Where to get your Halloween frights - try Warwick Castle’s After Dark event

THERE are plenty of places to find your frights at Halloween - from old hospitals and stately homes, there are spooky and scary experiences popping up everywhere.

But not many places in the UK can boast the perfectly petrifying surroundings of Warwick Castle, which this week is hosting its After Dark event.

So wait until the sky turns black and head into the depths of those thick castle walls where even the loudest of screams can be turned into little more than a muted cry for help…

And scream you may when you meet the headless horseman, face the grey clown or survive the murder scene where supernatural powers are at play.

Warwick Castle has created a series of spooky experiences for Halloween: Fractured, Pestilence, the Haunted Hallows and the Castle Dungeon (although you need to buy an extra ticket for this experience). Each will test your nerves in a different (and enjoyable way).

Fractured (10+ and the only experience you’ll be given timed entry for) takes place in the main house where you’ve been enlisted to aid a very strange murder investigation. Things are not what they seem and, as the area is plunged into darkness, there are jumpscares galore as the killer(s) appear from all sides and you look to survive. Aided by low lighting, strobe effects and, at one point blindfolds, Fractured will have everyone of your senses tingling.

Below ground is Pestilence (10+) - a walk through the subterranean world of the castle where those suffering from the plague lurk. Billowing white sheets, subtle lighting and a brooding atmosphere set the scene for an encounter with the infected.

However, my family’s favourite was the Haunted Hollows (8+) which is out in the open and sees the jumpscares provided by a series of characters hiding among the scenery. Don’t like clowns? Then get through the first section quickly and you can instead meet the gravedigger or the silent woman. They will jump out, cause a few screams and may even come back for a second helping after you thought you were in the clear. It’s great fun and you’ll go back in again.

The other two experiences are creepier and scarier. However, they were just a bit too much for my 11-year-old whose bravery crumpled like a vampire in the sunlight. She enjoyed them, but only once they were over.

Each of the experiences we tried was creative, fun and full of frights. There just may be too many frights for younger children, which is why the Haunted Hollows was a winner for my kids. Adults and older children will, however, get a thrilling fright.

Away from the actors lurking in the dark, the event also includes a Scarecrow Stroll and the Dead Centre Stage - live entertainment from a band, DJ and magician.

There are plenty of food and drink options - the cocktails (£10) served in an imitation blood bag are a nice touch - and there are characters wandering around on stilts ready to help create a few Instagram moments.

One flaw seemed to be the set up for photographs. Pull a scary face, get snapped and at the end of the experience the images have been printed and are ready to be bought for £12 (£15 for two). What happens to all those photographs which are unwanted? Recycled? Thrown out? It seems a bit wasteful.

All in all, it’s a monstrously magnificent night out.

Tickets to the Castle After Dark (open from 6pm) start at £23. The event is on until 31st October. Find out more at www.warwick-castle.com.