A major theme park in Surrey is expanding the narrative footprint of its annual Halloween event for its 25th anniversary season.
Visitors attending Thorpe Park this October will have the opportunity to begin their horror experience before reaching the theme park itself through a temporary off site transport activation.
Running for one night only on Saturday 3 October 2026, a shuttle service named the Nova Lux Express will transport passengers from Staines Railway Station to the park. The blackout bus trip serves as a direct story preamble to Tenement, the theme park’s new pitch black scare maze set inside an abandoned care home called Nova Lux Senior Living.
During the 15 minute journey, passengers will enter a near darkened vehicle cabin where thematic elements frame the attraction’s backstory. Riders are cast as a team of electricians dispatched to address persistent power failures at the care home, following the disappearance of a previous maintenance crew days earlier.
The transport service operates four departures on the hour between 2 and 5 pm. Boarding is managed on a first come, first served basis, with capacity strictly limited to 14 passengers per trip. To board the bus at Staines Railway Station, travellers must present proof of purchase for both a valid Thorpe Park Fright Nights entry ticket and a specific Tenement maze ticket. Passengers must be aged 13 or over, and anyone under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Getting under people’s skin
Ruth Storey, Vice President at Thorpe Park, explained the strategy behind the new addition.
“Fright Nights is the home of fear but this year we’re taking that further than ever, literally, beyond the park’s gates,” she said. “For the first time in Fright Nights history, the story doesn’t start when you walk through the entrance, it starts the moment you step on board the Nova Lux Express.
“The Nova Lux Express will transport guests straight into the world of Tenement before they’ve even arrived, so by the time they reach the park, they’re already inside the story. Tenement itself is our darkest scare maze yet, and after 25 years of Fright Nights, we wanted this anniversary to be the one that truly gets under people’s skin.”
The Tenement maze challenges participants to navigate pitch black corridors equipped only with a failing shared handheld light source. The storyline dictates that the power is dead and the tenants have completely vanished.
Frightful scare mazes
Alongside Tenement, the 2026 attraction lineup includes four returning scare mazes. Trailers returns with a new screening named Blood Red Roses, and Stitches reopens Howell’s Toy Emporium. Survival Games plunges guests into a labyrinth of shifting pathways with assassins, while DeadBeat takes visitors into an underground nightclub setting.
The wider park features Purgatory Town, the park’s first ‘speak-to-scare’ zone, alongside roaming characters from The Crows who have abandoned Mawkin Meadow. Entertainment includes a show by the Lord of Darkness in Lucifer’s Lair, a live performance titled Creature Campus: Reunion Reckoning, and the new Rebel Ball sponsored by Fanta, which takes over The Launch Pad for a night of fire performances. Major rollercoasters including Hyperia, The Swarm, Saw The Ride, Stealth, and Nemesis Inferno will also operate after dark.
Thorpe Park Fright Nights runs on selected dates between 2 October and 1 November 2026, operating from 3 to 9 pm. Standard advance tickets start at £39 online (£66 on the gate), whilst packages including scare maze entry start at £71 online (£98 at the gate). Fright Nights experiences are recommended for ages 13 and above, with the Survival Games maze carrying a strict fifteen-plus age rating. Tickets are available online now*.
