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CK: Why exactly do the mazes open in the early evening as opposed to staying open throughout the day? Wouldn’t this help with easing the long queues in the evening?

AS: "The year we tried opening the mazes earlier we struggled to get people in them and we were still greeted with the same long queues in the evening. It seems to be very much favoured by guests as an evening experience because the darkness adds to the atmosphere. By opening early evening it also gives us the time during the day to address technical set-up and repair issues in the mazes prior to them opening."

CK: Without the limitations of budgets and practicalities, how would you like Fright Nights to evolve?

AS: "Now there is a question! I would love to really push our existing attractions to their limits and develop a couple of new mazes. I would probably go with an alien/silo type theme for one and perhaps situate it outdoors and a total darkness theme for another where every sense bar sight is exploited.

"I would also like to work on a binaural audio film experience. Binaural audio is a recording technique which when played back through headphones creates an unbelievably realistic 3D sound sensation. Would be great to use a mix of film, audio, special FX and acting. It would also be really nice to create some hybrid experiences using the rides such as No Way Out and Loggers Leap."

CK: Taking into account the day-to-day limitations that you face, realistically, what direction do you see the event going in the future?

AS: "Fright Nights is Thorpe Park’s most popular event and has gone from strength to strength over the years. So much so that we have extended the period we are open to two and a half weeks this year, opening on Friday 13th October.

"As with some American parks we may decide to open the event earlier and have a whole month of Fright Nights. With new areas, attractions and a hotel on the near horizon it is very realistic to believe the event will continue to grow and increase in popularity."

CK: Alton Towers were planning to charge for Terror of the Towers – has charging for Fright Nights ever been a consideration for Thorpe Park, and if so, with the amount of extra attractions, would that be a single charge for all the Fright Nights attractions?

AS: "At the moment there are not talks or plans for charging for the attractions. The only cost one could incur if they want to beat the queues is to purchase a Fastrack ticket for the mazes."

CK: If Fright Nights becomes much larger, do you think that with the popularity of nighttime opening in October that Fright Nights could ever become a separately ticketed event like Halloween Horror Nights (Universal) or Halloween Haunt (Knotts)? In a perfect world, is this something you’d like to see?

AS: "I think the next few years, and especially the development of the hotel, will ultimately be the deciding factor in this."

CK: Many people bemoan the fact that Thorpe Park isn’t decorated during Fright Nights – we disagree and would rather the park focused on attractions, but would love instead to see a Fright Zone of some kind – would this ever happen?

AS: "We have in previous years decorated parts of the park with Halloween displays but as you said, we prefer to focus on the actual attractions, as it is these people come for. I wouldn’t rule out having on park theming in the future, but our priority is definitely in the attractions.

"We have done a Fright Zone previously, but with the large guest volume we get during Fright Nights and relatively small space we found it restricts the flow of guests around the park and adds to congestion.

"That said there will be more general on-park experiences this year with the Circus of Horror actors leaving the theatre and performing their ‘freak shows’ in cages throughout the park."

CK: Are enthusiasts’ opinions in any way helpful when it comes to organising events like Fright Nights, or are their opinions unrepresentative and blinkered?

AS: "Everyone’s opinion is helpful! We design our attractions and tailor our events to our target audience. Enthusiasts often have very strong opinions because they tend to have visited other parks in the USA where Halloween is a very large-scale event and then make direct comparison to our event.

"Unfortunately Halloween is not such a large-scale event in England, but we believe this is something that will change year on year, and we hope our event contributes to this change. There is always room for improvement and we are certainly not complaisant, as our new scare maze will show.

We are certainly not complaisant, as our new scare maze will show

"We do believe we deliver a good quality event that scores very highly with our target audience and we will always strive to achieve this."

CK: How much of a problem is anti-social behaviour at Fright Nights? What has the park done to deal with them aside the obvious security presence?

AS: "We are fortunate that these situations are few and far between. However, each year we look back at the previous event and look to improve the security so we can ensure everyone’s safety and enjoyment.

"We have a strong security team and also we have security based at each attraction who can quickly react to any situation. Our actors and hosts are also trained to handle guest aggression and know the best way to diffuse a situation." Continues...