Foreword
And here we go...
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two decades, you would have heard of Tulleys Farm Shocktober Fest, one of the first and original scare parks in the UK, and has gone from strength to strength every single year, expanding hugely every year to create a behemoth of an event every October.
This is a long, long review, as is to be expected, with 11 attractions in total, 10 scare mazes, and more street entertainment than you can shake a stick at.
But here it is, at long last, our review of Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022.
Overview
I thought it would be rude to just dive into the attractions and completely fob off the immense scale and detail of this operation.
After parking your car in a dedicated car park across a small road from the entrance to Tulleys Farm, you safely negotiate said road by a huge bridge which has been installed by Tulleys, to stop accidents and congestion, this must be a recent addition, as when I last attended in 2018, it was just a dash across the road and hope you made it to the other side, it may not seem like much, but it makes the world of difference, so when you are on top of the bridge you can focus on the huge sign 'Tulleys Shocktober Fest' which is your first true taste of the park.
The evening we went was a sell-out night, as most nights were this season, we opted for the £84 entrance and 11 Fastrack tickets, due to the 3-hour drive, we wanted to ensure we did everything with little interruption, and I'm very glad we did this as I shall explain a bit later on. You enter through a dedicated gate which is separate from the usual family farm park entrance, into a fully themed ticket office, with queue lines, TVs advertising the latest Halloween film, and other sponsors for the event. This organization was worth its weight in gold, as the queue flew down and we were in within around 10 minutes.
Once we had been given our wristbands and Fastrack cards, it was time to turn the corner and first properly see the huge event that was our evening. You're greeted by the now iconic flaming logo metal sign which doubles as a perfect photo opportunity, and when we entered there were several people doing exactly that. The atmosphere on this main street really is electric, with music playing, roaming actors, people dancing and of course the typical hustle and bustle of a sell-out night at a scare event.
When we first arrived we spent some time just soaking it all in, mooching around, eyeing up the food that we wanted later on, and interacting with the actors. This is the type of thing I really thrive for at a scare event, I love the interaction, the atmosphere, and everything else that comes with it. It's such a unique atmosphere and Tulley's really is at the top.
We couldn't spend too much time looking around because we had 11 scare attractions to do, which, even with a fast track is a big ask, and leaves little time to breathe.
Get the kettle on, make yourself a drink, and get ready to read our equivalent of War & Peace for the next few minutes.
Coven of 13
The first maze we decided to do was one of "The 3 C's" because there are 3 attractions, all relatively similar and all, you guessed it, beginning with C. The last time I came, I couldn't tell the 3 apart when it came down to it, and that isn't saying that they're bad, just not standout attractions for me personally.
The Coven of 13 is a good maze firstly because it uses one of our favorite themes, which is Witches, and if you read out Whatton House of Horror review, you will see, that we love a witch maze, as they're rarely used and were not really sure why.
Unlike Witchfinder at Whatton House, The Coven of 13 didn't have a huge push on a narrative or storyline, but I don't think it really needed to. From what I can gather, you're entering a Coven for witches, I mean, what else is there really to know?
Please don't expect me to be able to walk you through each maze as I simply cannot remember every single scene. But after each attraction, we made some notes of good points and bad points, so I will be going off them.
We had some really solid scares in there, plenty of jumps, and just creepy moments with actors shouting, then clicking in our faces, and speaking in an unknown language (this became a trend in pretty much every maze). The outdoor section of the attraction had some really nice theming, using raw-cut wood to create walls, buildings, fences, and boundaries for the actors to use (and abuse) to get some really effective scares. The outdoor sections were separated by a few indoor scenes which were the houses of the witches and huts in which I'm guessing they practice their witchcraft. Overall the sets themselves were very pretty, and quite detailed, selling the theme further to the guest.
The attraction, I believe is one of the originals and therefore had some staple features in it, one of which was a 'swamp' room using a green laser, smoke, and waist-level airbags to give the feeling of wading through a dense swamp, but also to allow characters to duck below the laser lights and jump out before you've had a chance to spot them, this works extremely effectively and can be seen everywhere now, but I remember hearing somewhere Tulleys were one of the first to do this effect.
Overall the maze was great, and the final room was one of the most intense at the park, giving the illusion the guest is on fire, you enter a BAKING hot room, filled with smoke, pulsating orange lighting, and a load of actors bursting through the smoke to catch you by surprise as you blindly try and navigate through the scene.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - The Coven of 13
Scares - 8/10
Costume - 8/10
Storytelling - 6/10
Theming - 7/10
Overall - 29/40
The Island
The Island was our second maze of the evening and a new maze for me, with it being unveiled for the 2021 season. The Island gives you a pretty detailed backstory from the start, stating that 'The Island' is a research lab into (I think) creating hybrid human/sea creatures, but when the guest enters we find that they aren't quite either, more in the middle and just monsters.
