This spooky season, Pleasure Beach Resort has once again opened the gates to its annual scare event, Journey to Hell – Freak Nights! Now entering its sixth year, this unique Halloween event offers intense scare attractions, live entertainment, and nighttime rides. Journey to Hell features a cast of 110 actors, all dedicated to bring the terror to life across scare zones, ride overlays, and the park’s pathways. Attraction Source was invited to experience the opening night of this year’s event to see what it had to offer.
The event starts with a dramatic opening ceremony at 18:50, led by the sinister ringmaster-type character, Klaus, the Master of Journey to Hell. This spectacular features fire, music, and an array of characters – including some on rollerblades!
New for 2025 is Abyss – a unique scare maze that ventures deep into the 120-year-old River Caves. Guests descend into the trough of the classic ride, navigating part of the winding route on foot. This offers an unusual perspective of the historic attraction, which has been populated by a variety of demonic characters as well as props, scenery and lighting. For keen-eyed fans, Abyss also holds a few secrets. Illuminated by UV lighting, exciting easter eggs tease the park’s upcoming 2026 development, Aviktas – the Intamin Gyro Swing.
This year sees the return of the Twisted Tunnels maze. Due to the ongoing construction of Aviktas, the maze features a slightly altered route – connecting directly to Abyss instead of exiting near where Bowl-a-Drome’s toilets were located.
After entering through The Hub, guests are guided through the historic tunnels that weave around River Caves, Ghost Train, Wallace & Gromit, and the old Magnolia Café. The tunnels’ already creepy atmosphere is amplified by actors lurking throughout, including butchers and bloodthirsty vampires, adding live scares to the maze-like tunnels!
Located within the Impossible building, the Cabinet of Curiosities scare maze returns with its creepy collection of characters. This attraction is themed around twisted shows and performances, featuring a cast that includes a spiritual medium, a ventriloquist complete with a creepy puppet, a singer, and other performers trapped within the attraction! This scare maze featured more dialogue-driven scenes, making the maze feel long, despite having a relatively small footprint inside Impossible’s building.
Journey to Hell uses the park’s existing historic ride line-up to creative effect. This includes Ghost Train: Vault of Shadows, which sees the World’s First Ghost Train receive a terrifying upgrade – with live actors added to the queue line and inside the ride itself. This creates a much scarier and more intense version of the beloved classic – even for those who may already be familiar with the existing ride. Another fun addition is a portrait jump-scare from a familiar face for fans of the park!
Also returning for a second year is Down The Rabbit Hole, which once again adds live actors to the whimsical Alice in Wonderland ride, transforming the journey into a twisted take on the famous story.
With this year’s event concentrated in the North section of the park, the FY4 fountain area has been transformed into a lively entertainment hub. The food and drink units (Fish and Chips, Fried Chicken & the FY4 Bar) remain open, with some spooky drinks and food options available in addition to the usual offering. The area features live music, fire eaters, and roaming characters, providing a fantastic spot to be entertained whilst grabbing some food or drinks. Guests can also meet Lougarock, Pleasure Beach’s very own roaming Halloween wolf character, who was joining in with the action, even trying to get a drink from the bar!
The park’s atmosphere was further enhanced by a roaming witch parade, which took place every 30 minutes. This procession followed a route around the park before culminating in a “burning of the witch” ceremony near the fountain area, providing a fun piece of street theatre.
A selection of rides are also open for the evening, offering guests a break from the spooky activities. The line-up includes Launch Pad, Grand National, Flying Machines, and Derby Racer. While not all rides received a spooky overlay specifically for the event, the chance to experience unlimited nighttime rides on these attractions is great to see!
Journey to Hell – Freak Nights remains a unique event in the UK, offering a great package of intense scares, roaming characters, and thrilling night rides. The highlights of this year’s event were undoubtedly the impressive roaming actors, the claustrophobic Twisted Tunnels, and the one-of-a-kind Abyss maze. Journey to Hell runs from Thursday 23rd October, until Saturday 1st November. Tickets start at £39.50 and can be booked online here.
Are you brave enough to embark on the Journey to Hell? Let us know via the Attraction Source social media channels.
