This week the wonderful Haunted Castle at Warwick Castle has opened. It promises spooky scares and terrifying torments (just how scared you want to be is entirely up to you!) We popped along yesterday to sample some of the unnerving goings on.

The castle is open every day until 9pm and the truly terrifying scares happen from 5pm onwards. For younger visitors (or those of a more nervous disposition) the daytime activities may be more your speed.

Haunted Hollows

Without a doubt our favourite attraction was the Haunted Hollows, a magical and spooky garden where even the statues appear to come alive!

All the attractions are given a rating based on their ability to scare, the Hollows has 2 Pumpkins which means it’s a family friendly affair.

My youngest had the nerve to tell this lovely Gargoyle that he wasn’t scary!

We enjoyed the hollows so much we went through twice! You can see a glimpse of this magical garden in this little video we made.

The Witches Tower

The Princesses have been evicted and the Witches have taken up residence. For children aged 3-8 (and their adult) the witches ask for your help cooking up a spell for eternal youth. But as any good witch knows there’s no point playing by the rules and your spell just might not work! My son loved hunting for rats tails and bats wings. Definitely a must see for younger visitors but as this is a ticketed and timed event make sure to visit the tower early and book in your slot (there’s no extra charge).

Spooky Stories

When the Eagles aren’t flying (and they still are as usual) Spooky stories are told by a witch on the Eagle Lawn. Cue lots of audience participation with roaring dragons and ear shattering battle cries.

After Dark

The castle lights up about 5pm and the real scares begin!

The Dungeon is open from 11am (pumpkin rating 4 and absolutely no under 10s).

Tormented is a brand new attraction for 2016 and has a ghastly 5 on the pumpkin rating, I can’t tell you much more as I had little peeps with me but suffice to say one poor soul is trapped in the castle and destined to suffer a fate worse than death!

At 5pm a parade of plague victims are led through the central courtyard by the plague doctor and led on down to Outbreak 1349 where victims must struggle through the darkness to flee the infected. We caught the poor souls at the end of our video so make sure to take a look.

At 6.30pm there’s a public hanging which sees the famous Black Boar finally get his comeuppance and at 7pm there’s a Halloween Fire Joust across the river.

Of course there’s still twice daily flight of the Eagle shows as usual and the castle and ramparts can also be explored at your leisure. There’s also the Horrible Histories maze which is so much fun you have to visit whatever the occasion. To see more of the normal attractions take a look at one of my previous posts.

We had an amazing time and managed just the right amount of spookiness for us. I think there’s something for everyone whether you like to scream your lungs out or chuckle heartedly when a Scarecrow peeps over your shoulder so definitely pop along if you can.

Information

The Haunted Castle event runs from the 22-31 October.

After dark entry is available from £14 per person.

For more info or to see event timings visit www.warwick-castle.com