25 years of Thorpe Park Fright Nights, the event has changed so much since our first few visits in 2018/2019. Forever missing the free mazes kind of days. However, 2026 is a bit of a weird year we had a few hours at the park and tried to embrace as much as we could. So, let’s have a chat!
Ride Availability:
Ride operations & availability weren’t the poorest nor the best we’ve seen. There were a lot of ups and downs in terms of ride closures. We managed to ride Hyperia, and Ant managed to ride Stealth. It wasn’t extremely busy but had waves of high queue times then that dropped it weren’t very consistent all in all.
Scare Mazes:
We didn’t get the opportunity to experience them all so we kind of chose what we enjoyed last year and were semi-confident it would deliver again. For passholders singular entry into mazes is £7 during 3-7pm and after £9. You can’t complain at that price. The queues for the mazes were all absolutely empty which really surprised us. We’ve never seen these queues without a soul in sight and that was as the evening was getting on. This year’s offering included the brand new mazes Tenement. However, let’s talk about the mazes we did do!
*SPOILERS HERE ON*
Trailers – 5/5
Honestly, this truly has to be THE strongest run-through we’ve ever had. But before getting into the positives it’s a shame the pre-show aspect has been dropped. It really did begin the story and theme of the maze beautifully before it was missed but if that was your first time experiencing it you more than likely would have never noticed but for us it did feel like a loss. However, heading into the maze itself and wow. We were at the back of the group and the actors just went off I got absolutely bullied the entire run and had some of the greatest jumps this season. Some of the highlight rooms were Bojos Play Zone what a scene. That mirror scare was something else I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in full swing until this time around and I genuinely nearly fell through the floor. Then the same actor got me again! The actors made sure I weren’t left alone until completely out of that room. That was the ongoing pattern. The My Bloody Valentine (I presume) section was brilliant so nice to see a fresh scene yet again. Creek Freak Massacre scene unfortunately felt a bit lusterless as it was one actor working the entire group and it felt as if there should have been more. The 8 Dolls was creepier than usual as the actual actor was already out but followed me through the entire room and was creepily laughing it was horrendous. All in all, Trailers absolutely delivered. Yes, you can tell some rooms lacked actors compared to previous years however the actors in each room were effortlessly some of the best we’ve encountered this year so far. They worked the group so extremely well, they made sure you had every last second of what they could offer right until your foot stepped outside their room. I have never truly known Trailers to ever be quite that level of good. It was tremendous and hats off to every single cast member in there for simply being immaculate at their jobs.
Dead Beat – 3.5/5
I do feel as if we did not have the fairest of runs of this maze unfortunately. There was security lingering prior to and following all the way through with torches therefore it definitely did impact the run & lost that immersion. As we entered and passed around 2/3 rooms before even encountering a single actor. Is that unintentional or cutbacks I’m not too sure. I really enjoy the whole aspect of this maze; there are a lot of clever hidden holes for scares, the smells are rank throughout, it’s loud and intense visually and there are some really respectable effects throughout. However, the entire maze just felt worlds apart from last year. It felt quite lacklustre and as if nothing was happening until near the end. Those final few rooms were fierce; the scares those actors went for it, especially during that finale. It saved the maze the whole finale. As I said maybe it wasn’t the fairest of chances we had for Dead Beat as last year it was amazing but then it might be just how it is this year given the rest of Fright Nights.
Scare Zones:
The Crows- 3/5
Right, this is a bit of an odd one to talk about. The Crows have essentially become Fright Nights they are the staple characters I always come to when thinking of this event. They are truly revolting to look at with their costumes and masks there’s nothing quite as haunting as those images. However, this year felt very different. Firstly, we found them around the Hyperia plaza and walked through and had 3 around me. Turned around and spotted them huddled in a circle having a general chat… I thought that was weird and the crows don’t usually let their characters slip to even speak to each other in our experiences before. Their scare zone section was advertised to open at 6 but then opened up at 5. It moved location from nearby Saw to Nemesis Inferno and it felt significantly shorter. Prior to heading inside there was a first aider leaving so again it was unfortunate timing. But as we were walking towards the entrance there was a crow just having a chat with the staff member. Again, it just took that immersion away in all honesty.
Heading through, they are great nonetheless like the way they tap into their characters is fab. One of the biggest jumps this year came from the Crow with the pumpkin head. We were absolutely confident it wasn’t real and he came towards us and we genuinely almost died from the shock! Despite the bizarre encounters prior these really are staples amongst the line-up I like the new location I can imagine nighttime and the lighting of Inferno really adds to it. However, the shortening and lack of time within this zone is sad. It truly felt like quite a bit had been taken from the Crows within that move to last year.
Rebel Ball – 2.5/5
We didn’t really spend a great deal of time in here. However, the vibes are brilliant and the area itself looks great. We did spot a couple of roaming characters and the werewolf-like character just didn’t look anywhere near the usual Fright Night costume standard. Sadly, we missed the show but we can see what the aim is with this space and we think it’s a brilliant idea.
Lucifers Lair – 4/5
It’s been a hot moment since we have spent time within this area and it’s changed a lot since the last time. But what a little zone with some truly impeccable actors throughout. We spotted a couple of guests acting up towards them (which should NEVER happen) and the way they dealt with it was remarkable. The actors within this space just lurk and somehow blend into the crowds with their fairly big costumes and manage to give some real decent scares. Again, there wasn’t a lot of theming at all therefore it was easy to miss this being a scare zone. I do feel a lot has been taken back again here with theming and props. Either way, we had some brilliant interactions throughout this zone.
Purgatory Town – 2/5
The reduction in theming and props is actually really sad in my opinion. Last year, it felt like a genuine Big Easy Boulevard-like street. Yet this year the props have been reduced to what we could see as one small stall to the side. There were a good number of actors in this space which helped the zone pick up a bit. The vibe was delightful and the actors just gave off a nice warm feeling too.
Overall:
We’ve always loved Fright Nights but sadly this year felt quite flat compared to prior years. I do feel we did get unlucky across most of our experiences with situations happening prior. But considering it’s the 25th anniversary it felt as if Fright Nights had more stripped back than it had given more off. Of course, we only experienced a small portion so if you do the full set of mazes then I have no doubt it may feel different. But from what we had experienced though we were quite unfulfilled by the overall event but absolutely blown away by Trailers alone. It just did not feel like a Fright Nights day elsewhere. Of course, the ride audio overlay and announcement of the opening of Fright Nights are still brilliant.
—-
Were we just unlucky? Or is that genuinely a common feeling amongst those who’ve visited? I’d love to hear your experiences across our social media comments!