The theming is pretty good throughout this maze and had some really interesting scenes some of which involved different floor surfaces and a fake harbor area with real boats moored in this harbor. The scenes were really nicely done.
You can probably tell I'm being quite vague with this review, and that's because even straight after we got out of the maze and wrote our notes, nothing really stood out to us apart from a section of the floor that was soft, which caught us by surprise.
Back in 2018 this area was used for The Colony maze, and a lot of the scenes hadn't changed at all, the walls, lighting, and so on were all identical, which is a great shame as I feel this is such a good unique IP that they could take light years further.
As far as scares go, there weren't masses, in fact, I think there were only one or two, however, I don't think this is intended to be nightmare-inducing, I think it's just intended to be a filler maze to an already solid line-up.
There isn't really much else to say about the island, the actors were good, the theming was good, and the story was good. It just wasn't game-changing.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - The Island
Scares - 3/10
Costume - 5/10
Storytelling - 7/10
Theming - 8/10
Overall - 23/40
Chop Shop
If you've heard of Tulleys the chances are you've heard of the iconic Chop Shop, which has become a staple in the Tulleys line-up for a fair time now.
Chop Shop starts off by throwing you into a garage scene with some southern American characters shouting at you to leave, however, you find yourself venturing deeper into the depths of the Chop Shop.
After the first two scenes as you navigate your way around 2 vintage cars that are being climbed on by two very aggressive characters, you then find yourself in the parts department of this twisted car garage, dodging the blood-soaked habitants along your way. Very shortly after get your first taste (or smell) of what Chop Shop is really about. Chainsaws. You encounter a character firing up a petrol chainsaw as you try not to suffocate on 2-stroke fumes. Following this final fully themed scene you then enter the rat run.
For the next 3 or 4 minutes, you are wandering through repetitive walls that have dozens and dozens of actors flying at you, all of them in possession of a high-revving, noisy chainsaw.
Then it ends.
Now, if you're scared of chainsaws, this will, by far, be the most intense maze of the evening, it honestly would be your idea of hell, because believe me when I say, you could start a medium-sized tree-surgery firm with the machinery inside Chop Shop. However, I, nor anyone I was with is scared of chainsaws, so because of this, it just wasn't anything, the first few rooms were themed really well, but then it just stopped, all white containers that were just splattered with blood, finished off 80% of the attraction, because of this it didn't really hit the spot.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Chop Shop
Scares - 10/10 (if you have an intense chainsaw phobia) 1/10 (the rest of us)
Costume - 6/10
Storytelling - 7/10
Theming - 6/10
Overall - 29/40 (chainsaw haters) 20/40 (tree surgeons)
Electrick Circus
In 2018 Tulleys had something that I strived for, a genuinely scary clown maze. I'm personally not scared of clowns any more than the average joe, but I always find the whole circus theme is slept on, and in 2018 Tulleys had Twisted Clowns 3D, which was just amazing, it seemed to go on forever, plenty of scares and funny moments, which I think are needed in that format of attraction. When Tulleys announced Electrick Circus, which was to be their replacement for Twisted Clowns, I was very skeptical, it had huge boots to fill. But boy, did it fill them.
The entrance is the same building as it always has been for Twisted Clowns, and does indeed share a couple of scenes, however that's where the similarities end. Twisted Clowns was a UV-based hyper, happy (sort of) attraction, which most clown mazes seem to do, Electrick Circus was not that. Electrick Circus was 7 minutes of terror.
As you entered you are told that the creatures that lie within the attraction have killed all the clowns and taken over the circus themselves, using electricity to relight to circus and bring it back to life.
As you have your safety briefing, you are heavily distracted by a female clown just staring at you, waving gently, clearing in anticipation of your entrance into the maze, along with a dozen other victims for the habitants to have their way with.
The first few scenes are quite timid, albeit with loud music, and bright lighting, but as far as scares go there wasn't an awful lot. As you navigate through the attraction you encounter tied-up clowns getting electrocuted, stabbed, and generally abused. These are achieved by a tasteful amount of animatronics, however, they haven't overdone it with the animatronics, and all of them felt like they fitted within the scene very well. Yet they were still horrifically scary.
The actors were also, exactly as clowns should be, full of energy and mischief, while still managing to intimidate and harass until they got plenty of screams from the group.
