Thorpe Park has set out its full Fright Nights 2026 lineup, and leading it is Tenement, a new walk-through the park is billing as its first fully immersive, pitch-black scare maze. Fright Nights turns 25 this year, and it runs on selected nights from October 2 to November 1 at the Merlin Entertainments resort in Surrey, southwest of London.
Tenement drops guests into an abandoned apartment building where the power has failed and the residents are gone. Instead of following a lit path, a group shares a single handheld torch that slowly dies as they move deeper inside, leaving them to feel their way through reflections, illusions, and close-quarters scares while something hunts them in the dark.
The featured new maze: Tenement
The pitch-black premise is the point. Where a normal maze uses lighting and set design to steer the eye, Tenement takes the light away and hands over just enough of it to make the darkness worse. As the shared torch fades, the walls, mirrors, and bodies in the room stop being reliable, and the scares come from disorientation as much as from the actors.
“We are so excited to reveal a Thorpe Park first to celebrate 25 years of Fright Nights – a fully immersive, pitch-black scare maze,” said Ruth Storey, Vice President of Thorpe Park.
What’s new for 2026
- Tenement. The pitch-black scare maze above, billed as a Thorpe Park first.
- Rebel Ball. A new-for-2026 event sponsored by Fanta.
The returning mazes
- Trailers. Back with a new screening, “Blood Red Roses,” in the SuperSpark Cinema.
- Stitches. Returns to Howell’s Toy Emporium with fresh collectible-themed scares.
- Survival Games. Shifting pathways stalked by assassins. Rated 15 and up, above the event’s general 13 recommendation.
- DeadBeat. An underground nightclub full of shadowy creatures.
The scare zones and rides
- Purgatory Town. Brings back its speak-to-scare format with new inhabitants.
- Lucifer’s Lair. Stages a live show.
- The Crows. Spread out from the retired Mawkin Meadow into a new corner of the park.
- Creature Campus: Reunion Reckoning. Adds live entertainment.
After dark, the coasters keep running, with Hyperia, THE SWARM, SAW – The Ride, Stealth, and Nemesis Inferno all open into the night.
Dates, hours, and tickets
- Dates: selected nights, October 2 to November 1, 2026.
- Hours: 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Ages: recommended for 13 and up, with Survival Games set at 15 and up.
- Tickets: online from 39 British pounds per person for park entry, or from 71 pounds for park entry with the scare mazes included. Thorpe Park has not published a per-maze upcharge for Tenement, so the maze bundle is the ticket to check when booking.
25 Years of Fear
Thorpe Park is framing 2026 as “25 Years of Fear,” marking a quarter-century of Fright Nights since the event launched in 2001. That longevity makes it one of the biggest Halloween events on the UK theme park calendar, and the pitch-black maze is the park’s bid to give the anniversary a genuine first rather than a repeat.
Halloween across the UK and Europe
Thorpe Park is one of several European parks running large Halloween events this fall, each with a featured draw:
- UK, Alton Towers Scarefest: the fellow Merlin park returns with a new maze and the immersive Dine with the Dead dinner.
- Spain, PortAventura World: added a fifth haunted house, El Carnicero de Penitence, a gore-toned butcher haunt in its Far West.
- France, Disneyland Paris: runs its Halloween Festival.
- Germany, Movie Park: added a Jason Voorhees haunted house for the season.
For opening dates across the season, see our guide to when haunted houses open.
