Madrid, October 21 2026 - Halloween: A Season of Its Own | Bobbejaanland

How do you design a scare?

At Bobbejaanland, it starts long before an actor jumps out of the shadows. The layout of a maze, a carefully placed blind spot, the look of a character, the timing of an encounter – every detail plays a part in building tension and making each experience feel different from the last.

And after 20 years of celebrating Halloween, the team has had plenty of time to perfect the craft.

This year, that experience is being put to work on something completely new: Deadbolt Creek, a new scare zone where an industrial city, a mechanical sheriff, and a rather sinister story will become part of Halloween 2026.

Peggy Verelst, Customer Director at Bobbejaanland, takes us behind the scenes to reveal how the team designs its Halloween experiences – and why, these days, they never really stop thinking about the scariest season of the year.

What makes Halloween at Bobbejaanland different from anywhere else?

We don’t just offer haunted houses. We create completely different horror experiences.

We have seven haunted houses, and every maze has its own story, atmosphere, scare style, and signature effects. We don’t want to repeat the same formula. Each one is designed from the ground up to create a different experience.

A lot of thought goes into the layouts too. They are carefully designed to build tension, create blind spots, and give our actors plenty of opportunities to appear when guests least expect them.

And then there are the characters. Our actors don’t simply put on costumes. Their looks are tailor-made around the story, helping us create characters that feel disturbingly believable.

One experience I’m particularly proud of is Next of Kin, our XXL haunted house inspired by the Paramount movie. Its scale, theming, detail, effects, and overall production make it something very special for us.

If you could recommend just one Halloween experience that guests absolutely shouldn’t miss this year, what would it be – and why?

There is only one answer for me: Next of Kin.

It is a haunted house built across two floors, with more than 500 square meters of scares and immersive experiences, 17 different scenes, and 15 actors bringing the story to life.

It is ambitious in scale, but it is the combination of the sets, effects, characters, and atmosphere that makes it an experience I really want our guests to discover.

What are you introducing or doing differently for Halloween 2026?

This year, we are creating a completely new scare zone: Deadbolt Creek.

The story takes guests into a former mining town that has grown into an industrial city of factories, steam pipes, and groundbreaking machinery. To keep the city running, its inventors created the Iron Marshall, a colossal mechanical sheriff connected to every corner of Deadbolt Creek.

By day, it appears to be a city driven by ambition and progress. But when darkness falls, the Iron Marshall takes control.

Searchlights sweep the streets, alarm sirens sound, and suddenly visitors are no longer simply walking through Deadbolt Creek – they have become part of its story.

The question is: can you make it through before the Iron Marshall notices you?

Halloween takes months of work behind the scenes. What might surprise our guests about what it takes to transform the park for the season?

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that, after 20 years of celebrating Halloween at Bobbejaanland, we no longer really stop thinking about it.

When we first started, we would begin preparing for Halloween in August. Today, it is something we work on throughout the year.

Bringing the full program to life requires more than 120 artists, as well as many more people working behind the scenes on makeup and hair, costumes, choreography, artist training, and the maintenance and management of our haunted houses.

Halloween is without doubt one of the busiest and most hectic periods of the year for our teams.

But we love doing it.

Complete the sentence: “You haven’t really experienced Halloween at Bobbejaanland until you have…”

…visited all seven mazes with your friends and family.