Journey to Hell: Freak Nights is the first time Blackpool Pleasure Beach has done a park orientated horror night. With reports of a disastrous opening night, we were hopeful that issues would be ironed out for the second night. Many people complained of just waiting around for other groups, certain attractions being skipped as they were behind on time and more. It didn’t sound great whatsoever. Nevertheless, I was still going to go even if it was the worst attraction on the planet!
Feeling hopeful we queued up at reception for a good five minutes, scanned our tickets and were put into groups. We were then escorted by a security team leader into the park to the decontamination unit. It was here where we were sprayed with water which on a cold night in Blackpool wasn’t the cleverest of ideas. I was still laughing either way as I sprayed pretty damn good!
We met in the center with the other groups (at least 300 people) and watched the story unfold. You are in a fictional town that has been overrun by creatures from hell. The army is in the area to protect you and become your guides for the rest of the evening. Our town mayor performed a speech before his untimely demise and off we went into the beautifully lit Pleasure Beach at night time. A very spooky atmosphere in the darkest corners of the park until we were chased by some sort of off-road buggy Mad Max style. We were told to run and we did so, that was a cool introduction to our experience. We queued up outside the first maze, a clown-themed maze. Had our picture with a clown tied to a circus wheel and in we went.
The Mazes
The clown maze was an outdoor maze and as a result, already felt less scary open to the elements. The maze was well themed with cool smoke effects but it just wasn’t scary. It was a very tame effort and whilst the actors put on a show, it wasn’t the scary show I was hoping for.
This applied to the other mazes of the evening. Whilst detailed and scent orientated (thanks AromaPrime) there just wasn’t enough happening that was scary. I was going around looking at set detail, walking alongside a chainsaw-wielding maniac whilst everyone else was running, just soaking up my experience. At the same time thou, I was planning what sections of the mazes would make for great jump scares that never came. Or which areas would be cool for kidnapping members of the group and include them later in the storyline.
Rollercoaster Ride
After the mazes and a theatre show involving a crazy professor and creatures from hell, we were blindfolded by plague doctors. We were led to ICON, sat down and went on the rollercoaster completely blindfolded. This was a great experience. The coaster had all day to warm up and as a result, was so much quicker. This was easily one of the highlights of the night and more inclusion of coasters into the storylines would be a great inclusion in the future.
Pasaje Del Terror
As we walked out of the park we were told there was an S&M Arena. Instead, we saw three bored women in bikini’s waving a flogger at us. Really? I see more X-Rated content walking up and down the promenade at 11 pm at night than I did at Journey to Hell!
The night ended with a walkthrough of Pasaje Del Terror that is always such a strong horror attraction. These guys do horror for a living and this attraction alone blew the previous mazes out of the water. I’ve been through it countless times but still enjoy the unnerving feeling you get not knowing what’s next. The jump scares are always being chopped and changed so I was on high alert. The night finished in a horror bar and we drank the night away with others who had done the experience.
Overall
Not a bad start for the first horror event of its kind at the park. I do however think it should be an 18+ night and the park can then improve the mazes and experiences accordingly. With the right direction they could create something truly special. For the bargain price of £29, we had a run-through of Pasaje, mazes, theatre show, late-night access to the park, a late-night ride and access to the bar. A very reasonable price but there’s so, so much more they could do with the experience. I can’t wait to see what they do with it next year and if they need any help in the scare department. You know who to call!
As far as spooky events for this year. Scarefest came out the all-round winner once again this year for us!
