One of the things people enjoy most about Halloween is the gory costumes, sweet treats, and being scared, whether that's by going to a haunted house or watching a classic horror movie. However, through their Night at The Manor event, Drayton Manor has successfully combined these chilling moments with their daunting rides that are not for the faint of heart.
My friends and I decided to go to Tamworth and try the park's ultimate scare experience on Saturday, 29 October, which was a sell-out event. We arrived at the park at 5pm just as the sun was setting, and it wasn't long before the moon was out and the park came alive.
This year the park had three special events for the nights, including Hunt for Zebadiah where visitors take a ghastly torchlit walk and the Castle of Screams, which is an experience like no other as you meet the castle's inhabitants as you walk around.
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However, the star of this year's event by far was the Haunted Express, where visitors take a frightful train ride around a spooky Adventure Cove, where live actors are hiding along the way for the ultimate scare experience. Sadly I didn't get to try this ride out, as it had a two-hour waiting line throughout the night, but those I spoke to at the park said it was worth the wait, so anyone wanting to go next year should make sure to do this first so they have time for rides after.
One of the rides we made sure to go on was the Apocalypse, renamed the Zombie Apocalypse for the night, as you fall through a cloud of fog at the bottom of the 54-metre drop. Before hurtling down it was beautiful to see the park magically lit up at night, and then the 50mph drop took my breath away. Although The Haunting is an attraction open all year round, we made sure to step into the forgotten corner of the park.
The tour around the house remains in my nightmares days later, as paintings came alive, floorboards glowed red, and paintings of tortured spirits came to live to taunt us. However, the real highlight of this scary house that made it worth the 45-minute wait was the crypt at the end, where we were ushered to sit in church-style pews before seats started to move and the room started turning around us, like some sort of horrific gyro sphere.
A selection of the usual rides was also available on the night in the Vikings area, so we made sure to tempt our fates on Loki, Jormungandr, and then Thor with each one being better than the last. Thor was by far my favourite, although it was not the most scary it was the only one I dare throw my arms into the air for, whilst hurtling and spinning on a giant wheel with 39 others.
The spooky music playing really added to the atmosphere the full night, which was full of laughter and screams. We completed the night with some of the Halloween-themed treats on sale, including orange mini donuts that kind of looked like pumpkins and a Halloween bubble waffle with an adorable marshmallow pumpkin on top.
The whole event was brilliant, and I had a fantastic spooky night with my friends, and although parts are scary it can still be a family event. However, I would recommend that anyone who wants to go thinks beforehand about the rides that they absolutely want to go on the most, as some of the queues were quite long which made it impossible to try everything.
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