A Spooktacular Time at Blackpool’s ‘Vampire’ Pleasure Beach!
2 November 2016
by Visit Blackpool
On the 22nd of October, Vampire Pleasure Beach returned to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, for just over a week of Hallowe’en activities leading up to the 31st of October. We went along to the special late night event on 29th October where there were frights, spooky bites and fireworks galore!
Knowing that we would be in for a lot of walking, we elected to enter the park at 16:00 when the event officially started. However, had we known that there was so much to see, we’d have put on thicker socks and made a full day of it.
The park looked absolutely fantastic; its Hallowe’en theming rivalled some of the biggest theme parks in the world. Everywhere you looked there were pumpkins, scarecrows, gargoyles and drapings of cobwebs as decoration.
The park was extremely busy for the duration of our visit, so we’d fully recommend making a plan of action; deciding which rides are a priority and what time you’d fancy something to eat would make for a much better day. As soon as we came through the gates, we headed straight for Infusion as we really wanted a big thrill to get our adrenaline pumping. Following that, we only knew that we definitely wanted to ride The Big One in the dark, so it freed us up to explore the park at our leisure for a few hours.
Embarrassed as we are to admit it, we got totally lost in the Chinese Puzzle Maze. Had a helpful family not assisted us, we’d still be in there now. That said, it was really enjoyable going through it in the dark with the creepy figures everywhere. A group of burly men were slightly white-faced with fear, so it was certainly having the desired effect!
We unfortunately missed out on the 13:00 and 15:00 Creepy Hollow at Planet Rock experience of the educational and interactive workshops. Visitors got meet some seriously creepy critters; stick insects, cockroaches, giant snails, a snake, lizards and more! This aspect of the event further reinforces how family-centric the Pleasure Beach is. Whilst there were some frightening aspects, we didn’t feel that there was anything so scary that children would be distressed, which makes this Hallowe’en theme park event quite unique.
There was an amazing pumpkin carver in the Sculpture Gardens who was truly the Michaelangelo of vegetable art. Some of the designs were so intricate with some very familiar faces!
A few rides later, we’d worked up a real appetite. As we’d made an effort to embrace the festivities, we were in fancy dress and therefore were allowed a free ‘Blood Slush Cocktail’. It was absolutely delicious, and a really nice Hallowe’en touch to incorporate into your rest stop.
There were some brilliant Hallowe’en-themed meals onsite, but I’m afraid we were a bit boring and stuck to good ol’ burgers and chips! People sat next to us were feasting on ‘blood soaked fingers’ (chicken goujons with ketchup) who said that they were really tasty.
Artists performed from 16:00 in the FY4 area around the Spooktacular Dancing Fountains! The artists were very good, with lots of teens bopping about between rollercoasters and cheering them on as well as costumed stilt walkers there for pictures. It was lovely to have some great entertainment as we tucked into our dinner. Even if we weren’t going to go on any of the rides, it was really pleasant watching passing people in fantastic costumes and enjoying the spooky atmosphere.
Lougarock the Werewolf and old man Scepticemus didn’t take long to turn up,accompanied by a seriously chilling soundtrack, Lougarock drove his steampunk bike into the FY4 area to terrify the visitors.
A member of our team is absolutely terrified of werewolves, so an 8ft one with a twisted snarl on his face had her running to the restrooms for cover. This street performance was really cryptic and looked great; it was a real highlight of the day.
Riding The Big One at night-time during the Illuminations period was an amazing experience. It was wonderful being able to see the entirety of the Illuminations displays lit up as were climbing the chain lift. That alone would have us going back.
To end the day, there was a frightening display of fireworks arranged for 22:00. Unbeknownst to us, these had been designed to be set to Hallowe’en music like ‘The Exorcist’ theme song and ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. The fireworks were spectacular, and they looked especially brilliant with The Big One and the Big Dipper as their backdrop.
This was a truly excellent day out; everyone was having a really great time with their family and the staff on site were very helpful to everyone that approached them and managed the crowds well.
If you’re keen to enjoy a late night and some fireworks at the park, visit on Saturday, 5th of November for late night riding and a fireworks display! Tickets can be bought here.