The theming was fantastic and a notable mention is for the use of UV makeup, allowing effectively, two different makeup designs on some actor's faces, with the use of 'invisible' UV paint, so when the UV lights would hit it, it would go from an innocent clown to crying eyes, blood stains and so on.
The maze overall was a welcome replacement for Twisted Clowns, after that maze had been at the park quite a while.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Electrick Circus
Scares - 8/10
Costume - 8/10
Storytelling - 7/10
Theming - 6/10
Overall - 29/40
Horrorwood Haunted Hayride
This attraction should need no introduction, it's one of the original and still one of the best hayrides in the country by a long long way.
The above statement is a bold one, I know, I know. But this Hayride is so well done I truly do think it deserves that title.
You embark on your trailer, tightly packed with other guests leaving very little floor space and no escaping room whatsoever. This attraction is the only one at Tulleys that you will be touched on, it's not full body contact, but just more leg touching than anything, but breaking that fourth wall is all you need to further add to your experience.
As the tractor begins a journey deep into the woodlands surrounding the park, you go through a checkpoint featuring two large firepits that erupt a huge flame out of them on passing, this is followed by a drive-by of the iconic 'Hollywood' sign that is staked into the grassland to the left of the trailer. This perfectly sets the scene for the attraction using typical movie-style IP's such as creepy dolls, hillbillys, and a drive-in movie theatre.
Shortly after entering the first proper scene you have two actors shouting at you from beside the trailer, just as you think you've cleared them and driven to safety, they begin sprinting towards the back of the trailer and jump on, getting right in your faces as they give a spiel about themselves and the character they're portraying.
I can't remember every scene off the top of my head but a big highlight for me was towards the end of the attraction, where two nuns embarked onto the trailer and started twerking after a short prayer (of course).
Horrorwood is always a standout attraction for Tulleys and this year was no different, giving a few scares and even more laughs.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Horrorwood Haunted Hayride
Scares - 7/10
Costume - 7/10
Storytelling - 10/10
Theming - 10/10
Overall - 34/40
Creepy Cottage
The second of "The C's" was Creepy Cottage, which from 2018, I couldn't really remember all that well, it just didn't stand out for me, whether I just had a bad run through, or what. However, this year was quite the opposite.
Creepy Cottage in 2022 was by far the scariest maze for us at Tulleys, from start to finish it was just 100% anxiety driven. The storyline wasn't super dense, and you weren't bombarded with information to digest. It was pretty much just a haunted house, and there is nothing wrong with that at all.
After entering the maze, you're thrown into the deep end inside a demon-infested cottage, but you are bombarded with characters shouting and jumping at you from the get-go. Tight corridors and smoke-filled dark rooms make every step you take a bit more fearful.
Using slightly different scare tactics to what you'd usually expect from a Tulleys maze, they really banked on giving more sinister and thought-out scares, rather than a simple impact scare to just get that reaction. You'd get stalked for several rooms by the same actors you'd see seconds before. And it's worth mentioning the lack of 'clicking' from the actors, which is definitely a welcome change.
Overall the maze was really good and once again you can tell by the smaller size, it's one of the originals, but still packs a punch and we hope it returns for a few more seasons yet.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Creepy Cottage
Scares - 9/10
Costume - 8/10
Storytelling - 9/10
Theming - 9/10
Overall - 35/40
Doomtown
Doomtown was the second of the new for 2022 attractions, and the one that we were most looking forward to. To an extent, it didn't disappoint, but it also did.
Doomtown was a big turning point for us at Tulleys because it made us realize that to have a good attraction, it doesn't have to be the scariest, in the same way, the best rollercoaster isn't the highest or fastest. As soon as you just take a minute to soak in the set design and the scale of the place, it all makes sense. If you want intensity, or to have your evening ruined, then Tulleys isn't the place. However, if you want bloody impressive sets, actors, and original themes, Tulleys is at the top.
I am saying all of the above because Doomtown is the embodiment of this. They have literally built a small town as a scare attraction, featuring a church, hairdressers, blockbuster, cinema, and so on, however, each scene is so intricately detailed, it could be a film set, and that is coming from someone doing a degree in film.
Also, I wanted to mention, if you look closely in the above photo, on the ground, you will see tarmac, road markings, and correctly spaced dropped curbs, now they're not there because it used to be a roadway. They laid tarmac and did everything as if they were building an actual road, just for this one scare attraction. The sets really are the best I've ever seen.
