which was pretty long in favour of a paid attraction.

Tenement is good concept and great to see another scare maze at the event. The issue is its location, it’s used a l good space for a long scare zone. There are a few other places it could have gone but would have required a bit more ground work. More mazes are good but I cannot pay for mazes every visit, so I normally do one visit doing them all once and that’s it. I relied on the crows to give me the scare and in its new location, it’s so so short you just don’t get the same experience. To me the current location feels like it’s just been put there with no thought other than they need less actors. There are multiple pathways they’d could have used as a walk through but they decided to cram it in under nemesis inferno. Deaths doors was pretty short but it was extended by the fact you had to knock on each one. The queue was massively long for a 30 second experience, it was very annoying.

Lucifiers lair has had the load split up between it and rebel ball

Lucifers lair should have just been moved to the launchpad with the same entertainment and that be it. Not remove the entertainment from lucifers lair and then create rebel ball and I’m not really sure what the show is about or what the actors are??? It’s not really the hub of the event and I thought it would be more scare zone when teased how good the launch pad was for events. It’s just random, Lucifiers lair is very very boring and actors were hardly out.

Seperate note, trailers is a shell of its former self. One actor per room and they just have a maze host inside the foyer scene. It just needs to go, it relies on having multiple actors per room

I also visited press night this year - will probably make a video on it at some point but just need a place to yap to compose my thoughts so feel like this is a great place to do so.

Rebel Ball

It's... fine? Very awkward, but fine. Events are really the magnum opus of Launchpad and Fright Nights has definitely given it some much needed purpose. It's nice to have a bit of a central hub for Fright Nights and Launchpad works quite well for it. The stage should be a permanent thing year-round as well imo as it really does transform that space, but that's a whole other conversation.

Lucifer's Lair

Now this feels very, very awkward this year. Perhaps it would've worked better at Launchpad and kinda had it revolving between the dance shows at certain points of the day? No stage setup, no real prescence - and especially during the press event where Ghost Train was closed, it felt very dark and almost out of place? No fire, no real lighting or anything from what I can remember. It kinda just feels like having roaming actors based around the food vendors rather than a scarezone. I think Thorpe could've done away with this this year to be completely honest. If it's planned to be the same scenario again in 2027, it's better to just can it imo.

The Crows

I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on this, but think its new space is really nice. It's really well themed, but obviously much smaller than the old site where Tenement is for this year. From a money making standpoint of course it makes sense for The Crows to be downscaled in place of an upcharge attraction - I really can't fault Thorpe for that. The Crows are still as impactful as ever and they've definitely made the most of the space under Inferno - much moreso than Deaths Doors ever did. As disappointing as it is on a whole to have one of the strongest things in recent years at Fright Nights be downscaled like this (I still think The Crows need a proper maze), I'm just glad that they've returned again this year and I really hope they continue to return indefinitely.

Purgatory Town

Again, this feels pretty awkward. It's nice to have an open scarezone for free interaction with scare actors, but this year compared to last year you can really tell that cuts have been made. Last year there was various bits of theming scattered throughout Big Easy Boulevard... this year, not so much. I get a lot of the theming last year was moreso to do with IT 4D (which obviously hasn't returned for this year's event, so makes sense to no longer have the Derry theming in BEB), but none of the theming has been updated to be in keeping with the new Conjuring 4D experience this year even. Something as simple as low-laying fog on the ground and a few hay bales would transform this area entirely.

Trailers

Really, really needs to go. I was a fan of Trailers in its first year, but became real stale real quick. No amount of new scenes will fix the real issue with this maze - the size. It's quite a big footprint, but even so, they're trying to pack waaaaaaay too much into it. You can take in the whole room in each scene the second you step into it, therefore you can easily see where the actors will lurk and jump out at you which makes this maze not even remotely scary. I don't think I jumped a single time this year, despite the actors best efforts. The new scenes stick out like a sore thumb too, because all the old scenes look really bloody tired. If you're going to add new scenes into the maze, spruce up the old ones too. A lick of paint here, a few bits of prop rejigging there. By all means keep the scenes the same if you really have to, but at least move things around to keep things interesting for returning guests. The weakest maze at this year's event - and not even just by a little bit either.

