26 October 2023
Are you ready to release the howl for another year? The howl is back for a new Halloween season throughout October with 6 terrifying attractions, the Circus of Screams, live entertainment and much more. For those who have never heard of the event before, The Howl has many years experience of providing a top night out with mazes and other entertainment. This event can be found in Leighton Buzzard, which is north west of London. The best route to get to the event is by driving due to it’s location, however guests who may be local to the area can be dropped off and picked up.
The event runs on selected dates throughout October and is open each night from 6pm, through to 11pm. With long opening hours, don’t be fooled as there is plenty to cover and experience. Tickets to the event are best purchased online prior to visiting and there are a few different options to select from. This Includes a street theater only ticket, a fright ticket allowing you to experience 4 out of the 6 mazes. The XScream pass allows you single entry to all the mazes and Fastrack option to skip the attractions too. For those wanting the full experience, the RIP tickets get you unlimited entry and fastrack access to the mazes all night long.
With a brand new maze for 2023 and 5 returning mazes, coming from a strong lineup in the previous year, we were very excited to re attend to see how this year compared.
Our thoughts for 2023…
The Howl is always a highlight and 2023 is no exception. With the promotion of the new maze and some great attractions returning, we knew we were in for a good night. The Howl has a simple yet effective entrance, with huge flames overhead as you enter into the scream grounds. You can find lots of different food & drink options, with 2 bars providing different entertainment. One of these bars has a live DJ by Howl Valley High, whilst the other bar is indoors and has a live band performing. On our night, it was super cold so spending some time inside was welcomed.
The roaming street team provided many screams & laughs throughout our time. This was from the moment we entered to the very moment we left. You had characters that interlinked from the event out and about, such as cheerleaders from Howl Valley High, Mr Topper from Toppers Twister and many more. We had our fortune told by a fortune teller and were scared by all the other creatures roaming the event.
The atmosphere & entertainment really helps make The Howl a full night out and it is needed when this event only allows 1 entry per maze on most ticket options. Whilst a lot of events have now changed to the new unlimited tickets, which at an event like The Howl, it isn’t needed to have a frightfully filled evening
Now to head to the main course of the event, which are the mazes. Please see below our thoughts & ratings of each attraction, including the Circus of Screams show!
To know more about the ratings before you read below, do click here!
Toppers Twister
Theming 60% | Storyline 50% | Screams 55% | Laughs 75% | Actors 65%
Toppers Twister is The Howl’s clown maze and based on the story of Mr Topper and his clown’s abandoned circus. However, it now seems Mr Topper has also left his team leaving the rest of the clowns to go mad, meaning your screams are their applause. This maze is always lots of fun to explore, with such a fun team providing fun playful scares. Whilst sinister and scary, they can also make you laugh with their banter and lead you into a false sense of security. A great introduction maze to the event for those wanting to get warmed up before some of the bigger scares later on.
The Shed
Theming 75% | Storyline 70% | Screams 100% | Laughs 45% | Actors 100%
Always guaranteed to be one of the loudest mazes you’ll experience. The Shed is home to crazed inhabitants which are found to be lurking in the dark and are ready to pounce around every corner. With a number of sections indoors and outdoors, you won’t get a second break in this shed. For a simple attraction, it provides so many terrifying moments and overall shows with a wild team full of energy, it can create a haunting experience.
RED
Theming 80% | Storyline 80% | Screams 70% | Laughs 55% | Actors 75%
You’ve all heard of the tale of a little red riding hood, well think again. Red is the darker tale as you step into the forest full of creatures in red capes, guarding the cottage at the end of the forest. Inside you’ll meet a less friendly grandma that in the stories as she scares you back out the tormented Reds. As you think you’re escaping the forest, you can’t forget the other main character in the story… Whilst a short maze, it has a scary impact with sharp scares and aesthetically pleasing to the eye from start to end.
The Full Moon Manor – Brand new for 2023
Theming 90% | Storyline 85% | Screams 85% | Laughs 70% | Actors 85%
The brand new maze for 2023, or should we say hotel as once you check in, you won’t be able to check back out. Starting with meeting the creepy bell boy, you take a dodgy service elevator to explore the rest of the treacherous hotel and other spine chilling hotel members. Every corner of the hotel screamed scary, with the other residents coming in & out of doors as they roamed the corridors. With the stand out function room where the dead bride, groom and DJ were still partying away, it contained plenty of jump scares but laughs also. For its first year, Full Moon Manor was picturesque and very haunting.
Howl Valley High
Theming 95% | Storyline 85% | Screams 80% | Laughs 70% | Actors 95%
How Valley High is back for another spooky semester of screams as this school is like entering your own horror movie. The corridors are filled with everything high school themed and meeting your typical American students, from jocks to nerds, although they all share a creepy demonic look. You meet the prom king and queen and they are not happy to see you, from a chef in the kitchen to the team captain in the showers, it is relentless in this school. We saw a high energetic cast running up the walls and hiding in some rather unusual spots, which we’ve not seen other attractions do this Halloween. So enter at your own peril.
Squealers Yard
Theming 65% | Storyline 75% | Screams 75% | Laughs 75% | Actors 70%
Squealers Yard is one of the more darker and twisted attractions at The Howl. You enter to meet the family who are more than happy to see you. Giving you disgusting compliments about your body parts and what they want to do with you. With some extremely dark sections and other hillbilly moments, the maze provides some great jump scares and terrifying moments. As one maze that returns year upon year, it certainly is one of the more extreme mazes you can experience at The Howl this year.
Circus of Horrors
Theming 50% | Storyline 65% | Screams 40% | Laughs 75% | Actors 60%
The world renowned Circus of Horrors returns to The Howl for another year of screams and freaky horror stunts. Hidden within their big top tent, expect a show you won’t forget as you see a range of circus acts which will take your breath away. From fire to swords, through to Ariel acts and comedy, the Circus of Horror have it all. The show lasts around 20 minutes and always has an action packed adventure to show all its guests. Not recommended if you don’t like gore and squeamish moments but otherwise, entertainment at its finest, giving you a bite size look into one of the most famous circuses around.
Overall, The Howl is a top tier, top rated experience which is spine-chilling for all adults who are looking for a scary night out this Halloween. The mazes are some of the most polished experiences you will get to partake in, making them more immersive & much stronger compared to numerous events around. Outside of the attractions, you only have to look at the roaming street team, food & drink offering and other entertainment to see they have ticked every box needed for a Halloween event. You wouldn’t be disappointed to visit and we can see how year upon year they grow & become better.
Our highlights for 2023 would be The Shed, as always they create the most disturbing noises that are so loud, it haunts us in our nightmares. Howl Valley High is such a great theme for a maze and the team are super chaotic. Then the new attraction, The Full Moon Manor, was just a haunting addition to the lineup, with some really cool effects and scenes inside.
As always, a huge thank you to the Ed Hopkins & The Howl team for allowing us to visit on the night. They did provide us with free tickets to attend and have unlimited run throughs of all the attractions for the night. This was alongside some food & drink too. This was in return for our content, where we got exclusive permission to film inside the mazes and get some creepy photos of the team at work.
With each year the event is growing and becoming ever popular, will we see it ever reaching the scale of Tulley’s Shocktoberfest? Only time will tell what 2024 has in order. For now, we recommend checking our TikTok to see what you missed this year and if you are lucky, grabbing any last remaining tickets for 2023.
Attractions 90%
Entertainment 80%
Atmosphere 80%
value for money 80%
uniqueness 80%
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