The new event combines a scare maze, Castle of Screams, with two other scare experiences, The Haunted Express and Hunt for Zebadiah, alongside rides in the dark, a live DJ and spooky food and drink options.

It runs on just 4 nights this year (22nd, 23rd, 28th & 29th October 2022) between 5pm – 9pm, and tickets are £24 per person.

We've always wanted to see Drayton Manor offer an evening scare event to compliment their family-friendly daytime activities, so we were thrilled to be at the Night at the Manor preview.

Castle of Screams

Enter the Castle of Screams, at your own will, for a scare experience like no other – for ages 14 and over. Join the ancestors of the castle, who don’t take visitors lightly, as you explore and meet all the freaky inhabitants. Be prepared for a frightful experience like never before.

Occupying an impressively themed medieval castle in the centre of Drayton Manor, this scare maze features a series of rooms and passages inhabited by various disturbing characters. We thought that there were some good sets, but it was a shame that some of them were partially hidden by mesh fencing panels.

Originally promoted as a 15-minute scare experience, it certainly isn't that. As with most scare maze attractions, the experience actually takes a few minutes.

A combination of lighting, smoke and sound effects, plus some very strong smells in a few sections, made this walkthrough experience really immersive, and all the scare actors gave enthusiastic performances. There were plenty of effective jump scares, but we would have liked a more creative finale.

During the day, it's used for storytelling, games and trick or treating as the Castle of Spooks. It will be back in use at Christmas as the Castle of Dreams, after it's been transformed back into a magical winter wonderland!

The Haunted Express

Jump aboard The Haunted Express as you take a frightful train ride around an eerie Adventure Cove. You won’t believe your eyes or ears in this audio scare experience, with live actors and a few surprises along the way. Are you brave enough to use your one-way ticket on a train ride from hell?

Especially for Night at the Manor, the parks' Polperro Express train ride has been reimagined as a scare experience. Passengers put on headphones that provide a new soundtrack which combines dialogue, binaural sound and music to offer a fantastic audio enhancement to the ride, which also includes some themed sets and scare actors.

The Haunted Express was by far the strongest attraction at the event - it's a perfect blend of spookiness, scares and humour.

Hunt for Zebadiah

Be sure to keep your wits about you as you go on the Hunt for Zebadiah. As night falls, you’re invited to take a ghastly torchlit walk and delve into the gruesome past events on this terrifying guided tour.

We really liked the concept of this attraction; going on a spooky night-time walk, hearing the spine-chilling tales and encountering the unexpected. Unfortunately there were many issues with the implementation; we were batched in a large group which made it hard for the host to control and there weren't enough torches, his voice amplifier wasn't working so it was difficult for some people to hear the story, and there was flooding of the paths.

The entire experience seemed to depend on just two actors, the tour guide and the chainsaw wielding Zebadiah himself, so in reality it was quite a long walk in which very little happened. It also felt somewhat awkward going through the zoo in the dark, as we weren't sure how the animals would react to large groups of people walking past their enclosures with torches at night.

Relocated to another area of the park, with smaller groups, more actors and some themed scenes, a guided tour style scare experience may actually work well. Hunt for Zebadiah has the potential to offer something quite different, so we hope to see it return in another form.

The Haunting

Step into a forgotten corner of Drayton Manor and experience the fright of your life. This haunted house is like nothing else you've ever experienced - and your mission is to discover what happened to those who have gone missing within its walls before...

Although this attraction is part of the parks' normal line-up, it's great to see it open as part of the Night at the Manor event. With its spooky theme, story, detailed sets and special effects, The Haunting fits in so perfectly and was actually one of the highlights of the evening for us.

It's a brilliant attraction as it is, but in the future we hope that the park will consider adding a couple of scare actors to differentiate the attraction from the normal experience and elevate the scares.

Vikings in the Dark

Enjoy insane rides in the dark on Loki, Thor, and Jormungandr.

This new themed area opened earlier this year, and it was great to experience the rides in the dark for the first time. This area of the park has clearly been designed for evening events, with themed lighting and added smoke effects. With a live DJ based in Vikings, the dance anthems created a brilliant party atmosphere.

Guests enjoyed rides on Thor, the new Disk'O Coaster, the UK’s first Zamperla Nebulaz, Loki, and the roller coaster Jormungandr.

We would certainly recommend the delicious hog roast and Witches' Brew punch to keep you fuelled up, both of which are available exclusively for this event.

Zombie Apocalypse

Escape a real-life Zombie Apocalypse as you hurtle 50mph down our 54-metre drop tower. This is your last chance to brave this iconic ride in the dark – don’t miss it!

Given the addition of 'Zombie' to the name of the ride, we were expecting some zombies to feature in the queue or loading area (live actors, animatronics or just props) but the ride was simply open in the dark.

Apocalypse opened in 2000 with four drop towers, two of which were standing up and two sit down. In 2002 the world's first stand up floorless tower was added. Sadly, all that remains is a single sit down tower.

30th October will be the last operating day for the ride, after which it will be removed from the park.

For their first-ever scare event, Night at the Manor is a very good attempt, and we had a great night. The potential to grow the event and develop the attractions is huge.

The Haunted Express in particular could easily become a signature attraction for the park, as it offers a unique experience that you won't find at other parks. Castle of Screams is a decent scare maze that could return with a new story each year. Hunt for Zebadiah needs re-thinking, but it's still a good concept and could work elsewhere in the park with more scare actors and some added scare maze elements.

Night at the Manor continues at Drayton Manor on 28th & 29th October 2022.

Book your tickets at draytonmanor.co.uk