Once Upon A Nightmare at Lotherton Hall

It was a chill, October evening as we found ourselves, once again, making our way through the grounds of Lotherton Hall. It seems like the memories of last years Skeleskare event had faded sufficiently that we felt brave enough to venture to see what this year’s Halloween offering held. 

Once Upon a Nightmare is an immersive, live action Halloween event running with the tag line: ‘What if your fairy tales weren’t so happily ever after?’.

After being greeted a friendly fairy, we quickly realised that not everything is quite what it seems. The darkness is starting to seep through and we find ourselves in a topsy turvy situation where the good are bad and the bad are worse. We meet Snow White’s step mother who is fed up hearing about Snow White being the fairest of them all and so decided to fill the land with evil. Things take an even more ominous turn as we pass a graveyard with headstones bearing familiar names – Happy, Dopey, Doc…  Entering the village we are greeted by a mystic with a glowing crystal ball who tells of a tortured princess stuck in an eternal dance.

If this isn’t sufficiently eerie, It is time to head to the forest, where we meet Snow White who has a couple of surprises under her cloak… The trail through the woods sees our beloved childhood characters become more monstrous and twist the tales we know and love in unimaginable ways. You will hear footsteps behind you, feel warm breath on the back of your neck and hear the screams of other visitors throughout the forest. You will be thankful to get out the other side! 

Once again, the Halloween offering at Lotherton does not disappoint. Once Upon A Nightmare is aimed at 8-15 year olds, but I would make sure that your 8 year old is a brave soul. Whereas last year there was a red band option for those who weren’t up for a huge jump scare, there isn’t anything like that in place this year so everyone is fair game. 

Once Upon A Nightmare will run 25th – 31st October 2024 from 5:00-8:30pm. Tickets are £12.50 (£10 with a Breeze pass or if you are a Lotherton member) and are available from https://www.breezeleeds.org/nightmare/  and the experience lasts approximately 30 minutes. 

For those of you with younger children, Lotherton also have a Spooky Skeletons: Scarytales trail between Sat 26th Oct – Sun 3rd Nov 9am – 5pm. Tickets for this are available here.