Kokova Magazine

We've experienced every Tulleys escape room but never visited Shocktober Fest - so last week we finally took the plunge and checked it out. Wow, what an experience! Our first visit was an absolute blast, and we loved every thrilling moment. It's amazing to discover something so fun right in our own backyard, and we can't believe we waited so long. If you haven't been yet, you really should...

Tulleys Farm is a fourth-generation family farm located in West Sussex, England, with deep agricultural roots dating back to 1911, when its founder, Bernard Beare, began farming. In the early 1970s, Tulleys Farm became one of the largest Pick Your Own businesses in the area, cultivating over 40 crops across 120 acres. The farm shop opened in 1992, and the tearoom followed in 1996. Early attractions included The Giant Maize Maze, which ran for many seasons and delighted thousands of visitors.

Since then, Tulleys has established some of the UK’s most renowned events and attractions, including the World-Famous Shocktober Fest Scream Park, The Christmas Experience, the UK’s No.1 Pumpkin Festivals, the hugely popular and award-winning Christmas Light Festival, the award-winning Tulip Festival, and Tulleys Escape Rooms.

Having previously played all the Tulleys escape rooms (more than once), we decided it was time to play again when we heard the new room, The Relic, was opening. And we made the mad decision to combine this with a visit to Shocktober Fest. Andy is always ready for any jump-scare events, while I tend to run in the opposite direction, as fast as I can. This year, I decided it was time to face my fears - or at least try.

We booked for the 15th October to avoid the Halloween rush and headed to Tulleys for 3 pm to try and complete The Relic first. This gave us plenty of time to park, eat, and orientate. A pit stop in the tearooms before last orders at 4.30 pm meant we were fuelled for the night ahead and suitably caffeinated to run when needed.

My Haunts

The Haunted Hayride
We got straight onto the tractor as soon as the first ride opened, to give me a chance to orientate and prepare for when the sun set. Doing the ride in the daylight really did help me see what was coming, and I think I laughed nearly all the way round. The actors never broke character, and knew exactly who to target to get the best response. I repeated the ride a few hours later, and the difference in the dark was a surprise. Definitely a good place to start if you are unsure of your scare level.

Coven of 13
I made it through the hanging door and stopped. Smoky, pitch-black, and no one wanted to go around us since we were in front. Andy continued, and I turned tail. Not one for me this year, but maybe next time.

Doom Town
I picked this on the advice of one of the people working the haunts, whom we had previously met at another escape room venue. Although Doom Town had a few pitch-dark sections, the jump scares didn't bother me much. The scenery was amazing, like walking through the set of Shaun of the Dead. I would definitely be happy to repeat this again and take a little more time to appreciate it further.

The Creepy Cottage
A dark, rotting old country house inhabited by restless spirits, long-dead family members, and ghouls who want visitors to stay permanently. Andy ran through this to check for me and seemed confident I would be OK, and he was right. It was a challenge but so spectacular it would have been a shame to miss it. Actors appeared out of nowhere and seemed to float in corridors. The final part was worth the walkthrough, but we don't want to spoil anything, so book your tickets now...

The Rest

I carefully picked my Shocktober Fest haunts - and left the rest to Andy. He ran a few and returned to tell me whether he thought I would be comfortable going in; he felt there were quite a few I might want to avoid. Tulleys is meant to be fun, and to ensure I got the most from our visit, I addressed my limitation and worked on the rest. Although I didn't go into any other haunts, I had a great time wandering around, interacting with the live actors, watching stage shows, and standing by many exit doors, watching plenty of people run screaming into the night.

Earlier this year we had 'escaped' the Reading Witch, and it was our first room with live actors. It certainly added the fear factor but had prepared me for the interactions we encountered at Shocktober Fest. In fact, it did such a good job I don't think I suffered many jump scares at all. Being more cleithrophobic than claustrophobic means I have an irrational fear of being trapped, locked in, or unable to escape a situation or space. And yes, this is often challenged in escape rooms - and was my only obstacle at Tulleys.

I didn't manage any more than those three haunts due to tight spaces and pitch-black darkness, but I felt great because I managed more than I thought I would. Andy completed them all; armed with 6 fast-track tickets, he comfortably got through the list. Many queues had waits of less than 10 minutes, so we would have been fine with a standard ticket. The fast track helped when the queues got longer, and I didn't want time to change my mind.

Weekends during Shocktober Fest will be busier, especially as Halloween approaches. Expect longer queues and busier parking. When thousands of people arrive at any event, it will be busy. At the end of the night, leaving all at the same time means traffic jams, so relax and be patient, and hopefully everyone will get home safe and sound.

Check out all the facts at Shocktober Fest and book your tickets for a night of fear and fun. We put our cameras away and got into the fun. Throughout the event grounds, live actors move among the crowds, so jump scares are abundant outside the haunts. Food and drink are reasonably priced; extra activities and rides require payment. Live shows and music stages are free. We will definitely return next year to see if I can complete any more of the haunts.

The Relic Escape Room

Journey deep into the ancient Temple of Agra to recover the shattered Golden Relic, which has broken into four pieces...

You won't find any spoilers here, because we don't want to spoil the fun. We play as the Dithering Duo, and a two-person team is quite a challenge for most escape rooms. We do tend to dither a lot before we get to cracking codes. Needless to say, as a duo we were unable to escape The Relic within 60 minutes because the rooms at Tulleys are vast and have so many puzzles to solve. Of course, we will be back with a bigger team to complete this mission soon.

Tulleys escape rooms made it into the top 50 in the UK Escape Room Awards, and Andy and I were able to cast our own votes too; now we have completed over 100 rooms. We totally recommend trying to escape any of the rooms at Tulleys. They are complex, challenging, and definitely worth a try - just make sure you have a strong team and more than two players.