Earlier this year Thorpe Park promised to “up the ante” in the lead up to Halloween, and the operator has delivered, confirming plans to bring global IP The Walking Dead to the park for its popular Fright Night events.

In an exclusive deal with US television network AMC, two new live-action attractions based on the globally-renowned series will debut in the lead up to the premier of the show’s eighth season, which returns on 23 October.

“This is a gamechanger for Thorpe Park,” Dominic Jones, divisional director for Thorpe Park, told Attractions Management. “We’re really upping our game for Fright Nights 2017. This is one of the world’s strongest IPs and we’re pleased to bring it to the masses.”

The new attractions will both be horror mazes, one indoor and one outdoor. The first maze, called The Walking Dead: Living Nightmare, sees visitors experience iconic scenes seen in season 7 of the show, with the maze centred around the character Negan. The second maze, The Walking Dead: Sanctum, has guests following in the footsteps of survivors, as they attempt to navigate their way past the roaming walkers or risk capture.

Use of the The Walking Dead IP has proved a great success overseas, with Universal’s version of the horror maze proving so popular, it became a permanent attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Thorpe Park kicks off its largest ever Fright Night event on 29 September, with the event running until 31 October – more days than ever before. Attractions returning for this year’s event include SAW Alive, Big Top and Platform 15.