The attraction itself is very highly detailed as I keep saying, but the premise is simple and self-explanatory, it's a town, that's been doomed by zombies.
However, in this case, I don't think thats the point. I think this maze is just supposed to be as immersive as possible, which it really is. You walk through a period correct Ford Transit minibus, after leaving that, you see a Porsche 944 to your left parked up abandoned. They really thought of everything with this attraction. What was also period correct, was the costume, I can only assume huge amounts of research went into ensuring, the uniforms and outfits perfectly reflected the era and location. I really could go on all day listing all the little details that paint the bigger picture.
Scares wise though, it does lack. Even though the scenes are very detailed and unique, the scares prove to be very repetitive and rather stale by the end of the attraction. But as I said previously, I don't think thats the point. However, where the characters lacked in scares, was offset by tongue and cheek humor, like sticking their tongue out and calling you a loser, by putting an L on their forehead.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - DOOMTOWN
Scares - 3/10 (it doesn't really matter!)
Costume - 10/10
Storytelling - 10/10
Theming - 10/10
Overall - 33/40 (but still the best maze there)
Wastelands Penitentiary
Wastelands was new for 2019, and when it first got announced and photos started to emerge of it, it really did take the industry by storm. It was the first properly themed prison maze since Ashell opened its doors a few years prior, but also, the sheer scale of the whole area and facade was. Tulleys used dozens of shipping containers stacked on top of each other to create a huge area, which closes you in from the outside world, creating the feeling of being trapped in this chaos-stricken world of Wastelands Penitentiary.
Firstly, before you even enter the attraction, if you were to be in the area at the hour or half past the hour, you will notice a shift in the music, the actors start walking differently, and some seemingly disappear into the containers and reemerge behind mesh on a high level. Without warning, there is creepy music playing, fire effects, and a huge build-up before a drop in the music, when a drum and bass song starts playing, the roaming characters burst into life, running towards the crowds, dancing erratically and grabbing each other, ending with the inmates getting reprimanded by other characters. This show really is something to behold and we went to it twice and watched it from start to finish. Once we had seen this, we knew we had to get inside the attraction to see if it lived up to the high standard of the external show.
Once entering the attraction you are held in holding cages, in which you are given a safety brief and then told the prison has been taken over by the inmates in a riot. Shortly after the mag-locks for the cells release and you find yourself wandering the rooms of Wastelands.
Your first few rooms are maintenance, reception, and general faculty rooms, setting the scene that you are in there to capture any inmates and escape the chaos that is going on within the walls of Wastelands. Throughout the attraction, the lighting is heavily reliant on flickering floodlights and strobe lights, this is particularly the case within the main prison area, in which there are several chaotic inmates swinging comedically large hammers toward you, making full use of the blindness that the strobe lights cause.
As for the maze itself, there were a good amount of scares, and unique ones at that, as previously mentioned, utilizing the strobe lights to dramatic effect, allowing the characters to get right up in your face, quickly moving back between light flashes.
Theming-wise, Wastelands was very well themed, seemingly having endless super detailed rooms, that you'd associate with a prison, like laundry rooms, holding cells, and so on. For me, the centerpiece of the main prison complex area, is very impressive, however, almost wasted. In the main room, if you look up, you will see there are in fact 2 floors to it, yet you are so distracted by the chaos that unless you purposely looked up, you'd never notice it.
Overall the maze was impressive, and as with Doomtown, I think it's important to focus on the whole 'show' package rather than just how scary it was.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Wastelands Penitentiary
Scares - 6/10
Costume - 8/10
Storytelling - 9/10
Theming - 10/10
Overall - 33/40
Cellar - Imprisoned
And for the final 'C' we have Cellar Imprisoned, definitely the weaker one of the 3, and again, you can definitely tell it's one of the earlier mazes.
On entry, you are once again given a very brief backstory, which in Cellar was the least articulated, leaving you extremely confused as to what was going on. But we went into it with an open mind as Creepy Cottage was one of the better attractions of the night for scares. Cellar just didn't deliver sadly, heavily reliant on low lighting, big snakes (if you know, you know), and strobe mazes to deliver the ambiance to the attraction.
For an earlier, and clearly a lower budget attraction at Tulleys, Cellar was still pretty good theming-wise, it still had the top to toe detail you expect from a maze at this park. However, sadly, apart from that, there isn't really that much else to say. It's just a basic scare maze that delivers a few little jump scares, with some theming thrown in to sell the theme of it being a 'cellar'.