Stitches

Still pretty good, but missing a few elements this year by the looks of things. On my runthrough at least, the curtains were closed where the old bungee actor was - and there was a distinct lack of smoke/haze throughout the attraction. I say it every time, but it's more of an eerie maze for me personally rather than an overly scary one. A good maze, but not one that I would be particularly interested in queuing any significant amount of time for.

Survival Games

The second year of the linear version of the maze as opposed to the freeflow maze when it first debuted. Last year Survival Games felt super sloppy and disjointed - lots of the freeflow parts of the maze were still strewn around so it was easy to get lost and accidentally skip parts of the linear maze. This year it feels like it's been tightened a hell of a lot. I didn't get lost once, and the actors inside there are still not opposed to getting hands on whenever the opportunity arises. A bit of an unpopular opinion from me I think, but I personally prefer the medical storyline of new-era SG than I did the social media platform. The social media storyline was hideously cringe and a blatant Hunger Games ripoff, whereas the new version is a lot more typically horror maze themed. Granted, swapping out something unique for something generic is usually a bad thing, but I think it works in their favour in this particular case. I do think Survival Games is nearing the end of its life now though - again, it's a massive space that unfortunately is quite underutilised in this version of the maze. As a freeflow maze it was fine, but does a linear maze really need a space this big? Especially when for the most part the theming inside of there is quite sparce. If it wasn't for the actors making this experience much more intense, it would probably be even weaker than Trailers. Plus it's also a shame to have the cages and splitting up of your group being removed - that was the highlight of Survival Games for me when I first experienced it.

Deadbeat

Ugh. I feel like I'm in the minority here when I say that I just do not like Deadbeat at all. It's a unique concept and the theming and scale of some of the rooms are impressive, but that's about where my compliments end for this one. Most of the rooms feel like copy-paste duplicates of other rooms previous, and the story is super tenuous. I don't know if Fright Nights have some sort of ban on actors using bungee cords this year, but the crawling actor on the ceiling also wasn't there in my runthrough which was disappointing, because again that was one of the best bits of the maze in previous years. Unfortunately as one of the newest mazes at the park I'm sure it'll continue to appear for at least another 3/4 years, but I wouldn't be opposed to it going entirely. Not a fan of this one whatsoever.

Tenement

Really, really bloody good. Packed with really cool illusions and effects and the usage of the torches and how they flicker and turn off at various points in the experience is really cool as well. Using audio and lighting triggers (very Halloween Horror Nights influenced, I see you Thorpe Park!!) as opposed to actors adlibbing their lines in this maze is really sweet to see as well and is really well done. The actors weren't 100% on the ball with the lines/timing on my runthroughs... but obviously this was at press night and before the event even began, so I'm certain as the event progresses this will no longer be an issue. I'd imagine the actors are kind of learning on the job with this one rather than being able to fully rehearse it in sufficient time. The exterior absolutely suuuuuuucks though, don't get me wrong. An attempt was made to theme the outside with a scrim, but to be honest it looks really tacky and I think I would've just preferred nothing at all rather than a half-assed inbetween thing. Maybe they're working on a better exterior like the one utilised over at Stitches to be implemented later on in the event - but even if not for this year, I hope we see something like that for next year's event when it inevitably returns. If there's still no proper exterior this time next year, it's just blatant laziness. It's a technologically ambitious effort from Thorpe Park and inevitably had its fair share of hiccups on the leadup to the event as a result, so I'd imagine no time was left to construct a better looking exterior (or to put a ceiling inside of the maze - being able to look up and see the roof of the tent is kinda immersion breaking too). But thankfully what it lacks in exterior theming and a lack of ceiling inside, it makes up for with its great effects, illusions and scares. By far the strongest maze at Thorpe Park (and probably my favourite maze I've ever done at the park!) and I think has significantly better staying power than mazes like Trailers where its age has clearly gotten the better of it.

I didn't get a chance to experience the new Creature Campus show or Conjuring 4D experience so far this year, but hopefully I find some time to check it out as some point this season.

