Castle After Dark includes the two scare maze attractions Hunted and The Crest, the Haunted Hollows walkthrough, and live entertainment on the Dead Centre Stage.

For optional added frights, The Castle Dungeon offers a 40 minute actor-led experience for an additional charge.

The lighting on this impressive castle creates a fantastic backdrop to the event, and the tower and ramparts are open for visitors to explore throughout the evening.

Hunted

Venture through underground twists and turns as you're invited to dinner at the castle. There’s just one problem: it’s you on the menu.

A simple pre-show nicely establishes the story for the attraction, whereby unwitting guests invited to the castle for dinner will actually be hunted down and served!

Taking place inside the Kingmaker attraction, some of the sets and waxworks had been re-purposed for the experience, and using many of the original features of the castle brought a real authenticity to parts of it. There was a little too much reliance on mesh fencing panels in some sections which rather jarred with the surroundings, but lighting, smoke, sound effects, and smells were used very effectively.

Guests are sent through the attraction in small groups, holding on to a rope with one hand, which keeps everyone together. This allows the scare actors to control the scenes brilliantly and ensure jump scares are perfectly timed. Building towards an intense finale, a menacing silhouette of the hunt leader stalked us from afar - one of the most chilling moments.

The Crest (NEW)

Face your fears as you brave fourteen spine-chilling rooms and open your mind to enlightenment. It’s time for your initiation at our biggest scare maze yet.

A completely new experience that includes both fully actor-led scenes and some blindfolded sections, all of which takes place within the castle's historic rooms and corridors. 

The storyline for the attraction is based on a fictional religious cult, and scattered throughout the queue there are articles on American cult leaders including David Koresh, Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite. It's an intriguing theme for a medieval castle in England to choose, but the pre-show film explains that a new cult known as The Crest has been found at the castle.

The story got a bit muddled in the middle, but it was otherwise an excellent scare experience that had a significant amount of dialogue and used some very effective methods for scaring us that we've never seen before.

It's a long experience, with quite a gap between each group entering the attraction, so timed tickets have been implemented to manage capacity. The time on your ticket is when you will enter the queue, and we waited an hour to go in, so be prepared for that.

Haunted Hollows

Was it your imagination, or is something following you? If you dare venture through the Haunted Hollows at night, you’ll find things have taken a darker turn.

During the daytime, Haunted Hollows is a spooky walkthrough as part of their family-friendly offering The Haunted Castle, but for the Castle After Dark the scares are dramatically dialled up.

Thanks to the dark woodland setting, tons of Halloween decorations and theming, smoke and lights, plus lots of great costumed characters and creatures, this was thoroughly entertaining.

The Castle Dungeon

Encounter Warwick’s most gruesome and grizzly history as you venture through The Castle Dungeon, with scary stories, ‘orrible actors and hilarious surprises in store.

In an all year round attraction, visitors come face to face with live actors that provide laughs, scares and shocks through a series of mini interactive shows. There are elements of theatre, lots of jokes and plenty of special effects, plus historical storytelling by the iconic characters themselves.

Additional ticket required, £8 per person.

Dead Centre Stage

From adrenaline raising fire performers to electrifying live music, the castle courtyard transforms into a festival of frightful entertainment as you prepare for an evening of spine-chilling scares.

We enjoyed a variety of live entertainment throughout the night on the Dead Centre Stage, our favourites being the bizarre eyeball-covered acrobats and the live DJ.

On what was a busy night, with lots of people waiting in long queues for the scare attractions, the party atmosphere that this created was much needed.

Just outside the castle ramparts, there were a range of food and drink stalls and an attractive covered seating area. A headless horseman and his henchman were also seen wandering the grounds!

Castle After Dark continues at Warwick Castle on 28th - 31st October 2022.

The event runs 6pm – 10pm, and tickets are £25 per person.

Book your tickets at warwick-castle.com