Track or Treat 3:
Back to Where it all Started.

This report is a little different from normal. Due to the difficulties of photography in the dark, and the fact I couldn't really take photos on most of the attractions a normal photo trip report wouldn't really work. Instead I'm going to give a written report on the different parts of Tulley's Farm.
This report is from a visit I made to the Shocktober Fest Halloween event at Tulleys Farm near Crawley in October 2010. This was a great event, so good we would have changed our plans to make a second visit later in the week if we had the money. Even the non haunts area had quite a lot to do. There was a very good selection of food areas on offer, plus lots of non haunt activities mostly aimed at kids. We did have a go on the pumpkin bungee catapult which was a lot of fun. The only slight niggle was some of the muddy paths, and the primitive portaloo toilets, but there isn't that much the park can do about that given it's rural location. Overall though, these were only minor niggles and didn't stop us having a great time.

The Haunted Hayride:
The Haunted Hayride was the first attraction we visited. It is recommended you do this one first as it's usually the one to get the largest queues later in the night. We didn't avoid a wait completely though as we had to wait as there was a delay in opening the ride. On the plus side we did get to see all the actors arriving and getting on a trailer to be taken to their various locations.
This Haunt sees a group getting on a trailer on the back of a tractor and being taken around the woods past various scenes with spooky scenery, special effects and actors. Some of the scenes feel a bit random, with you going through a cowboy themed area one area, in to a area themed as an asylum a few minutes later. In reality though you don't really notice this during the ride, as the various effects and actors do such a great job of continuously entertaining and/or scaring you. This combined with the immersive woodland location create a great ride overall.

The Field of Screams:
When I last went to Tulleys in 2007 this was my favorite haunt, and it's still a contender. It's been made over in a big way since then. It consists of a large field of corn, with a path cut threw it, that takes you to various buildings and scenes. Like the Haunted Hayride it has some continuity problems, where a lot of the inside scenes don't really fit in with the outside areas. It almost feels like two different haunts have been spliced together. Luckily though they get away with it thanks to the experiences from both sections being so good. The outside section is very atmospheric as you walk around the corn in the dark. All the inside areas are of a good quality, and it finishes with one of the scariest scenes found at the entire event.

The Cellar:
The third haunt we did was the one closest to what we most traditionally think of when we think of a horror maze. It's themed as a cellar of an abandoned farm house where lots of creatures live. Thanks to some great theming this is a truly immersive experience, which combined with lots of enthusiastic scare actors create a great horror maze that wouldn't feel out of place at Thorpe Park, or another big money theme park. The fact it's found at an independent Halloween event like this is phenomenal.

It's Curtain's 2:
One thing you can't accuse Tulleys of being short on is innovation, and this is a great example. In terms of scares, unless your coulrophobic the scares are the most fun and light hearted of all the mazes. I might even have to take back the time I said funny clown was an oxymoron. It consists of a maze made up of red and white striped circus themed curtains, where you have to feel your way around the maze, to find out which curtain the next door is behind. There are actors who jump out from behind the curtains, or wait in the larger rooms to scare and entertain you. The whole maze of curtains is a simple idea, but it's very effective.

Creepy Cottage:

This feels like the most old school of the five haunts. It sees you walking around various rooms and scenes. Most wouldn't feel out of place in a traditional fairground ghost train. There are some live actors as well to liven things up, and  provide some extra scares. It is the weakest of the five haunts, but it's still a pretty good ride, that I wouldn't leave off my to do list.