With the new ents company fully taking over Fright Nights this year, you can really tell which areas feel lacking compared to others. Some areas are really high quality and some areas are the total opposite - opposed to previous years at Fright Nights where everything was sort of just 'alright'. A pretty good event on the whole, but certainly a lot of questionable decisions were made this year where the park kinda just threw everything into the pot when in reality some cuts probably should've been made (such as Lucifer's Lair) and reinvested elsewhere. Sometimes less is more, and I would much rather have not as many attractions but have them all be high quality and actually adding something to the event, rather than a few heavy hitters with some totally mediocre things thrown into the mix.

So I've taken some time to think before I do my write up. I usually do one the night of (or morning after) the Launch Event on Thursday. My schedule meant I didn't have the opportunity. I then did mazes again on Sunday. So I've got a good vibe for Fright Nights now.

I think the headline is, unfortunately, simple. Fright Nights isn't as strong as it has been the last couple of years in particular. For those who maybe have only done Fright Nights, say, in the 2020s, I could understand if their view was it was their weakest Fright Nights yet. That wouldn't be something I'd necessarily agree with. But I could understand.

I'll get into ins and outs of that later. For now, let's get into the attractions.

Tenement

I've done this a couple of times now. The maze is very consistent, in that it is very story-driven and has the same scares designed into it. Lots of show scares, and perhaps slightly HHN in style.

There's a lot of tech inside too. There's a reversing wall, doors opening by themselves, lights, audio, etc, plus the torches of course.

My runs during the Launch Event weren't as good. The maze was light, the torches added little. On Sunday, it was better: very dark, the torches added more, etc.

There's a couple of good scare moments throughout, but it is a lot more atmospheric then jump scary. There's a few scenes which are passive in that you watch stuff happen to actors. It works for some, but not others.

One thing I don't like is that actors lip sync to audio. It creates an awkward experience at times. It also means actors can't direct guests appropriately - I've yet to go through the crawl tunnel because everyone goes through the wheelchair route. So that could have been better designed.

The best thing about Tenement is that it is very different to the other Thorpe mazes. That's what Thorpe needed, and something I was crying out for. It needs tweaks and fine tuning, but hopefully it will work out.

I'm concerned by the amount of tech involved and if it'll last. I'm unsure if the style will hold up each time and if actor numbers will continue to hold up. On top of that, the story is a little lost and confused, and the Luxivora concept is missed a bit as a result. Some of the masks for them don't look great.

DeadBeat

A surprise favourite for me this year.

There's no changes beyond the scrapping of the flying actor.

I'm still not big on the pre-show, but the maze is 'fun scary'. It's got a decent cast. I think the fact that I've never rated this one but it is my favourite speaks a lot though.

Trailers

You know what, people moan about how long this has been around. But it still does the job. Over half the maze has, slightly, changed. It's a good starter maze and works. It's a shame they can't have chainsaws in the building anymore.

The new scene is themed to MBV. It's a missed opportunity as it could be more claustrophobic and the miner could have more props to bang on.

Survival Games

No real changes, beyond new videos.

This is a shell of its former self. The current set up is too long and repetitive, with not enough actors. It verges on boring.

It's time for this to go. The space could be used much more effectively. In fact, I'd argue it could have been a great place for Tenement to go.

Lucifer's Lair

I've seen a lot of people talk about how this area has suffered from "cut backs". I think the actual fact is a lot more nuanced.

What has effectively happened is Lucifer's Lair has been split into two, with the stage moving to the Launchpad for Rebel Ball. I'll get there later.

But last year, if you removed the main stage from Lucifer's Lair, you'd have the small stage with cages, some flame poles and the actors. This year, the flame poles haven't returned. So in some sense, there is very minimal cut back (in theory).

But the trouble is, the stage was the focal point of Lucifer's. Lots of shows, from Lilith, the stunt show, the live band and, of course, the mega fire and dance show. Even between all that, the speakers from the stage would play music. But now, there's nothing. It's just the actors roaming around with nothing to work with.

The actors work their socks off and are brilliant, mind you. I feel for them so much when they have so little to work with.

But yeah, Lucifer's has gone from the crown jewel of Fright Nights (for the past 3 years running), to a floppy pancake.

Rebel Ball

This is frustrating. The idea isn't bad, using the Launchpad as a central hub and having something a bit more friendly than Lucifer's for it (meaning that people who dislike scares can still use it as a relaxing spot). But it misses the mark a lot.

