If your idea of a relaxing autumn evening involves dark tunnels, live actors, fairground rides, chips and a cocktail, Shocktober Fest 2026 is calling from Tulleys Farm.
The West Sussex scream park returns for its 30th anniversary season with 26 selected nights of immersive horror, live entertainment, food, drinks and enough jump scares to destroy even the most carefully applied mascara.
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Shocktober Fest began as a single haunted house in 1996 and has since grown into what its organisers bill as Europe’s largest scream park, attracting more than two million visitors over three decades.
For 2026, the celebrations are going properly big. The Cellar Returns sends guests through damp tunnels and long-sealed underground chambers, where something unpleasant has been waiting in the dark. Lovely.
Appleton County Farm explores the beginning of the sinister Appleton family story, while Appleton Saw Mill brings rusting machinery, timber and the relentless sound of a saw to proceedings. A wholesome family outing this is not.
The biggest new live show is House of Hades, a theatrical production combining fire, aerial performance, dance and storytelling. It stars the internationally known Fuel Girls, with flames and drama on a scale that leaves very little room for subtlety.
Doom Town also gets a new addition in the shape of Ross Records, a retro record shop created with writer, podcaster and Celebrity Gogglebox star Honey Ross. A lifelong horror fan and regular Shocktober visitor, Ross has helped build another twisted corner of the park’s increasingly unhinged streets.
Even the haunted Greggs is returning, proving that absolutely nowhere is safe. Not even when you’re just trying to buy a sausage roll.
Returning haunts, live shows and a haunted hayride
Returning attractions include Purgatory, Electrick Circus, Wastelands Penitentiary, Chop Shop, HELL-EMENTS, Creepy Cottage and the famous Route 666 Haunted Hayride.
The experience is built around live actors, elaborate sets, special effects and theatrical storytelling, so visitors are placed directly inside the horror rather than watching from a safe distance. Choose your friends carefully. The person who says “this will be fun” is rarely the one you want nearby when the screaming starts.
Between the haunts, there’s CarnEvil Cabaret, the Wastelands Fire & Light Show, Poker’s 30th Birthday Party, Burleys Hoedown, live bands, DJs and roaming street performers. FeastWyk Food Court, themed bars, street food stalls, fairground rides and games will also be back.
Go full scream queen, cling dramatically to your nearest available friend and try to maintain some dignity. You’ll probably lose it somewhere near the saw mill.
Shocktober Fest 2026 runs across 26 selected nights from 2 October to 1 November 2026 at Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill Road, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 4PE. Gates open from 4.30pm. Tickets start from £42.95 and parking is free. Book at shocktoberfest.co.uk.
For more queer things to do across the capital, plan your next outing with the GLL Events Diary.
