The award-winning Horror Nights - Traumatica has returned to Europa-Park in 2021 and on September 29 we were treated to a first look at the preview event.

Demons, bloodsucking vampires, murderous werewolf mutants and outcasts were just a few of the terrifying encounters - not for the faint-hearted!

Set in a post-apocalypse world, there are five rival groups battling for power over Traumatica.

Never before have there been more horrific creatures per visitor to spread fear and terror than this year at the Horror Nights - Traumatica event. The five factions are the Shadows, Ghouls, The Fallen, The Pack and the Resistance.

As soon as we entered the main Traumatica area (which has a separate entrance to Europa-Park) we encountered multiple scare actors standing in position in front of various themed sets. Each of the five horror houses are located along a central path, where there are also several food and drink options.

There is a brief introduction to the storyline of each attraction at the entrance to the horror houses (we asked for this in English where possible) but beyond that point there is very little dialogue so non-German speakers aren't disadvantaged.

The horror houses:

• Shadowborn – Reunion: The Shadows are aware of their power. Indifferent, scowling down at others, sexy yet full of blood-thirst, they host a dinner party. It may sound tempting and seductive, but there’s something different about this dinner – YOU are the main course! These aren't your average vampires and it was by far the best horror house at the event, with the biggest and most impressive sets.
  
  
• Ghouls – Unleashed: Whoever previously thought the Ghouls are brutal should first get to know the Ghoul Queen Tara! Shaped by Tara into perfect hunters and let loose, the Ghouls are always on the lookout for food. Whoever enters their dark cave world has only one goal: to survive! The sets used here were the most convincing of all the horror houses, as we descended into what felt like actual catacombs. Coming face to face with the Queen of the Ghouls was certainly the most memorable part of the experience.
  
  
• The Fallen – Madness: Countless years as servant of Dragoş Shadowborn, Lord of the Shadows, have driven Crawley, leader of The Fallen, deeper and deeper into madness. In The Fallen – Madness, the guest gets into Crawley’s head and experiences the confusing and unpredictable world of his thoughts. This horror house sits behind an impressive façade of a derelict church and the queue winds through a misty graveyard, which does a great job building anticipation. We really liked the concept of stepping inside a twisted mind and the unpredictable nature of what would come next.
  
  
• The Pack – Sabotage: Mad Dog, the former alpha male from The Pack, is fed up – he wants to replace Roxy again and is doing everything to oust her from her position at top of the pack. He doesn’t shy away from sabotaging his own home and planting a bomb. We encountered our first werewolf before even entering the horror house, and once inside we faced a small army of them. There were some pretty gory scenes and the actors were more aggressive than elsewhere.
  
  
• Resistance – House of Rotters: Rotters have taken over the Resistance bunker and driven them away. The Resistance want to recapture it, but they need your help. The Rotters Magnetic Pulse Device must be activated. The RMPD is able to take the herds of brutal creatures out of action, at least temporarily. Will it give The Resistance enough time to storm the bunker and retake it? This one reminded us a lot of The Walking Dead attractions that we've experienced at other theme parks, with plenty of zombies to avoid, but we liked the addition of being on the side of the Resistance and having a task to complete during the experience. 

Traumatica makes extensive use of large animatronics in all of the attractions, and the only issue we found with this, is that the same ones are used in multiple attractions which does somewhat diminish their impact after you've seen them the first time. We also felt that having additional actors would have been more effective than using so many animatronics.

In terms of the scare factor, Horror Nights - Traumatica takes a similar approach to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, using impressive large scale and detailed sets along with traditional jump scares delivered by animatronics and scare actors. We tend to prefer more intimate and claustrophobic scare mazes, but appreciate that the current COVID-19 measures may have been part of the reason for the more open environments and distanced performances.

There are three scare zones (Warzone, Shortcut and Wastelands) which actually delivered some of the biggest scares of the night due to their unpredictable outdoor settings. We liked the way that these had defined entry and exit points so that the actors could control the experience and guarantee everyone got a consistent experience. 

Pegasus - The Night Coaster and Fluch der Kassandra were also open as part of the event, but disappointingly neither the Silver Star roller coaster or Poseidon water coaster were, despite being within the area of the park used for the event and being dramatically illuminated.

The event uses loud heavy metal rock music throughout, and the soundtrack is even available to buy on CD. This gives the event a very cohesive feel, although it can be a bit repetitive at times.

Overall we had a great night, as the atmosphere was fantastic and queues for the preview event were minimal. On normal dates a Shoxterpass is recommended if you intend to experience all of the attractions in one night.

Horror Nights - Traumatica takes place from Friday to Sunday from October 1 to November 13, 2021 (except October 3) and on October 21, 27 & 28. Tickets are only available in advance.

Entry is permitted from the age of 16. Children under 16 years of age, even if they are accompanied by a legal guardian, are not allowed.

All information, tickets and admission prices on the website.