30 whole years of the UKs best scream park, and this year has to be their best yet. With a combination of returning favourites and new mazes to be experienced alongside the extraordinary street theatre team, funfair rides and atmosphere quite frankly like nowhere else. Let’s have a chat all about this year’s event.
A massive thank you to Ed Hopkins PR & Tulleys Farm for having us; it’s truly a pleasure to experience this event again. We really did have the night of our lives last night. All our reviews are our own and not influenced by the invite.
Q&A Session:
We had the pleasure of attending a Q&A session with Honey Ross & senior management team. This was a really insightful session and you can catch the content on our social media channels. I will also try to turn it into a transcript and a blog post too.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Chop Shop – 4.5/5
This maze just never misses does it? Heading into this as someone who has done this many years simply makes you unnerved knowing what awaits you. The actors are outstanding here. The buildup to the lengthy finale slowly becomes more and more intense. This finale is always horrendous especially as you know what is coming from the distant sounds of revving chainsaws throughout the whole maze but it didn’t feel as if there were half as many actors within this area as in previous years. Both run-throughs we were at the front and there’s nothing more sinister than catching a glimpse of the actors ahead for them to then vanish and then come out where you least expect with the chainsaw at you. It’s outrageous but it did feel like there weren’t many in those final corridors.
Doom Town: 4.5/5
After all these years I’m still in awe of this maze purely for the transition from Shocktoberfest Fest to this little town centre with familiar stores, a pub, a cinema and all things you’re likely to find in the town centre. It truly will never get old. This isn’t one of those mazes I’d personally head into with the expectation of getting the intensity of jump scares by any means it’s more the experience. The brand new record store created by Honey Ross is stunning there’s so much to see in this little section. We absolutely adore this maze more and more each year. It’s so lighthearted, captivating to the eye, and all-around brilliant and unique!
The Cellar Returns – 5/5
Honestly, prior to The Cellar leaving we never necessarily rated this maze however if you’re going to have a maze return this is exactly how you do it. We had two run-throughs, and somehow it just got better. There are a lot of familiar characteristics from the original version but the intensity and scares felt so much more drastic. During the second run-through, one of the last of the night and honestly the jumps were beyond intense. I had actors getting me 2/3 times in one go they were just on it and using all the tactics you can imagine to get the group truly terrified. There are moments of disorientation in here especially when you’re heading downwards in the flange. It is a gorgeous maze for the eyes too especially with the little water feature midway through. I can never recall the strobe section before no doubt it was there but it felt very fierce. Easily one of the highlight mazes of the night in all honesty and we’re so delighted it’s back again!
Electric Circus – 3/5
Oh the clowns! We absolutely adore these guys. From the second you enter, they are just absolutely bonkers and going nuts. I always find the props in here unsettling as some of them you can not tell whether they’re real or not in all honesty. There are animatronics, a trommel tunnel, creepy doll-like clowns and it is packed with so much to see whilst having these untamed clowns go absolutely bonkers at you. It really is one of those traditional mazes that simply never get boring or you can have a bad run through! The way the actors use their space to give the whole group a scare is unforgettable & their stamina is unmatched.
Haunted Hayride –
Sadly, we never got the chance to experience this! I believe it shuts earlier than the others as we headed there at 11 and it was closed. We’re very sad about this and will be prioritising it next season.
Creepy Cottage – 3/5
Where it all began for Shocktober Fest and honestly it was just brilliant. It’s truly beyond eerie throughout. You genuinely feel as if you’re inside an actual cottage. The sets are beautifully illustrated and created. You don’t really need a large number of actors in here to provide the uneasy feeling. However, the actors are brilliant and the drop-down windows never fail to get me. As I always say it’s that terrific first introduction to scare mazes for those who haven’t done them before or don’t appreciate those harsher scares.
Appleton County Farm – 4/5
During the Q&A session we had it was mentioned that it’s pretty much an actual farm you head through and honestly, it really is. There are full-size horse models in here, real tractors, hanging meat, farm animal pens & it genuinely feels like a little farm a very unhinged one at that. This is probably one of the best mazes for this spot alongside Saw Mill. Heading in we truly had no idea how this would turn out but it really did give us some intense scares, the actors were on their top game and we thoroughly enjoyed this maze. We also appreciated the backstory at the beginning, The Carving the prior maze being the prequel and Sawmill being the sequel it just works so well. We just found the whole maze impressive the level of attention to detail to produce this farm-like setting and how the actors also added to that immersion is really exceptional.
