Brackley Horror House is a bloodcurdling Halloween spectacular set in the historic market town of Brackley, United Kingdom. Intermingling terror and fun, the occasion features a huge multi-story scare maze, live performers, fairground rides, music, food, and bars, all whilst raising crucial funds for Parkinson’s UK. The centrepiece, “A Nightmare on Station Road”, takes courageous guests on an expedition through gloom, pandemonium, and beautifully fashioned fear, where more than 30 actors will make you shriek! With its mixture of attractions, from zombie Nerf battles to tarot readings, the event captures both the originality and public soul Brackley is known for. You may come for the scares, but you’ll leave feeling part of something truthfully imaginative and special.
The cast of “A Nightmare on Station Road” gave a really enjoyable performance that brought the haunt’s shadowy world screeching into life. From the very first area, where hillbilly ghouls reached out from the gloom to clutch and shock, the vigor never let up. The performers were creative, dedicated, and fearless in getting close and grasping you, making an experience that felt both edged with fear and adventure. Each section introduced novel and unforgettable characters, from the zombie hillbillies wielding their tools to the hilarious Exorcism room that had us laughing out loud for the first time this season. The mathematician’s clever interaction, requesting we solve calculations and having us sign our names on the wall in fluorescent ink, was fun and a bit of a twist. And, of course, the Butcher was the most petrifying of all, emerging from the mist only to turn back and attack. With every encounter made to astonish and disturb, the cast hit a great balance between fear and entertainment. Oh, and choose wisely, because such a choice will determine your course and whether you meet the spirits, or something else…
The costumes and makeup at Brackley Horror House were designed to bring each character into full existence within this nightmare. While full masks were used frugally, apart from a skeleton mask and the intimidating demon Grim Reaper, makeup ensured each actor looked part of the horror. The hillbillies stood out with their rotten, decomposing appearances, and the nun’s pallid, deadly face was disquieting. Iconic figures such as the clowns, the Butcher in his leather smock, and the demonic entity awaiting guests at the end of their journey all contributed to the haunt’s nerve-wracking nature. The only improvement might be to introduce a few more full-face masks to mix up the visual textures and augment the effect.
Outside the labyrinth, a dazzlingly realised Art the Clown roamed the grounds, delightedly terrifying guests at every turn and adding an extra touch of dramatic danger to the evening.
Our experience with the customer service side of the attraction was pretty great – Brackley House of Horror’s website is super thorough for a brand new attraction – in certain ways even better than some more established haunts. We also found the site easy to find and navigate. Parking initially was a bit of a concern as there isn’t a specific lot associated with the site, and no immediately obvious street parking, but this is noted on their website. We also found a side street nearby the site where we were able to park up quite easily and for free, so ultimately this wasn’t very problematic.
The staff at Brackley Horror House really went above and beyond their job descriptions. We ended up chatting with quite a few of the creators, actors and food stall attendants, and they were all so passionate about the event and clearly loved what they were doing and the community they were doing it with.
There was a decent pre-haunt experience, with roaming actors throughout the park and a fun and colourful entrance to the haunt itself. Granted, the maze was within a temporary structure created from scaffolding for only a three day event, so the fact they were able to put branding across the entire built construction plus a fun themed entrance was impressive. The post-haunt atmosphere was also fun, with the maze spitting you back out to the main thoroughfare with roaming actors attacking us!
The maze itself was quite immersive. Batching here was excellent, with relatively small groups and with no group in front or behind us during our entire journey. The flow between the rooms was great, with every single space and transition themed in some way, very rarely taking you out of the experience. There was only one point where we were held in a small eerie bathroom by a masked actor: clearly we had caught up to another group in the next room, but this was the only time we had to pause in our adventure. One of the best things about this maze was that each of the rooms were mini vignettes – this wasn’t a space where actors just growled and yelled at you, popping in and out. Instead, these were theatrical tableaus which we very much felt a part of.
The structure for this haunt was fascinating. Apparently the world’s first purpose built, three-storey horror house! For a built from scratch haunt, we were pleasantly surprised with the amount and variety of special effects in this maze. Most rooms are full of fog and multicoloured lights, with some extremely detailed lighting design, and there’s a soundtrack in each and every room that fits the theme for that space. There are even timed lighting and black light effects, a fully realised bedroom and bathroom set, a room full of butcher’s implements (including REAL pigs heads!) and even a fun rocking chair animatronic. During part of the journey you travel via the River Styx, a themed bridge with a river soundscape, and at another point you enter a room full of balloons you have to wade through! One of the strongest scenes in terms of effects was definitely the execution room, which appeared quite realistic and disconcerting.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 6.25
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 10
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 6.75
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.5
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 7.5
While this wasn’t the scariest maze we’ve experienced, the actors clearly put all of their effort into making this quite a frightening journey. And yet, there was also a fun humour to some of the scenes, especially the exorcism scene, with the priest cracking jokes, making us feel a little safer until we looked at the evil girl in bed and realised maybe we weren’t so safe after all! Many of their characters were eerily menacing, especially one of the clowns and of course the butcher, who stalked us through the rooms, often catching us unawares. The actors did a great job of offering scares for each and every person, and we felt involved and seen throughout the rooms, never safe no matter what order we entered the rooms in. We also were touched a bit in this maze, which offered several jolts we weren’t expecting!
We made the most of our run through of the scare maze at Brackley Horror House, meaning it took us roughly ten minutes to get through, although we do think other groups might be quicker to go through. At approximately £27 for a ticket, this might seem like a slightly pricey experience, but it’s important to note that you get a ton of additional entertainment as part of the ticket price, and that the scare maze is only a small part of what there is to offer on the site. From fair rides to live music, to fire shows and fairground rides, there is a fantastic atmosphere onsite at Brackley Horror House. Of course, compared to bigger and more established attractions, the ticket price may still seem a bit steep, but it’s important to note that this is a brand new community event, and that some of the proceeds go back into the community itself as well as to charity, so overall your money really is well spent here, and you will get hours of entertainment in return!
Top Station Road, Brackley, United Kingdom NN13 7UG