On Friday 5th October, we were invited by Tulleys Farm to experience Shocktoberfest 2018! With a star-studded lineup of celebs, actors and the Cirus of Horrors on hand at the entrance to the VIP event, we knew we were in for a terrifying night. Other characters around the entranceway included someone in a gas mask holding a chainsaw and someone on stilts who could only be described as someone from hell!
Shocktoberfest has 9 attractions, Creepy Cottage, VIXI, Horrorwood Hayride, The Coven, Colony, The Cellar, Chop Shop and Twisted Clowns 3D. New for 2018 is the Cirus Of Horrors, appearing in a tent near the Haunted Hayride.
After some food provided by Gregs and Pappa Johns, we were off into our first maze, Creepy Cottage, which has been around for the longest time. - almost a Shocktoberfest staple now! The theming throughout the maze remains great and the scares are always consistent, but, we would maybe love to see this space reused for something new in the future.
Twisted Clowns 3D is a maze requiring special glasses, enhancing the sets and colours. Take a walk around a UV Painted set, with twisted clowns being found everywhere, using the space well and interacting with props! We really liked it. The theming throughout is creepy and enticing and the music adds to the atmosphere. Some of the jumps scares throughout the mazes were great and made us jump out of our skin!
VIXI is Tullys Farm hodded scare maze, where you are required to wear a hood over your face for 60% of the maze. Losing your vision in a maze really heightens your senses and makes you more scared, the use of air cannons and smells throughout was used really well. The unknown of where an actor is hiding builds suspense and following the tight rope through tunnels and un-level floor adds to the overall fear. Towards the end, you are told to take your hood off where there's a small section where you walk around barrels and tight corridors. Overall we thought this maze was good and loved the unique aspect of this maze.
Horrorwood Hayride remains a staple of Shocktoberfest! Sat on a trailer of a tractor, you're driven around a filled full of sets and special effects. When driving through the scenes, sometimes actors walk onto the trailer and scare people around you, using various props - our personal favourite is the chainsaws. Getting up close and personal with those who are scared! A true Halloween classic every year the park change sections of it to keep it fresh. We really love this attraction and it gets very popular and busy on weekends and peak nights.
Experience The Coven of 13, full of special effects and a prop that will bite your head off if you walk in front of it at the right time. We like this maze, a personal favourite scene of ours is the room full of smoke and lasers where actors seem to appear from nowhere and scare people! The uniqueness of this maze makes it very enjoyable and a personal favourite. The maze length is great, every time you think you're almost finished, you turn the corner and the scares continue.
Adventuring outside, around dark fields is Colony. This maze is by far the largest attraction, full of beautiful theming and actors know how to use the space. Although some parts of the maze don't have anything going on, the music helps set the mood! There's a section where you're walking around tall structures unable to see anyone however they can see you! With actors screaming and calling and making sounds to spook you from every angle!
Walking through a creepy house, The Cellar is full of past occupants who will take their revenge on those walking through it. The theming in this maze is simple but very effective, in some sections you're walking around wooden pallets thinking you're safe but never fear your never that far away from a good jump scare! The final room is huge again and is almost like one big strobe maze with metal fences that actors climb and appear and disappear in the blink of an eye!
Chop Shop is our favourite maze at Shocktoberfest! Anyone that's visited the event before will know to stay clear if you don't like dark spaces and most importantly chainsaws! Navigating your way around real cars and machinery, you're left in the hands of the chop shop owners. Walking around tight corridors with chainsaw marks in them you are left wondering, how does this maze end? With the sound of chainsaws off in the distance, each step is more terrifying. One thing that left us a bit confused was walking through an empty shipping container, we were unsure if we missed the scare at this point. EDIT: on another video, we saw this room was filled with smoke and someone with a chainsaw lurking in the corner. We always love this maze and cant wait to see it in future events.
The Circus of Horrors has set up camp, terrorising all those brave enough to enter! With a short compilation of the best bits from its main show, we were left squirming and saying no that's not possible! Full of stomach-churning concoctions and stuff you shouldn't try at home. Each time you watch the show, it is unique, with a variety of acts. We love it! However, not one for those who are squeamish.
Tullys Shocktoberfest isn't just home to award-winning Halloween mazes the event also has a wide range of roaming entertainment such as; nurses, street entertainment, bands playing on stages, rides, fire pits and a food court. Every year the event keeps getting better and better and we cant wait to see the event grow!
Tickets range from just a street pass that gets you into the event with no mazes to VIP with Fastrack to all of the mazes.
We enjoyed Shocktoberfest, it's clear a lot of love and passion goes into this event! The mazes are as always highly themed and the actors within them are highly skilled and it's clear they're enjoying what they're doing. We wonder what Tullys Farm will add for next year! What will be their 10th attraction? A big thankyou to Tullys Farm for inviting us out for tonight's event, we can't wait to come back and experience it again soon.
