Het Spookslot

Het Spookslot was an attraction in Efteling that took visitors into an exciting and mysterious world full of spooky elements. Located in an old ruined castle, het Spookslot offered a combination of theatrical experiences and special effects that tell stories of lost souls, accompanied by the famous musical piece "Dance Macabre."

The attraction was designed by Ton van de Ven in the 1980s and was one of Efteling’s most famous attractions. With his attention to detail and creativity, Van de Ven ensured that het Spookslot was not only an exciting attraction, but also a work of art that took visitors into an enchanting world full of adventure. His designs were characteristic of the Efteling, where the focus is on stories and fantasy, and Het Spookslot was a wonderful example of this.

In 2022 it was announced that Het Spookslot would be closing on September 4th that same year. Many Efteling fans were sad to see the attraction go (myself included). But the former ruin would make way for a new ghostly attraction named Dance Macabre, which opened on October 31st, 2024.
To pay tribute to this wonderful attraction, I wanted this to be my first LEGO moc (My Own Creation).

I started this project back in April 2023. By then, the attraction itself had already been demolished. So to do my research, I had to look into old books, images, videos, and satellite imagery. By combining all these elements, I was able to get the three-dimensional measurements I needed to block out the size of the building.
I started with the hardest part, which was figuring out how I was going to make the round tower on the left side of the building. After building different iterations, I landed on a sort of staircase design, in which all the outer layers of the tower would connect via braces to a central column.

To design such a large structure, I couldn't really rely on just the LEGO bricks at my disposal. That's why I quickly turned to a 3D modeling software. My choice was Bricklink Studio, which works wonders and gave me a lot of flexibility to try out different building techniques that I wouldn't have been able to try with my own parts collection.

I also want to give a huge shoutout to the incredible builders and their moc’s that inspired me during the making of this project.
For instance, the walls of the ruin and the incorporation of the leaves were inspired by a build named “Woodland Outpost” by Brickbruthus, who makes amazing moc’s. For the foliage around the castle, I drew inspiration from a Brickbuildjosh build, who makes incredible vignettes.
Several of the door designs were inspired by a tutorial from littlejohn_brickbuilt, who makes wonderful tutorials.
The cold and skinny tree design was inspired by an amazing build named “And She Followed” by silmaril_1, who also makes incredible and unique moc’s.
The final inspiration that I drew for the small tree in front of the round tower was a tree tutorial from ranghaal.

These builders all make great and wonderful builds. I highly recommend you go and check out their work!

After completing the final design, ordering all the missing parts on Bricklink, and building the moc, I couldn't be more happy with the end result. It truly looks like het Spookslot that I had in mind when I started this project. I hope you enjoy it too, and if you knew the attraction, I hope this build makes you think of the fun and scary memories you had of het Spookslot.

This is my tribute to Het Spookslot.
Thank you.

Erwin Spaans - Gray Fox Video