Not bad, but not great.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Cellar Imprisoned
Scares - 3/10
Costume - 7/10
Storytelling - 3/10
Theming - 8/10
Overall - 21/40
Hell-Ements
Ahhhh, now we tackle the big one, well, kind of the big one...
So if you don't know Hell-Ements is Tulleys hooded maze, which involves you placing a black bag over your head and wandering around a room to the best of your ability, guided by a rope attached to the wall. For me, these mazes have always been a bit of a miss, mainly because I personally always expect to be bombarded with, sound, grabbing, and changing textures. The likes of Hoodoo-Voodoo at Xtreme Scream Park kind of do this but I don't feel like they're ever extreme enough, there's a lot of nothing and a bit of something. However with Hell-Ements they take away one of those factors, as previously mentioned Tulleys don't touch the guests, which is fine, but when you take away one sense, I think it's much better to replace it with another, in a very weird trade-off.
I last went through this attraction when it was VIXI, and in all honesty, very little has changed, however, I do want to mention some things that made it good rather than terrible. The first is the use of fire within the attraction, as you're trying to navigate your way around in the darkness, you see a sudden glow of flames and feel the burning heat of it shortly after, which takes you by surprise the first time you experience it, however, this was one of the effects used previously in VIXI, the second positive, was the use of water, however, you don't get wet, it's a very weird sensation of knowing full well there is a raging torrent beside, and under you, yet you don't get a drop of water on you. You can hear the water gushing and feel the breeze caused by the moving liquids, which is a very usual thing to feel.
Apart from those few things, there isn't really much to say about it, just a lot of banging, shouting, and noisy things going on. But no touching. which I think a hooded maze does need.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Hell-Ements
Scares - 3/10
Costume - N.A/10
Storytelling - 2/10
Theming - N.A/10
Overall - 5/20
Dr Haze's Circus of Horrors
I love nothing more than a good show, apart from an incredible show. And Dr Haze's is the latter.
To end our night at Tulleys we saved Dr Haze's Circus of Horrors till last because I did that on my last visit and it worked out well, there was little to no queue, and it was a nice rest before the drive back to the hotel. The show is introduced by a person dressed as the devil, giving a typical ringleader spiel before the show starts, with some funny innuendo thrown in there which of course is always welcome, to liven the crowd up a bit.
Following this spiel, there is a variety of acts including, sword swallower, contortionist, balance act, and a few others. All of them were really masters of their craft and true showpeople. From start to finish the 30-minute show was perfectly choreographed to ensure there were no big gaps for the audience to lose interest, there was dancing, music, and of course the acts to make certain that the audience's attention was peaked from start to finish.
A few highlights for us was the act that used ribbons to spin in the air (i have no clue on the proper name), she did this while keeping in character, and executed every movement gracefully and effortlessly, every single person in the audience was completely mesmerized by her and the act. Also, there was a comedic act involving a man walking up some ladders that were free-standing, giving the audience rude (but funny) gestures, while he maintained balance on the wobbly ladder.
The show was the perfect end to our evening and they couldn't have done a better show. It just fits in so well with the line-up and offers variety from doing 10 mazes through your night.
Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Dr Haze's Circus of Horrors
Overall - 10/10
Final thoughts and review
There really is no argument when I say that Tulleys really are at the top of the game, and if you disagree, then they're not far behind.
The whole outfit, operation, and execution of a scare park of this scale is nothing short of incredible. Whether you are a member of the general public on a work trip or a seasoned scare nerd, you will enjoy yourself at Tulleys.
As you can tell from our reviews the mazes have grown in production value and budget over the years, and that's even more evident in recent years with the flagship attractions Wastelands and Doomtown both being built within the last 3 years, however, they haven't lost their touch, which is a risk, they haven't spent tens of thousands of pounds filling each maze full of animatronics. They've done it properly, ensuring detail is at the highest standard and the mazes look the best they ever could, I think they do this better than anyone around currently.
This does not mean to say it is perfect, because of course it isn't. Firstly the Fastracks were hugely over-sold, with queues often being well over 30 minutes and the main queue just 5 or 10 minutes longer, at nearly double the standard price, I think the number of Fastracks sold needs to be reconsidered and limited. Secondly, the group sizes were huge, I mean from 15-20 people per group would be sent through the mazes, I understand this gets queues down faster but it does take away from the experience quite a lot.
Overall the place is incredible though and I certainly won't leave it 3 years before I go again.
Tulleys Shoctober Fest 2022
Price - 4/10
Mazes - 7/10
Overall - 8/10
Congratulations if you got this far! It was a big one but I had so much fun writing it and I hope you did reading it. Please comment with highlights!
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