My Most Anticipated Halloween Attractions 2017

It's the mooost wonderful tiiime of the year!

Yep, motherfucking HALLOWEEN is here and I am SO DAMN EXCITED. And yes I said Halloween is here. October = Halloween and if you disagree then I suggest you turn back now because this blog post ain't for you. Every year I try to do the following:

- Mix up the indie events I visit
- Revisit old favourites
- Try to get to at least one European event

Not going to lie, I've had this year's Halloween schedule written since about...November 1 2016. I can't help myself, I feel like I'm more excited for Halloween than I was for my own damn wedding (don't tell Conor I said that!). I'm absolutely stacked and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's what I'm getting up to this spooky season!


So let's talk about the biggie here in the UK - the bloody Walking Dead is coming to FRIGHT NIGHTS! I'm a huge fan of the show and have been dying to try out one of The Walking Dead attractions around the world, so how perfect that it's landed right on my doorstep. And honestly, the fact that the park have mentioned that one of the new attractions features Negan and Lucille I literally can't wait to get stuck in.

Add to that the fact that The Big Top, Saw Alive and Platform 15 are all returning once again promising updated scenes and fresh scares, suffice to say I'm counting down the days until FRIGHT NIGHTS begins. Plus, who doesn't love Stealth in the dark?!


Honestly, I was contemplating not returning to Scarefest this year. Rumour had it that there weren't going to be any new attractions for this season and as much as I adore the vibe of Alton Towers in the autumn I just couldn't justify the six hour round journey for things I've already done, no matter how fab they are.

Then BOOM! They've only gone and done a Smiler on us and introduced a new horror maze to tie in with the mysterious SW8. The Welcoming: Be Chosen, from what little info the park have given us on social media, sounds very ritualistic and promises a world that crosses between the living and the dead. I love anything like that so my body is ready.


A new-for-me attraction, The Howl is a scream park based in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. With a name like The Howl, you're damn right to expect that the attractions at this park are all themed to werewolves in some way or another. I don't think I've actually ever been to a park where all of the attractions are linked with the same story thread so I'm really intrigued to see how well it's executed.

The park has five attractions: Hotel de Basquervilles, Toppers Twister, House of Hounds, The Shed and Squealers yard as well as live street theatre which is one of my favourite part about scream parks in general. Really can't wait to get my teeth sunk into this one!


It's always a shame to me that Chessington don't make more of Halloween. I feel like once there was a bit more to Howl'o'ween than there is nowadays? That may just be the nostalgia in me talking and yearning for the return of The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall. That said, I do love the effort the park go to with the pumpkins and spooky vibes!

Still, I'm glad to see that the park are trying something new this year with Creepy Caves Unearthed - I can't WAIT to see what they've done with such a cool and unique setting. Add to that some night rides on Vampire and I'm happy.



This year's European offering in my Halloween line-up is Halloween Horror Fest at Movie Park Germany. I've been interested in visiting this event for years with a few friends likening it to the Halloween Horror Nights of Europe. And it's easy to see why: it's a movie themed park with a hardcore horror mix of IP and original idea themed mazes. Plus, the park is fully decked out in its Halloween best with fog and cobwebs and pumpkins everywhere. Love.

ALSO this year they have a Hostel themed attraction. And it's strictly 18+. I'm a HUGE Eli Roth fan so am gagging to try this - I really hope they don't hold make and make this as explicit and gory as they can to do the IP some justice.


Well, yh, of course I'm going to Tulleys! I think this will be my fourth year visiting and similarly to Scarefest it's one I was really on the fence about. Tulleys do this really clever marketing thing where they keep what is essentially the same attraction and tweak and change bits of it to create a slightly different experience year-on-year. However, in my previous visits there has always been one brand new attraction to bulk out the offering a bit, but as far as I can tell that's not the case this year.

Not that it matters. The event really is excellent and is probably my favourite scream park I've visited this far. Giant creepy pumpkin scarecrows, tons of chainsaw wielding maniacs and smutty street artists - it wouldn't be Halloween for me without paying a visit!

This is a park I've been trying to visit for a few years now but never really got around to - not for lack of trying or interest though! I always check out the SCAR awards to see which attractions are worth paying attention to and Burton Screamfest gets nominated year after year, so I vowed that 2017 would be the year I'd finally get stuck into this award winning attraction.

What I love about Burton Screamfest is that it appears to be doing something different with the themes of its mazes (spooky clowns aside). They've got a corn maze themed to the Day of the Dead festival with sugar skulls aplenty, a maze themed to speed dating (?) and even a maze themed to a Most Haunted style ghost hunting TV show. I love it when attractions go against the grain a little and try something different (like Dr. Frights last year). It already gets points from me for originality and I'm pumped to try them out for myself!

Another attraction that I'm FINALLY getting around to visiting this season is FEAR at Avon Valley. Similarly to Burton Screamfest, FEAR at Avon Valley gets nominated at the SCAR Awards year after year, but being based near Bristol I've just never found my way there. I've heard so much about the attractions at this park - especially Phobia which was nominated as best Halloween Scare Attraction at the 2016 SCARs. I'm also really intrigued by Anarchy Live which is themed to a kind of macabre gameshow - I absolutely love stuff that thinks outside the box a little like that so excited to see it for myself.

And then of course there's 'The Fourth'. The park has been running an intense social media campaign using #WhatIsTheFourth with lots of hints as to what this mystery new attraction could be. It's as frustrating as it is fun - pretty much no link can be made between the hints and yet it just leaves you gagging for more, or to come down and find out for yourself!

Honestly, writing up this post has gotten me all excited again. I can't bloody wait to get spooky at all of these fab events this year and let you guys know how we got on!