So cold it’s scary…

When Thorpe Park, as well as sister park Alton Towers, decided to experiment with Halloween events, it was something very niche and unusual in the UK. Halloween wasn’t a ‘big thing’ in the country, and scare attractions were uncommon. As such, the parks turned to Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company, run by Lynton V. Harris, who had a wealth of experience in designing, training and running scare attractions.

The headline experience for the park’s first Fright Nites event was The Freezer, and it was a concept which Harris had successfully crafted in the US (hosted at the famous Madison Square Garden arena). The concept was simple: you would enter “The Freezer”, where ghouls and freaks lay waiting for you, and you would try to escape.

The Freezer had a huge theatrical entrance: a set of large doors (resembling a huge industrial freezer) would have to be opened by staff, and blue lights and smoke would gush out. This sold the idea that you were truly entering a freezer. This entrance is now the exit of Trailers.

From there, the maze featured loud music and heavy strobes to disoreintate guests. Theming was kept quite basic, but there were some scenes resembling prison bars and cells, and others which were lots of chain-mesh fencing. Though basic, it added to the overall confusion of the experience.

In its first year, The Freezer took the definition of “maze” quite literal: it was a multi-route experience with dead ends! This further increased the disoreintation of guests, as well as the panic and scares. However, this was operationally very difficult, especially in a standard theme park setting. So, for 2003 and 2004, the maze was reworked into a single route experience.

The maze’s ending was a chainsaw runout. This had extra power as the exit of the maze was right next to the queue line (and in fact, you would have to walk through the queue to eventually leave), adding to the fear and suspense of the maze.

The Freezer lasted for 3 seasons. The park rebranded their Halloween event to Fright Nights in 2005, and looked to refresh their mazes. The Freezer turned into The Asylum, and though the characters changed, and the route reversed for operational reasons, the core premise and style of the maze remained.

Effectively being the first ever Halloween attraction at the park, The Freezer is incredibly important to the history of Fright Nights. However, its overall quality and impression it has left means it left a lasting legacy which will never be forgotten!