Sunway Lagoon’s Nights of Fright 11 is a twisted theatre of terror
Can you escape the grasp of a deranged puppeteer at Malaysia’s biggest and longest-running festival of fear?
At the launch of Nights of Fright 11, an eerie ballet performance set the tone for the horrors to come. Photos: Sunway Theme Parks
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Someone sinister is pulling the strings at this year’s Nights of Fright at Sunway Lagoon. Now in its 11th edition, the annual Festival of Fear has been taken over by a diabolical puppeteer, turning the theme park in Malaysia into a nightmarish theatre where guests become unwilling performers in his gruesome production.
From Sep 26 to Nov 2, every Friday to Sunday after sundown, visitors will enter what organisers call a cursed playground. Featuring immersive set-ups, the festival blends local and international horror folklore to create a disorienting experience that will leave guests questioning what is real.
NEW NIGHTMARES AWAIT
Building on a decade of fright, Nights of Fright 11 expands its offering with more attractions than ever – eight haunted houses and three scare zones. Even walking between sites offers little respite, with ambient scares ensuring guests are never truly safe.
Each haunted house delivers its own flavour of fear – tailored to different levels of tolerance. Karak: The Kampong Killers plunges visitors into one of Malaysia’s most notorious urban legends, where a highway trip takes a violent detour. The Blind Box riffs on the modern collecting craze – but what’s inside these mystery boxes is far from harmless. At Tiki Terror, tribal curses await in the deep jungle, while Horrorwood Studios invites guests onto a doomed film set, where a demented director has a different take on the word “cut”.
Catch a special appearance by Malaysian actress Nadia Brian in Scary Tales Theatre: Pontianaxe, which reimagines familiar folklore with ritualistic horror and a blood-soaked twist. And no one leaves without stepping into The Puppetmaker’s lair – a twisting maze of eerie mannequins, distorted illusions and hand-carved horrors, watched closely by their malevolent creator.
The scare zones take the horror beyond the attractions. From Malaysian spirits like the Hantu Kum Kum to the Pontianak and Pocong, local legends come alive alongside terrifying figures from the West at Horrorwoods Boulevard: Slashers and Dolls. They roam freely, blurring the line between stage and street theatre.
Between scares, three branded activations from Libresse, Poh Kong and PopMart add to the chaos. Escape a haunted ship with the Hantu Kum Kum, take part in a luck-altering Chinese ritual or snap photos with your favourite collectible characters reimagined as ghouls. These pit stops expand the festival’s horror universe, rounding out a night of immersive fear.
BEYOND THE SCREAMS
Nights of Fright 11 is more than just jump scares. The festival transforms the theme park into a horror carnival, weaving in live shows, interactive moments and unsettling surprises between attractions.
Two stages host nightly performances. At the main stage, theatrical tales mix horror, music and monstrous characters in grand productions. Over at the Pirate’s Stage, oafish sailing fiends serve up hijinks and near-misses – if you can escape their antics unscathed.
To keep adrenaline levels up, Bloody Food Street offers menu items drenched in grotesque toppings, perfect for those who like their meals as gory as their scares. For quicker bites, the Bloody Drips Pushcart roams the park with horror-themed snacks. More familiar options are available at Captain’s Diner, Paris Baguette, Jom Cha and Hot Meal Ba.
Away from the main attractions, guests can pause for lighter moments. Temporary tattoos, themed photo ops and branded activities offer space to breathe between frights. Four merchandise stalls carry exclusive Nights of Fright 11 items – creepy souvenirs for those who dare to remember the night.
Nights of Fright 11 runs every Friday to Sunday till Nov 2. Tickets are available online and at Sunway Lagoon. Be warned: Once the Puppeteer starts the show, it’s hard to slip the strings.
