Storefront City

WHAT: The Howl
WHEN: 5 October – 2 November, 2019
WHERE: Mead Open Farm (Stanbridge Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9JH)
PRICE: £10-50

OUR RATING: Chance It!

From the twisted minds that brought you Tulleys Shocktober Fest comes a more contained scare park with an ample selection of mazes to chill your blood. The Howl may be smaller than the Fest, but rest assured that it’s a superb introduction to haunts that are both well designed and (for the most part) frightening.

Toppers Twister
Our Scare Factor: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5/10

Mr. Topper is not a clown that deals in laughter, he prefers screams.

Clowns, clowns, nothing but clowns! While missing the 3D glasses from Tulleys, this maze was still quite a bit of fun. Highlights for us were a remarkably whimsical room with balls and a slide and a crazy rabbit on a bike – a great mix of creepiness and laughs, but not super scary.

Squealers Yard
Our Scare Factor: 5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5.5/10

Squeal, piggy, squeal! Did I forget to mention that it’s you they’ll be hunting?

The content of this maze is usually our least favourite at haunts, but this version had quite a bit to offer with lots of interesting places actors could pop out from, including the riveting use of space in the interior of a van guests had to walk through. This maze appeared to have a ton of mazes within it and was probably one of the lengthier experiences. We had a hilarious time making our way through a room of fog – the group in front and behind us were also getting lost and the actors probably thought we are all idiots – hilarious!

The Shed
Our Scare Factor: 1.5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 5/10

So where do unwanted ‘arrivals’ go? Why, The Shed of course.

Unfortunately the timing was incredibly off with our group. Perhaps there were either too many people in front of us, or perhaps the group ahead was too slow, but whatever the reason our group missed out on most of the scares we assume were in this maze. We instead came upon a lot of empty rooms – although because they were empty of actors we had the chance to appreciate the lovely scenery and lighting. There were also some surprisingly cool chainsaw effects near the end!

The Attic
Our Scare Factor: 2/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6.5/10

What happens in The Attic after dark is too gruesome to imagine.

We really appreciated the narrative of this maze, which began with us being welcomed into a hotel and navigating some really frightening and extremely well-themed rooms before climbing up to the haunted attic. The characters were genuinely fun and very well thought out, and with such a complete concept from beginning to end this turned out to be a very well executed maze.

Red
Our Scare Factor: 4/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10

Step into the woods if you dare. Happily ever after doesn’t exist.

We were really looking forward to this maze as it had a much less cliched concept than your usual haunt. The story was unique and the characters were very well realized. There were a few fun jumps and a return to a great effect we experienced at The Coven at Tulleys Shocktober Fest with fog and lasers, except this time we ourselves got to ‘go for a swim’.

Final Thoughts: In general, The Howl rates their mazes at a much – MUCH – higher scare factor than us. While we are admittedly more difficult to scare than your average guest, we still think these mazes were some of the more docile we’ve been to, and the much younger average age of guests at this event than at others we’ve attended seems to go well with this lower key scare factor. The mazes are definitely shorter, tamer, and less well executed than big brother Tulleys, but we really appreciated some of the more unique themed mazes like The Attic and Red and the great quality of the set builds. Definitely a top place for those experiencing haunts for the first time!

P.S.: If you don’t mind travelling a bit further north, Dr. Fright’s Halloween Nights offers a bit more fun and a lot more scare factor!