Thorpe Park's Fright Nights maze, Trailers, is an immersive horror attraction designed to look like a 90's-themed cinema, the "SuperSpark Cinema," and it takes guests on a terrifying journey through various "scenes" inspired by the most popular past Fright Nights mazes. Opened in 2021, Trailers marks 20 years of Fright Nights and reflects the event's history while delivering new scares to a fresh audience. Originally conceived as a container maze in the park’s cantina area, the designers ultimately chose a building, emphasizing a cinema or movie studio feel to maximize the nostalgic but haunting aesthetic of the maze.
General Overview and Unique Design
Trailers was the first Thorpe Park maze to introduce a "spine" system, allowing actors to move between scenes via the "green room"—a backstage space where actors can enter rooms seamlessly without being out of character. This innovation helps maintain the immersive storyline, allowing actors to appear when least expected. Built to appeal to both horror veterans and first-timers, Trailers provides a blend of jump scares and atmospheric tension, making it a perfect starter maze while still paying homage to past favourites like The Freezer, Asylum, and Studio 13, which occupied the same location in previous years.
Scene Highlights and Zones
Each of the maze’s eight rooms has a unique theme that nods to former Fright Nights classics:
Preshow - The attraction begins with a preshow in the cinema's lobby, filled with hidden Fright Nights Easter eggs, including old event merchandise and real ScareCon awards won by Thorpe Park. There's even real popcorn in the popcorn machine, and details like cobwebs add to the ageing ambience. In 2021, there were discussions about reviving The Director, a character from earlier Fright Nights attractions, who returned in the preshow in Trailers’ fourth iteration. The walls also feature posters, including a "Doll's" poster referencing "The Toymaker" character.
Screen 20 – This scene features nods to The Asylum, Experiment 10, Living Nightmare, and SAW Alive, with props like a chainsaw from The Asylum, a defibrillator, and a modified dentist chair from Containment. The decor includes mirrors inspired by SAW Alive, contributing to an unsettling and medical horror vibe.
Bozo's Playzone – Visitors enter through Manifesto’s Tent, where two-way mirrors and clown posters (referencing The Big Top) surround them. Reimagined clowns now appear gory, ramping up the intensity to reflect Fearstival’s sinister tone.
Creek Freaks – This area repurposes props from Creek Freak Massacre, including the haunting background music from the original Blade Room. Actors can trap guests in cages and swing on bars, creating a dynamic and claustrophobic experience.
Seven Dolls – Featuring six mannequin dolls with spaces for live actors, this room nods to Se7en and lets guests experience "real" dolls standing eerily among mannequins. Guest names from VIP experiences (like "Make Your Mark") add personalized horror elements on the posters.
Knock Knock – Inspired by Death’s Doors, this scene has multiple doors, each themed differently, like "21" and "Superspark," that reveal rotating characters, such as Smelly Death Man, The Pumpkin Carver, and a Swamp Monster.
The Sleeper Express (Train) – This room incorporates Platform 15’s backstory about the Sleeper train crash. Props include an original Platform 15 sign and dolls from the same maze, while a sleeper hidden behind a mirror is triggered by a button, adding unexpected scares.
The Sleeper Express (Bedroom) – A continuation of the train narrative, this bedroom features posters and memorabilia from Platform 15, creating a chilling tribute to the original maze.
Breakout at Brainsbury's – In this zombie-themed scene, Fright Nights acknowledges Cabin in the Woods and The Walking Dead (TWD) influences. Props include food items with horror-themed names like "Brainsbury’s," evoking a supermarket gone wrong.
Cinema Exit and Projection Room - At the maze's exit, guests can see an Exodus poster—a subtle reference to the upcoming Hyperia ride—and personalised VIP posters. The projection room itself includes spark effects and a control panel from an old Tussauds cinema projector, continuing the SuperSpark Cinema theme. The final corridor, known for its intense and claustrophobic design, has served as the escape route for many of Thorpe Park’s legendary mazes over the years.
Trailers combines nostalgia, innovation, and iconic Fright Nights scares to offer a maze that’s both a love letter to the past and an exhilarating horror journey in its own right.