No mega dance and fire show. Big fire shows have been a thing at FN since 2021, so they have lost that. Yes, they have dance shows with fire, but they're shorter and minimal. The opening ceremony largely being based are the promo video feels a bit lazy. The other small dance shows have AI videos in the background.

There are other shows there - fire performers, dancers, etc. But there's no times listed, so complete potluck if you see it. Sometimes the Wolf DJ is out with dancers, other times, not at all.

This could have been so much more.

The Crows

There's no getting round it, it's a lot shorter than before. And they could have made it more twisty and maze-like. Perhaps they wanted to keep it open to reduce the need for plain-clothed staff / security, which had been a bugbear for some from previous years?

It's fine and does the job. It's nicely done and the Crows as characters are brilliant. But it simply doesn't hit the same highs as previous years.

Creature Campus

Another fun show.

They dialled back the storytelling elements this year compared to the last two. To be honest, it's too dialled back as they basically completely ignore all the previous story (if all the other characters were defeated / killed, how have they come back for a 25 year reunion?). But heyho, it brings it all back I guess.

It does very much feel like the end of road for this now. It's been at the park as a dance show since 2019, and I think they've milked the story enough. With Rebel Ball being more family friendly, I think that can replace that gap now.

Purgatory Town

Aside from the Tarot Desk (which was added later in the event), I think the amount of theming is the same here? It's as it was last year, so it does the job and will get some viral TikToks.

Conjuring 4D

Good to have a new film. Maybe not as good as the IT 4D highlight reel, but still the perfect add on to Fright Nights. The screening I watched on Sunday (6pm) was completely full with people turned away.

As a side note, though, it is rated 15. WHY was there multiple children clearly under 15 in there? They'd get turned away at an actual cinema. Why were they not turned away there? At least two of them also left mid-way through the screening too...

25 Years of Fear

Big issue number one. The park made a lot during marketing about it being 25 Years of Fear. There were lots of high expectations as a result. On park, you wouldn't know that the park were celebrating a self-proclaimed anniversary (is 25 really a big deal?). Does feel like they set themselves up for a fall.

Buying Tickets

If you're on park and want to buy a ticket for a maze, what do you think you should do? Scan a QR code? Go to the app?

Nope, both of those options don't exist. You have to either:

-Go to the Fastrack kiosk (not clear at all, and can get busy)

-Go to the Thorpe Park website on your phone, and click through christ knows how many screens

Why is it so difficult? Don't you want to sell tickets?

Speaking of the app, it's a shame there's no FN overlay this year.

RWS

Now this is the big talking point. Ents has been outsourced to RWS. They're a huge company. They do stuff all over the world, including Disney. It's meant that Tenement was designed and built/contracted out by them (I believe one of the main designers for Tenement is based in the US). Lots has been made of Merlin's decision to outsource that, and the job changes it's made for people.

Ultimately, though, it shouldn't really have affected the guest experience. But it has.

First one to note, and it's minor, is that the maze hosts are employed by RWS. They have their own uniforms. Or at least, they're meant to. Apparently they hadn't arrived last weekend, so they were dressed in black and with RWS lanyards. Some staff were wearing black clothes with logos on, such as HHN merch.

It just didn't scream professional. I don't see why they can't just wear Thorpe uniform (like Aramark and OCS do).

On that note too, on Sunday, there was an actor stood outside the exit of Survival Games who was talking with the chainsaw actor in between groups. If it was an important conversation, at least go into the exit? Hugely unprofessional, and something I've never witnessed before anywhere.

Next thing to talk about is actor numbers. There are less of them this year. That's caused some mazes (SG, Trailers in particular) to suffer. I expect there will be more issues as the event progresses. It's a real shame.

Simply put the transition between Fright Nights being done by Thorpe to being done by RWS hasn't been smooth. Which is a shame, as the event has suffered as a result. Hopefully things improve.

Bottom Line

Fright Nights is still good. I think there's been some over-reactions floating about online about it's huge dip in quality. But it's definitely not lived up to the highs it's had the last few years, or the push the park put out there. It's a shame. I really hope it is just a blip and not a sign of things to come.

I'd still recommend going, but set expectations accordingly.