Fright Night started with a slow entrance. The metal detectors in front of the park temporarily broke down either from the cold outside or the onslaught of visitors coming to seek thrill in the last daylight hours before the festivities started. The fog outside grew, the actors clad in ghoulish outfits started congregating in droves to pop out at you from any corner and the howls from passengers strapped into the rides rang out across the fair grounds. It being my first time, I was advised to queue for the poster child rides: SAW and Stealth; these rides also conveniently having the longest wait time. While waiting, my friends and I watched the lines get shorter and shorter and eventually it was time to get on. Stealth was over almost instantly but SAW had this way of tricking your senses with long parts of it having you upside down, so much so that my neck was glued to the back of the headrest.
All in all, it was very enjoyable. In-between these two crowning events of Fright Night, wandering around the mazes and being hounded by scarecrows and clowns were the best parts. 8:30 neared and with the trip ending we all headed for our coaches, some people being accompanied with larger-than-life teddy bears and toys they had won from the “obviously rigged” carnival games but we all shared in our enjoyment of the 6 hours we spent at Thorpe Park.
By David Muchibi, Y12