Thrill Nation attended the preview night of Tulleys Shocktober fest for our second year to experience some of the best haunts the south have to offer. With multiple haunts having changes, adjustments and extensions, this year will be for sure one of the best yet! Advertised as Europe's largest scream park, they have more than just 8 haunts to keep you busy. 2 live stages, a 3D cinema, themed bars, several food outlets and award winning street theatre.
Coven of 13 - The Village
Coven of 13 - The Village has been updated for 2017. Coming back from it's launch in 2016 as a brand new haunt, with an extended name of The Village. This attraction had a lot to live up to from a strong performance last year. Coven of 13, based on witches, had some immersive and stand out sets in 2016, which many of them returned for this year.
Incredible lighting and effect work is used very differently to other attractions from the beginning scenes, which creates some unexpected scares from the start. Walking from a mixture of scenes being outside and indoors, it created some very claustrophobic moments one and others leaving you very exposed in the open. Sadly, the ending was similar and it seemed to not be as strong as it's debut year with multiple effects not working on our run through. However, we believe with everything working, it will not leave you disappointed!
Themeing & Storyline: 5/10 | Actors: 5/10 | Scare: 4/10 | Overall: 14/30
Creepy Cottage
A creepy classic returns for another year of scares in this haunted cottage. After our run
through last year, we did not have a lot of hope for this attraction with it being one of the weaker attractions at the farm. However, we were pleasantly surprised with the acting seeming to of stepped up from the get go. With a different route and some changes made inside, it felt longer and much more creepier than before. Sadly, a lack of actors in several rooms did leave us a bit bored through the haunt. Saying this, the actors we did encounter were on top form and provided some scares to the whole group. Massively improved from it's previous year in our opinion and the changes will sure be enjoyed by new and old guests who visit this Creepy Cottage...
Themeing & Storyline: 6/10 | Actors: 5/10 | Scare: 4/10 | Overall: 15/30
The Colony
The Colony returns for another year with a high expectation from last year, with it being one of our highlights and one of the strongest mazes we have experienced. Once again, being one of the largest mazes we have ever experienced, lasting around 10 minutes, they had several dark rooms and minor improvements in some scenes. Much left untouched from what we can remember, the maze seems to of lost some of it's key scares from it's previous year. Large parts of the maze did not have actors and as we said last year, this creates suspense, yet we seemed to of been left even longer without actors or much going on around us in several scenes. Mainly being an outside attraction, with some rooms set up inside, it allows them to use the space nicely from tight to open spaces. The finale ending was not as effective as last year also, with some key effects not working inside. Saying all of the above, we believe with all the effects fixed and some more actors, this maze could improve and stand out as a strong contender.
Themeing & Storyline: 7/10 | Actors: 5/10 | Scare: 6/10 | Overall: 18/30
VIXI
Revamped from the 2016 Hell-ements, it has a similar structure being a hooded maze into the fiery depths of hell. Reviewed by us last year as the weakest maze due to multiple
technical issues and effects not working, it comes back as a much better haunt. Located next to the second stage, you have a mixture of that and the background music of the haunt, which creates no quiet moment in this attraction. Entering into the unknown, with several working effects and teeth chattering close by, scares were happening all over the place. With all the effects working and the actors seeming to be on a much stronger level this year, it has massively improved from our last visit, especially with a new twist ending which nobody was expecting...
Themeing & Storyline: 5/10 | Actors: 7/10 | Scare: 6/10 | Overall: 18/30
The Cellar
A classic returning for 2017 with minor changes. We believe this attraction is a great warm up to the event. More of a haunted house, the creatures inside this attraction really can pack a punch. The acting really caught us off guard at points, with many of us questioning if they were real or not. Themeing inside the attraction still says strong and is of a high quality. Overall, slightly improved for 2017 with the scare level seemed to be on a new level like the rest of the haunts.
Themeing & Storyline: 8/10 | Actors: 7/10 | Scare: 7/10 | Overall: 22/30
Twisted Clowns 3D
Also revamped for 2017 from PanDEMONium's 3D Carnival to now Twisted Clowns 3D.
Changes are seen from the start, with the whole attraction now being covered in neon/3D paint instead of half. We think this is really different inside the haunt and is a good change overall. This haunt is more visually pleasing to walk through than going through and being terrified, with scares not being strong through out the maze. However, if clowns popping up with trippy effects then this might scare you a lot more than most!
Themeing & Storyline: 5/10 | Actors: 7/10 | Scare: 6/10 | Overall: 18/30
The Horrowood Hayride
Returning for another year of taking guests through the backlot of the Horrowood film studios. Once again, a highly enjoyed, fun yet intense experience. Jumping on a tractor and venturing into the forests and behind the scenes of the film studios, you come across multiple horror sets and characters that join you along the way. A great variation of laughter and scares is used throughout, creating one of the best experiences each year. The actors play their part in the short time they come and see you and there is never a dull moment during your tractor ride.
Themeing & Storyline: 9/10 | Actors: 10/10 | Scare: 7/10 | Overall: 26/30
Chop Shop
Heading back into what we deemed as one of the most intense and scariest experiences for us during 2016, we ventured back into Billy-Bob's garage in the look for bigger and better
scares. No changes have been made to this attraction but, no improvements were needed from last years performance. The attraction works as a whole, with the story and themeing mainly used in the first half to get you settled in, before pure terror with the workers inside this chop shop in the second half. Including strong strobe effects and too many chainsaws to count, The Chop Shop stays for us, our scariest attraction to date we've experienced.
Themeing & Storyline: 9/10 | Actors: 9/10 | Scare: 10/10 | Overall: 28/30
Overall, Tulleys Shocktober Fest has really increased the intensity and scares for 2017. It's great to see the roaming actors were out in full force during our visit also. 2 stages playing a great selection of music created for some fantastic all round entertainment for the whole night. Plenty of food options with two licensed bars in the farm give you plenty of options for your evening out to enjoy after or before your scares...
If you wish to experience the event for yourself, tickets are selling out fast! Head over to the website below and let us know what you think...