Appleton Sawmill: 4.5/5
Once you exit County Farm you are then pushed into Sawmill it makes sense given that’s the follow-on to the story. Again, we were quite uncertain what to expect from this maze. This is a really intense maze up there with Chop Shop. There are a lot of chainsaws & strobes to survive and they come from the least anticipated places too. It was intense from start to finish with an immediate strobe section. The fact there’s a whole story to follow between the two Appleton scare mazes really adds to how brilliant the mazes are we love that kind of vibe. As I said above the two Appleton mazes are a brilliant replacement for The Carving and the mazes that have been at this location previously.
Purgatory – 4/5
Ever since this maze opened here we have always had those pre-entry nerves as the whole concept is pretty rough. You enter in your own group and are given a lantern to light the way. It flickers and interacts with each room you go through and during the darkest scenes, it really doesn’t light the way that much. The sets are really cleverly done with how the doors are angled, mirrors at the side and the use of furniture it all just adds to the scares. There’s just no escaping the scares in here as they are all so damn unpredictable and the lighting makes it worse when you spot one nun and it flickers next thing you know they are in your face. Again, when you think it’s over you can think again with the finale being so surprising. This maze truly is genius in so many ways and each year it returns I always stand by this fact.
Coven of 13 – 4/5
Coven has never really been one of our favourite mazes we never really had many run-throughs in previous years where it gave much. However, this year was easily the best Coven has ever been. Ant got absolutely bullied in here. You instantly enter the room with the fog, lasers and smoke that the beginning does make it difficult to grasp where actors may arise from and already makes you feel lost. We really had some brilliant scares in here and it felt as if there were more actors than ever before as we usually have a lot of empty spaces but there weren’t really any this time around. The finale scene is frightening without actors in my opinion as you genuinely don’t know where to go. So, you hurl actors amongst the mix there and truthfully it’s horrendous! Again, the sets within it are always brilliant and the mixture of indoor and outdoor means the actors have so many opportunities to work their magic.
Wasteland Penitentiary – 4.5/5
This felt like a 2019 level of intensity for Wasteland Penitentiary. The consistent low lighting & strobes in each room make it all feel so much worse. You just can’t tell where the next actor will appear from. The last few years the buildup to the finale hasn’t given much but this year there was an actor in pretty much every single one of the rooms. It’s so horrifying with the way the sets are laid out in here you just can’t be sure where the actor will be lingering for you. Then onto the finale it never gets less discombobulating it truly blows my mind how ferocious those strobes are. The effect it causes on the actors alone is absolutely terrifying. The actors are always beyond imagination in here they hang above you they appear next to you and the effect the strobe causes alone can give some intense scares. It’s beyond me how they manage to judge their scares so well with those strobes! It truly is brilliant and so lovely to see it back to the glory of the first year we did it.
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Street Theatre:
What an extraordinary bunch of characters. We had an absolute blast with them last night it’s the first year we’ve spent time amongst them and it was great. They even had me dancing with them. The newest arrivals for 2026 were Hellions and they were brilliant they had us screaming with them in a circle. As always all the costumes were wonderful and how these actors tune into their characters will be exceptional. Truly outstanding as always.
Live Music & Entertainment:
We caught a couple of the bands throughout the night and it’s always such a vibe. It just feels like one big Halloween party and it really is the best place for atmosphere. We even managed to catch the Poker Party and this has to be one of my favourite shows I’ve ever seen. The fact that the whole roaming team comes together and gets the crowd involved, as someone who loves that kind of show I was obsessed! We loved dancing with the characters too. House of Hades was a brilliant addition to the entertainment as well and it’s even better as when you are queuing to enter Saw Mill you have the pleasure of watching it whilst you wait!
Rides:
We weren’t brave enough to tackle all of them but we did hit up the Waltzers. I always forget how vicious these things are in all honesty. The guy spinning them was relentless. I was uncontrollably laughing and it was nearly impossible to hold my head up. Honestly, don’t miss the rides at this event as you will regret it!
Overall:
What a year for Shocktober Fest hand on heart easily one of the best nights we’ve ever had here and at any scare event before. We had an absolute blast and genuinely could have stayed there until past midnight! If we lived more locally we’d absolutely visit every weekend. The mazes were just delivered and there really wasn’t one that was weak. Every actor we met was phenomenal and played their characters so beautifully. All the staff we encountered were lovely and welcoming. The whole atmosphere of the event felt like a big Halloween party and we couldn’t get enough. The team truly have smashed it out of the park for this year’s event and we genuinely are so sad it’s a full 365 until we’re back here. Credit to everyone who’s made this event this good this year.
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If you haven’t already make sure you book your tickets as it’s the season you just don’t want to miss out on. Book your tickets HERE.
Thank you so much to the guys for the invite and thank you to YOU for continuing to support us!
