28 June 2026
Avon Valley has officially swapped out its usual summer vibes for one night of Halloween terror in 2026 with Summer Frights. Returning for its second season following a successful debut in 2024, we honestly love seeing summer scares like this! Summer Frights is located in Keynsham, close to Bristol in the West of England, and is hosted on the exact same grounds as the flagship FEAR at Avon Valley Scream Park. While the venue is usually open throughout October as a full-scale scare park featuring five mazes, bars, and live entertainment, they have conjured up this smaller-scale, one-night-only event during the summer months.
Summer Frights first launched for a single night back in the 2024 season, unleashing the “Republic of England” dystopian quadrant of the scare park into a back-to-back, single-route experience that linked up the X4 &The Core mazes. They kept the main bar open, deployed a great line-up of street actors, and offered plenty of food options alongside other entertainment. While we were unable to attend the inaugural run in 2024, the event has made a grand return for 2026, and we were incredibly excited to experience the scare park under the glow of the summer sunset.
For 2026, tickets for Summer Frights were on sale for around £22.50 per person. This granted full entry to the event footprint, once again utilizing the park’s immersive Republic of England zone. Unlike the continuous single route of the past, entry this year gave guests unlimited, pick-and-choose access to all the open attractions, meaning they could be completed in any order you liked. They even had Lock ‘n’ Load open, the tactical, live-action upcharge attraction that originally debuted in October, giving guests a fantastic second chance to brave it.
As it was only the back half of the event footprint that was open, we took a new entrance around the side to enter the site. After your tickets were checked, you made your way into a great little custom-made hub featuring a bar, the dodgems, toilets, and some food options. As you ventured further in, you then officially entered the Republic of England area, which housed the main scare attractions, an additional bar, and the roaming cast.
With it being a much smaller event and less crowded than your usual Halloween visit here, the roaming characters were able to spend a lot more time delivering highly personalized interactions. The cast members were as energetic and crazy as always, providing plenty of classic Halloween fun. They also continued with the immersive side missions they usually set out; if you were lucky enough to be recruited into one, you know exactly what kind of chaos they entail! They even had some of their most iconic key characters out roaming, including Chunk & Trixie, who were more than happy to stop for photos, create absolute mayhem, and even jump on the dodgems for a ride!
Seeing the entire area bathed in the summer sunlight gave it such a uniquely different vibe, and we absolutely loved the entertainment provided by the actors all the way through the night. While there weren’t any large-scale stage shows like you get in October, the event honestly didn’t require them.
All of the mazes had short queues throughout the night, meaning most guests could easily grab multiple runs on their favourites. We headed into The Core first, which took our small group of four deep into the toxic sewers once more. Even with the bright daylight outside, the attraction itself was incredibly dark, and you can definitely still get very wet as the mutant inhabitants move through the shadows.
VITA NOVA remains mostly unchanged, but we still absolutely love the initial separation at the start and the intense, smoke-filled chamber at the end, which is even better when you can’t see any other guests around you as you navigate through. Then you have X4, with its unhinged simulator lift and sharp scares around each and every corner. X4 easily took the crown as our favourite maze of the night, which we were over the moon about considering they won our award for Best Actor Cast during the 2024 season!
We didn’t end up taking on Lock ‘n’ Load during our time at the event since we were having so much fun soaking up the atmosphere and repeating the other attractions. However, it looked just as solid as it did during the main Halloween season and seemed to be delivering plenty of fun.
To top off the evening, we also enjoyed the custom cocktails on offer, which were mixed and named after some of the attractions and worlds they’ve built here. They are designed to be flashy and unique, using effects like dry ice or live flames alongside a great selection of shots, standard beers, and soft drinks.
Overall, we had a fantastic evening checking out Summer Frights! We loved the attractions, the effort, and the energy; the entire evening was clearly fueled by passion, resulting in a beautifully put-together event. It takes the absolute best elements of their flagship Halloween season and offers them to a smaller audience looking for that perfect little sprinkle of Halloween terror, just out in the summer sun.
FEAR Scream Park took home our awards for Best Scream Park and Best Scare Experience for the 2025 season, with the Republic of England quadrant itself also pulling a nomination for Best Scare Experience. They have proven yet again that even in the summer, they are incredibly worthy winners who have no intention of slowing down or letting standards slip as they ramp up preparations for the main 2026 Halloween season.
A huge thank you to the team for inviting us along to spend the evening with them and cover the event. They provided us with complimentary tickets in return for our coverage. As a reminder, no filming or photography is allowed inside the mazes themselves, so you’ll have to book a ticket and head down yourself to uncover the secrets within!
The 2026 Halloween season is now only a matter of months away, and they have already announced a brand-new experience called The Autopsy. This attraction is set to continue the dark narrative right where The Exorcism, one of the park’s absolute best recent additions left off. Who knows what else lies in store for this October, but for the most up-to-date information, it is best to follow their official social media channels.
Tickets are already on sale for the 2026 Halloween event, and in even better news, Summer Frights has officially been confirmed to return for 2027!
@thrillnation Would you go to a Halloween event in the summer? ☀️🎃 @FEARScreamPark #halloween #summerfrights #fearscreampark #horror #scaremaze ♬ The Trigger - Soundridemusic
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