Phobos Halloween Nights - Review 2025
It's funny to think that Italy is renowned for such classic horrors as Suspiria, Demons, Cannibal Holocaust and Tenabrae, and of course was the home of one of the most respected directors in horror history - Dario Argento. Yet the country hasn't really embraced scare attractions and scare mazes. That is until now, where the team behind Phobos Escape Rooms have created a pop up event, set in the grounds of the Montresor hotel in the outskirts of Verona.
Phobos Halloween Nights is made up up of 5 mazes, some roaming characters in the food and drink court area, and a dedicated programme of entertainment by the renowned Freakshow Extreme, and ran for just two nights over Halloween.
Our first maze was Gothika - a fairly traditional clown maze built in a marquee in the car park. The internal build had solid flats for walls and must have taken quite a while to construct. Inside there was a recurring soundtrack and confusing lighting meaning the clowns were able to do their best to torment us throughout. With a couple of dead ends and a small maze like section, it was quite confusing to find the right path out and the clowns jut laughed and clapped as we got lost!
Another maze we seemed to get lost in was The Spot. Built with simple wall structures like the clown maze, this maze was pitch black with the darkness just perforated every now and then by a strobe flash. With the sound effects - it kind of reminded us of celebrities stalked by the paparazzi and we not only lost our way in the maze, but several times almost lost our group. The actors in this maze had the timing of the lights down to a tee, and would use the sudden darkness to move and get up close for when the lights came back on. Although we could see the walls were un-themed - it didn't matter as this maze really provided the scares.
Another maze using Darkness was The Basement which was effectively built into the utility corridors under the hotel. Leading the way through this maze was often a matter of just reaching out and hoping for the best! Because of the darkness the actors could get really close and gave us a number of good scares.
After stopping for some of the best pizza we have ever had, and a couple of drinks, we sampled the last two mazes.
Bleach was probably the most themed of all the attractions, with a lot of medical equipment throughout, and a great use of intermittent lighting that created a scary atmosphere. We enjoyed the two characters in a long corridor who wouldn't have looked out of place on the stage outside. Through the strobing lights we were able to see the actor knock a nine inch nail up his nose. He then ran at us in the dark so when the light came on he was inches from our faces and we could see it up close!
The final maze , The Cage, was built in the underground car park and although not scary as such - this was easily the maze that was designed to shock. After being welcomed to the underground nightclub we were offered drugs, condoms, and money to pay the dancers. In one scene in the middle then was a scantily clad bodybuilder and a woman with just masking tape across her boobs! These characters were posing and show off to people as they passed, and at one point were leading people around the room on their knees! It was funny and sordid in equal measure, but the least said about the prosthetic penis we all saw by the end of the maze, the better!
Each of the 5 mazes really stood out the others and provided a great variety across the whole site. The actors were clearly enjoying themselves, as were the Italians as screams rang out through every maze!
Outside on the main stage - Freakshow Extreme had curated one of the strongest freakshow type shows have seen for a long time, and there were a number acts that we have never seen before. It was clear that many of the audience were just as horrified of some of the more grotesque elements, and each hour the audience got bigger as the crowds started to realise what was happening on the stage.
We spent all night at Phobios Halloween nights (easy to do as we were staying in the hotel) and really enjoyed the atmosphere across the whole site and in the mazes. The locals were clearly loving the event and there was a great atmosphere throughout. A couple of times we just sat down with a beer and just watched the roaming actors (a couple of clowns and the creepy guy on the bike) interact with everyone.
All in - we had a really fun night and lets hope they can make it an even longer run in 2026 - they certainly already have a great success on their hands and deserve to expand and grow even more.
Phobos Halloween Nights is made up up of 5 mazes, some roaming characters in the food and drink court area, and a dedicated programme of entertainment by the renowned Freakshow Extreme, and ran for just two nights over Halloween.
Our first maze was Gothika - a fairly traditional clown maze built in a marquee in the car park. The internal build had solid flats for walls and must have taken quite a while to construct. Inside there was a recurring soundtrack and confusing lighting meaning the clowns were able to do their best to torment us throughout. With a couple of dead ends and a small maze like section, it was quite confusing to find the right path out and the clowns jut laughed and clapped as we got lost!
Another maze we seemed to get lost in was The Spot. Built with simple wall structures like the clown maze, this maze was pitch black with the darkness just perforated every now and then by a strobe flash. With the sound effects - it kind of reminded us of celebrities stalked by the paparazzi and we not only lost our way in the maze, but several times almost lost our group. The actors in this maze had the timing of the lights down to a tee, and would use the sudden darkness to move and get up close for when the lights came back on. Although we could see the walls were un-themed - it didn't matter as this maze really provided the scares.
Another maze using Darkness was The Basement which was effectively built into the utility corridors under the hotel. Leading the way through this maze was often a matter of just reaching out and hoping for the best! Because of the darkness the actors could get really close and gave us a number of good scares.
After stopping for some of the best pizza we have ever had, and a couple of drinks, we sampled the last two mazes.
Bleach was probably the most themed of all the attractions, with a lot of medical equipment throughout, and a great use of intermittent lighting that created a scary atmosphere. We enjoyed the two characters in a long corridor who wouldn't have looked out of place on the stage outside. Through the strobing lights we were able to see the actor knock a nine inch nail up his nose. He then ran at us in the dark so when the light came on he was inches from our faces and we could see it up close!
The final maze , The Cage, was built in the underground car park and although not scary as such - this was easily the maze that was designed to shock. After being welcomed to the underground nightclub we were offered drugs, condoms, and money to pay the dancers. In one scene in the middle then was a scantily clad bodybuilder and a woman with just masking tape across her boobs! These characters were posing and show off to people as they passed, and at one point were leading people around the room on their knees! It was funny and sordid in equal measure, but the least said about the prosthetic penis we all saw by the end of the maze, the better!
Each of the 5 mazes really stood out the others and provided a great variety across the whole site. The actors were clearly enjoying themselves, as were the Italians as screams rang out through every maze!
Outside on the main stage - Freakshow Extreme had curated one of the strongest freakshow type shows have seen for a long time, and there were a number acts that we have never seen before. It was clear that many of the audience were just as horrified of some of the more grotesque elements, and each hour the audience got bigger as the crowds started to realise what was happening on the stage.
We spent all night at Phobios Halloween nights (easy to do as we were staying in the hotel) and really enjoyed the atmosphere across the whole site and in the mazes. The locals were clearly loving the event and there was a great atmosphere throughout. A couple of times we just sat down with a beer and just watched the roaming actors (a couple of clowns and the creepy guy on the bike) interact with everyone.
All in - we had a really fun night and lets hope they can make it an even longer run in 2026 - they certainly already have a great success on their hands and deserve to expand and grow even more.
Links:
Official website
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