On Saturday 7th October, we were invited down by Tulleys The Howl to go and experience the 5 fantastic haunts they have to offer. The event is relatively new with it coming back for its 3rd year, each year seeming to be getting bigger, better and scarier! From reading past reviews, we couldn’t wait to go and finally experience this event.
Based in Leighton Buzzard, it has 5 haunts and open for 13 nights of frights during Halloween. The location being Over Mead Farm, it has a licensed bar, a stage full of entertainment, roaming actors and several food options which can keep you busy there for the whole night. Prices range from £8 to £44 and each offer you different levels of scares, from unlimited scares all night to just seeing the street performers.
The Howls event is based around The Lycanthropes family, who are the street performers and play host to the event each night. Each attraction is based around or on them which interlinks the event perfectly.
You get to meet Grandma, Grandpa, Ma and Pop, Chastity, Twins Precious and Princess and finally
Rufus. These actors roam all around the event, speaking and being entertaining to guests through the whole evening. You can’t hide from them though, as even in the queue lines and bar, they will come and make themselves known to you.
With the event space not being very large, you have such a great chance at seeing and interacting with each of the family, multiple times through the night.
On opening night when we attended, we attempted to break the record for as many people making the loudest sound of a werewolf “awawooooo”. The event succeeded on the night with over 500 people joining in before enjoying the haunts. They also introduced the family and all the mazes before our night began, with each mazes cast coming out and throwing themselves into the publics way. This was the best start to any Halloween event we have attended this year and thought it was really clever to show you a piece of what you’ll be getting later when you go through each maze.
Topper’s Twister
Friend of the Lycanthrope family and Children’s entertainer, Mr Topper is back! Join Mr Topper and his clowns and see the nursery rhyme become real…
Topper’s Twister is a indoor clown based maze. The themeing and storyline was very straight forward with Mr Topper’s clan of clowns out to scare you. Rooms had some interesting props which really gave it a kind of fun house theme which worked well with the clowns. The actors were out in full force, being very physical and energetic in their clown transformation. The scares were good and creepy, with plenty of them as well. From the creepy smiles to the jump out scares, we were not left disappointed.
Themeing & Storyline: 4/10 | Actors: 8/10 | Scare: 7/10 | Overall: 19/30
The Shed
Why don’t you go into the shed and visit the ‘unwanted innocents’ that have grown up in there. “They ain’t got nice manners like the rest of the family, but they don’t mean no harm…” says Chastity. Well, most of the time they don’t…
A very vocal and loud maze. Creepy dark corridors and good themeing really set up this amazing haunt. As you make your way around, they had some interesting laid out rooms with a good use of space for the actors to come at you at all angles. With plenty of actors and spaces for them to hide, they really could come out of anywhere. When they weren’t hiding though, they made some of the loudest noises in a maze we have ever heard without the use of a chainsaw! The scares were strong and overall a really well put together maze.
Themeing & Storyline: 6/10 | Actors: 7/10 | Scare: 7/10 | Overall: 20/30
House Of Hounds
This is where the Lycanthrope family’s darkest secret was kept. But as we all know, secrets have a habit of getting out, becoming bigger and multiplying. One dark secret with fur and teeth has become many, and the Lycanthropes are keeping them contained.
Based on werewolves, an intense, unique and scary experience. A lot of chained fences and victims from the attacks make themselves known from the start of the attraction. Using the smoke to hide, it was quite worrying moving forward into the unknown. The themeing worked well for the attraction. It was nice and simple, except one big finale piece of course. The actors were full on and really did not hold back as they got in your way from every angle they could. With plenty of actors, the scares kept on coming. The ending must be one of our personal favorites to a scare attraction ever. A very unique and unexpected experience to get you out of the attraction. Who knew wolves can fly?
Themeing & Storyline: 7/10 | Actors: 8/10 | Scare: 10/10 | Overall: 25/30
Hotel De Basquervilles
Grandma Lycanthrope, ever the entrepreneur, has started a new business. Once a month all the livestock seem to get attacked by ‘unknown’ wild animals, so she decided that perhaps running a hotel would be simpler. After all, they have that lovely old house that’s been sitting empty for generations…
A nicely themed and storied haunt from the start. The story flows from start to finish, with some beautiful themeing throughout the attraction. An eerie feeling all the way around, the actors really performed to their best. With each actor not just there for pure scares but had a piece of the storyline too. Not one of the scariest attractions we have visited or at the event, yet is still a strong contender for the 2017 lineup.
Themeing & Storyline: 10/10 | Actors: 5/10 | Scare: 5/10 | Overall: 20/30
Squealers Yard
The boys in Squealer’s yard work hard and enjoy the hunt too. You want in? They’ll let you. In fact they’ll even give you a head start before they start the chase. Did I forget to mention that it’s you they’ll be hunting? Momma always told them not to play with their food, these boys just can’t help it!
Squealers Yard is one of our favourite mazes from the event with it being intense and genuinely terrifying from the start. Use of indoor and outdoor spaces, being split up and some perfect use of some effects. The actors really worked out how to get the scares out of everyone in this maze. Actors come from all angles which makes it terrifying when they are above you reaching down to try and grab you. Whilst other moments were intense with the actors in your face, the actors inside had some great humour when asking to “see your meat”. Being the last group to enter at the end of the night, the actors did not stop and really put on one hell of a show. The themeing from outside to inside really impressed us, from smoked filled rooms that blinded you, to twisted corridors and pitch dark spaces. This is one maze you don’t want to be left alone in, which we were…
Themeing & Storyline: 8/10 | Actors: 8/10 | Scare: 8/10 | Overall: 24/30
